How should Froch deal with Groves pre-fight ??

Whether he's exchanging insults or shoving the ginger kid around Froch seems to lose the psychological battle according to 90% on here...I'm not naive and know Froch isn't popular so people in a lot of cases see what they want to see..

But I'm interested in how people think Froch should deal with this guy pre-fight as Groves seems like a top class Wum......

Groves got under his skin last time and maybe forced an error or two early as I imagine Froch wanted to punish him !!

How would you deal with Georgey boy ??

He needs to ignore him, everytime he rises to the bait he gives Groves a mental boost, if he ignores him then Groves will slowly start to doubt what he does can have an effect.

I agree but he should have done that last time...He ignores him now not sure it gives off the right vibes and may look like Groves has shut him up..


Personally myself I'd just keep saying "Four world titles..Bonafide Brit great..Ko round 9"...with a smile on my face..

Everytime he goads him...

I don't think there's anything he really needs to do differently. The main selling point of the rematch is the premature stoppage, the public feel they were denied a conclusive ending. Froch needs to keep stating that the referee just delayed the inevitable (a brutal KO, which to his mind, we will see May 31st). Groves for his part will state that he was robbed, that's what sells the fight. Let's not forget these two will do huge PPV numbers and sold 80,000 tickets to prove who is the no.2 man in the division based on a grudge and dodgy stoppage. In terms of selling the fight, I think everyone involved is doing a stellar job.

From a 'mind game' point of view. I don't really know or care. I'm not buying all this round 1 to Groves/Froch business. You can't win a world title in a press conference and come May 31st nobody is going to remember who pushed who.

But a month and half is a long time and in an ego driven sport to keep positive vibes it's nice to get the better of a bit of a pre fight battle and to not think ....He made me look like a man sausage..

Collins turned Eubank over superbly leading into the fight..

These guys will see alot of each other up to the contest...

But thanks for your opinion..

Well he has already admitted that he is using a sports psychologist for this fight so that in it self says he needs help with his focus on the fight.

I think when it comes to Froch, it isn't just Groves' mind games that wind him up. It seems to be anyone who questions Froch's career full stop. This may be down to how hard (and late) he found it to actually arrive at the premier level of PPV etc. He openly calls himself an international superstar so his ego is massive. So he completely crashes out mentally when a young up and comer starts nit picking through his career telling him he was beat by Dirrell, was lucky against Taylor.

Remember Froch actually stated that the first Kessler fight didn't count as a loss anymore because he beat him in a rematch.

His head is well and truely lit and all Groves has to do is keep prodding him with these little jibes.

Dipper Brown wrote:From a 'mind game' point of view. I don't really know or care. I'm not buying all this round 1 to Groves/Froch business. You can't win a world title in a press conference and come May 31st nobody is going to remember who pushed who.

You're right you can't win a world title in a press conference, but you can definitely alter an opponents mind set and game plan. I'm sure Froch will want to prove a point this time and put a definitive showing on, and if Groves can keep prodding at his "legacy" and questioning how mentally ready he is, he could end up fighting on emotion and walk right in to another right hand.

Look at the Bradley fight at the weekend, Bradley neglected all of his boxing because he wanted to land that one big shot and show everyone who was the better fighter, I think it was Chris who said on the podcast this week that Bradley fought with emotion and without his brain, all the talk from the media about the first fight being a robbery and the distain that it earned him from the fans effected him, that's exactly what Groves wants to happen to Froch.

Excellent point.....Has to be said though Milky won't like it...that Honey wanted to bang Starling out so bad that he seemed to lose the plot..

Doesn't always work look at Paret-Griffiths

I said the same thing re Bradley truss. And I think its exactly what happened to honey against starling. Though in Lloyd's case, I think he just bought into his own hype and thought he could spark anyone after curry. He fought like a deranged lunatic in all his fights after curry!

Whilst I think Honey actually hated Marlon....I agree with your Honey assessment...

Curry and Hamed are others who forget how good they could box when they started banging people out..

hampo171 wrote:

Dipper Brown wrote:From a 'mind game' point of view. I don't really know or care. I'm not buying all this round 1 to Groves/Froch business. You can't win a world title in a press conference and come May 31st nobody is going to remember who pushed who.

You're right you can't win a world title in a press conference, but you can definitely alter an opponents mind set and game plan. I'm sure Froch will want to prove a point this time and put a definitive showing on, and if Groves can keep prodding at his "legacy" and questioning how mentally ready he is, he could end up fighting on emotion and walk right in to another right hand.

Look at the Bradley fight at the weekend, Bradley neglected all of his boxing because he wanted to land that one big shot and show everyone who was the better fighter, I think it was Chris who said on the podcast this week that Bradley fought with emotion and without his brain, all the talk from the media about the first fight being a robbery and the distain that it earned him from the fans effected him, that's exactly what Groves wants to happen to Froch.

Band on about the Bradley point mate, all the talk about him contemplateing suicide etc was really not relevant and showed a side to Bradley that may indicate to future rivals that he is mentally weak.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Whilst I think Honey actually hated Marlon....I agree with your Honey assessment...

Curry and Hamed are others who forget how good they could box when they started banging people out..

Wouldn't argue with any of that, beefster. Starling got under Lloyd's skin and boxed his ears off

I'm not sure if Groves' approach in press conferences altered how Froch performed in their first fight. Hyperbole aside I think it was a fairly typical performance from Froch, sluggish start and strong end. Even Froch getting dropped I would say was down to a characteristic low guard and well timed, peach of a shot.

I think reborn has hit on something with Froch maybe having a superiority complex and when people doubt him it uncovers some insecurities. For me though, this just manifests in a distasteful public appearance and bad attitude. I don't think it affects his performance.

All of us see things differently, good healthy debate this one

I think he should drink milk and green dye then vomit on his belt in a display of contempt, followed by a sea shanty about 0% interest.

Milk curdles the stomach....

"Just like Groves' breath HAAAAAAA!" Fight won.

I think froch has a complex about his standing because of calzaghe. He i think craves to be liked and struggles with the shadow which joe cast over the early part of his journey in particular. It will be interesting to see how froch copes with a crowd which wont be totally pro froch. I know people will say he has been in the back yard of his opponents before but that was against people he respected which he doesnt with groves in my view so the build up will be interesting, what effect this will have on the actual fight will be interesting

Crowd will be 75% Pro-Groves at least. This fight is being sold off the sense of injustice from the first fight, especially to the part-time fans (who should be in the majority).

If I'm Froch, I'd spend the build up reminding Groves that hes fighting in front of his home crowd. That he doesn't want to disappoint them. That some probably don't even know how they're getting home. Repeat it enough, and it'll get into Groves psyche - He could over-train...

He probebly wont do that knowing froch he will go on about he will still be loved by most people in the stadium. I dont know if anyone saw him at the darts in his home town a few weeks ago but he recieved a very mixed reception with some boos there

i saw that and your been kind. he was booed out the stadium, like a pantomime villian

i saw that and your been kind. he was booed out the stadium, like a pantomime villian

I think if groves picks away at froch's legacy then again he will get to froch again

I dont think Froch has bitten anything, first fight or this fight. It was clear from the get go that he did not like Groves. The only thing I think Froch fell for was taking him too lightly and underestimating his power, he cant do that again.

A few weeks ago when Froch pushed Groves, for me it was very clear that Groves was the one wound up, getting into verbals with Froch's brother and going over to Hearn and threatening that Froch much not touch him again..

For me I look at who uses the most energy in there little spats and it is %90 of the time Groves.

its interesting as now Groves is almost the favorite, he was the under dog against Degale and nicked a win (very arguable) and done much better than people thought, and he was the underdog against Froch and done much better than people thought... Now he is not the underdog so it will be interesting to see how this effects him.

I think Groves winding Froch up could work in Froch's favour,Froch will be determined to shut Groves up.Froch knows a lot are saying Groves was robbed in the first fight and it was a controversial win,Froch will have a point to prove and that's what I think he'll do.

Groves winding Froch up could well bite Groves in the Butt.

tunes666 wrote:I dont think Froch has bitten anything, first fight or this fight. It was clear from the get go that he did not like Groves. The only thing I think Froch fell for was taking him too lightly and underestimating his power, he cant do that again.

A few weeks ago when Froch pushed Groves, for me it was very clear that Groves was the one wound up, getting into verbals with Froch's brother and going over to Hearn and threatening that Froch much not touch him again..

For me I look at who uses the most energy in there little spats and it is %90 of the time Groves.

its interesting as now Groves is almost the favorite, he was the under dog against Degale and nicked a win (very arguable) and done much better than people thought, and he was the underdog against Froch and done much better than people thought...  Now he is not the underdog so it will be interesting to see how this effects him.

The bookies still have him as an underdog.

Only just.

4/6 Froch
5/4 Groves.

My how opinions do fluctuate around here. I remember when Groves was the heavy people's favourite and passing himself off as a very classy individual in the buildup to the Degale fight. Since the first fight his personality almost seems the polar opposite to what it was. But then, Froch has hardly covered himself in glory in terms of what he said post-fight. It's hard to discern who people want to see get knocked out more this time.

I agree Groves has changed...The nerd has become a bit of a diva....

and it's a shame.........Still want Groves to win but not as much as I did..

As far back as i can remember Groves has acted in a similar way, it's just now that it's really coming out, look at his earlier interviews on Sky sports, the same kid really.

Froch is obligated to attend any number of pressers and pre-fight engagements. The problem is that as the build up continues to "The Biggest Fight in British Boxing History" the media are going to want any kind of soundbite and any bit of footage that hasn't already been shown a hundred times before. They will have a mandate to extract whatever reaction they can out of the fighters and that means posing questions deliberately designed to get a reaction of any kind.

This may mean posing questions to the fighters designed to stir up further conflict or reduce them to stony silence in order to write stories about how the pressure is getting to them.

The fact is that, despite his tenure as Champion, Froch isn't a natural in front of the camera and certainly not when it comes to ad-libbing or thinking on his feet. The advantage id definitely with Groves in that environment so the best policy for Froch is to grit his teeth and get through it without making himself look a total twonk until fight night.

"I'll do my talking in the ring" is as clichéd as it gets but most people expect fighters to be dumb anyway so Froch isn't going to be shocking anyone but not saying anything particularly profound.

Froch will have enough to worry about come fight night so he's as well just keeping his focus.

Stay silent and get his useless dopey brother to do all the mouthing off...

Similar thing works for Danny Garcia.

He should ignore him completely and just box his head off in the ring. Froch can't cope with the media circus that Groves wants - he's not used to it and he cracks when put under pressure in front of the cameras. Groves loves it.

Think Groves knows he had his shot, he did bloody well - but Froch has a habit of being nothing if not consistent and will likely take heart from the fact that Groves was actually tiring towards the end of the fight as it was stopped. Although the stoppage was a joke, Groves was slowing and I think Froch will draw on that and ensure that he trains to start quicker, not allowing Groves to tell him how the fight is going to go. I'd just shut up and go for it.

Pretend to have aids

John Bloody Wayne wrote:Pretend to have aids

Why stop at pretending? You want to take all the focus away from Groves, what better way than announcing you have a serious life threatening illness? We need to be careful though, Lee Froch might be reading this and decide it's a good idea.

I'm kidding of course, Lee wouldn't do such a thing...... he can't read.

I'm not worried, Lee won't be able to read the bit about him not being able to read...unless someone reads it to him. However, by the time he's fully digested what's been said, I'll be about 85 years old. Won't stop him offering me out though (unless he's still desperately trying to get Froch's other half to sleep with him)

DAVE667 wrote:

John Bloody Wayne wrote:Pretend to have aids

Why stop at pretending? You want to take all the focus away from Groves, what better way than announcing you have a serious life threatening illness? We need to be careful though, Lee Froch might be reading this and decide it's a good idea.

I'm kidding of course, Lee wouldn't do such a thing...... he can't read.

I'm not worried, Lee won't be able to read the bit about him not being able to read...unless someone reads it to him. However, by the time he's fully digested what's been said, I'll be about 85 years old. Won't stop him offering me out though (unless he's still desperately trying to get Froch's other half to sleep with him)

I bet you get offered out a lot..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:

John Bloody Wayne wrote:Pretend to have aids

Why stop at pretending? You want to take all the focus away from Groves, what better way than announcing you have a serious life threatening illness? We need to be careful though, Lee Froch might be reading this and decide it's a good idea.

I'm kidding of course, Lee wouldn't do such a thing...... he can't read.

I'm not worried, Lee won't be able to read the bit about him not being able to read...unless someone reads it to him. However, by the time he's fully digested what's been said, I'll be about 85 years old. Won't stop him offering me out though (unless he's still desperately trying to get Froch's other half to sleep with him)

I bet you get offered out a lot..

You should know sweet cheeks, your advances at the Oyster are frequent if a tad creepy (but welcomed nevertheless)

I was being serious........Your pent up aggression comes across in your writing....

I imagine you are basically a dam ready to burst.........

and some lucky guy will be able to fix it.....If he has two minutes to spare.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:I was being serious........Your pent up aggression comes across in your writing....

I imagine you are basically a dam ready to burst.........

and some lucky guy will be able to fix it.....If he has two minutes to spare.

I suppose Stephen King is a serial killer too using that logic....you sill y c**t (oh, you may have a point after all...my bad!)