Groves: Audley-type delusion?

First topic message reminder :

"I totally dominated the first fight and I felt like I was in control of the second fight. That's down to people's opinions and interpretations, but no one thought I was on the verge of getting stopped.

"It's just one of those punches. It's a shame it happened now - I've spent my whole career where this could've happened and hasn't, and it's happened to me at the worst possible time."

Sounds to me like he is trying to spin this as some kind of lucky punch. In control of the fight? It was even at best. Truth is that Froch boxed a smart fight this time around, and improved from their first encounter. Groves needs to acknowledge that before he moves on.

Thoughts?

Agree with milky re the Froch jab, not sure what everyone else was seeing. Live it looked like he was really struggling to land it, constantly coming up short or GG being able to telegraph it and evade.

Better, more accurate work all came from GG in my opinion, maybe I just couldn't see it as well but Froch's big flurries never looked like they really did much - landing often on elbows, arms or gloves.

Sadly sat at least 200m away from the action, most of the crowd thought Froch was bossing it...idiots booing in round three because there was no Gatti/Ward type tear up.

I'm not dismissing George but he fought at Froch's tempo...When you are older and slower..

That's a gift..

The kid can come again but two defeats to the same guy must embolden Degale who will be his next big fight and who looked superb..

Loses a rematch to one of the best guys in the division by a punch that would KO many a fighter and now we're putting him in the some bracket as AudleyHarrison?

...boxing fans   

Can't see Froch/Degale coming off. Froch has now had two mandatories in a row and is entitled to a voluntary defence. If they can make a fight in Vegas with Chavez or Ward, I can see Froch taking that route and then calling it a day.

Not sure they can really sell DeGale as people will simply point out that he's the guy who was beaten by the guy that Froch has just KO'd. The casuals will wander off utterly disinterested.

Degale won't make Froch big money, he doesn't have the fanbase. I see him facing the likes of Bika or suffering Kell Brook syndrome and being told "No, it's definitely your turn next, after that guy...and maybe another, but after that, definitely you."

I was talking about Groves-Degale..

No way Froch fights Degale and no real reason he should.

Degale fight would be big money for Froch. It would be ppv and he would get about 85% of the revenue. Hearn will be pushing for it also as he has control of both fighters. If they can get Chavez then they would probably opt for that but after Degale would make sense. Im struggling to see why Chavez would be interested in fighting Froch though. He can stroll to a world title against Bika and he doesnt need Froch to make him big money. Kessler 3 cant be ruled out either. I hope Froch doesnt go down the pension fund route of Chavez and Kessler III.

Degale does nothing for his legacy...He's lost to Groves..

Where is the motivation ??

Money

He's interested in legacy..

Degale isn't very marketable anyway...Never has been.

catchweight wrote:Degale fight would be big money for Froch. It would be ppv and he would get about 85% of the revenue. Hearn will be pushing for it also as he has control of both fighters. If they can get Chavez then they would probably opt for that but after Degale would make sense. Im struggling to see why Chavez would be interested in fighting Froch though. He can stroll to a world title against Bika and he doesnt need Froch to make him big money. Kessler 3 cant be ruled out either. I hope Froch doesnt go down the pension fund route of Chavez and Kessler III.

Whilst I'm not Froch's biggest fan, I can safely say there aren't many fighters out there who deserve it more.

I dont agree with that. I think a Degale fight would be really big. Now is a good time to have it with all the talk about British boxing being on a high. 80,000 Wembley with Degale and Froch delivering on the big stage. The general buzz in Britain regarding boxing. The shades of the Eubank/Watson/Benn days etc. I think its fairly obvious Hearn has been building towards this and his intention is to get Degale in the mix there.

Chavez Jr does nothing for Frochs legacy it just adds money to his account. If he wants legacy he would be looking at Ward again (please no) or even moving up to light heavyweight and taking on one of the big hitters like Stevenson or Kovalov.

EX7EY wrote:Loses a rematch to one of the best guys in the division by a punch that would KO many a fighter and now we're putting him in the some bracket as AudleyHarrison?

...boxing fans   

Okay, okay. I have conceded that was an unwise joke. I said it tongue in cheek.

Groves is a class fighter, but I just thought it seemed like he was implying Froch got lucky a touch. Maybe I misinterpreted his words.

Although I didn't see a one-punch finish happening, I wasn't surprised as Froch is very heavy-handed and looked a lot sharper this time.

DAVE667 wrote:

catchweight wrote:Degale fight would be big money for Froch. It would be ppv and he would get about 85% of the revenue. Hearn will be pushing for it also as he has control of both fighters. If they can get Chavez then they would probably opt for that but after Degale would make sense. Im struggling to see why Chavez would be interested in fighting Froch though. He can stroll to a world title against Bika and he doesnt need Froch to make him big money. Kessler 3 cant be ruled out either. I hope Froch doesnt go down the pension fund route of Chavez and Kessler III.

Whilst I'm not Froch's biggest fan, I can safely say there aren't many fighters out there who deserve it more.

Maybe not but Im just not a fan of it. Im selfish and want whats best for me as a boxing fan.

catchweight wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:

catchweight wrote:Degale fight would be big money for Froch. It would be ppv and he would get about 85% of the revenue. Hearn will be pushing for it also as he has control of both fighters. If they can get Chavez then they would probably opt for that but after Degale would make sense. Im struggling to see why Chavez would be interested in fighting Froch though. He can stroll to a world title against Bika and he doesnt need Froch to make him big money. Kessler 3 cant be ruled out either. I hope Froch doesnt go down the pension fund route of Chavez and Kessler III.

Whilst I'm not Froch's biggest fan, I can safely say there aren't many fighters out there who deserve it more.

Maybe not but Im just not a fan of it. Im selfish and want whats best for me as a boxing fan.

An open letter to Froch might be the best way for him to do what you want then! Bear in mind, I suggested he post naked photos of his girlfriend on the forum but he's so far failed to respond (to me at least)

She refused to have the naked pictures accompanied with the inscription..

"This girl belongs to someone with 4 World titles and 13 consecutive title fights behind him"

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:She refused to have the naked pictures accompanied with the inscription..

"This girl belongs to someone with 4 World titles and 13 consecutive title fights behind him"

When you say inscription, do you mean "tattoo on her backside"?

Funnily enough I made that request in the past and a couple of days later I received a huge parcel From Nottingham. Alas, no nude pictures (of Rachel, not Carl) but there were three volumes detailing Carls boxing achievements and an audio tape titled readings with Carl Froch which was 3 hours of Froch reciting his own achievements in boxing.

Watched the fight via means "never to be discussed on this forum" but did Froch's ringwalk consist of him doing his own voice over at the beginning?

Froch's Wife has the same empty look as most Soccer wives......That sort of ...I spend six hours painting my nails look..

I'll stick with my seasoned, over opinionated, fire breathing komodo..

I can’t believe what I am reading here… Groves delusional!? I can’t understand where this opinion comes from. Groves said he was controlling the fight up until that point and I agree as the stats show his punches landed and punching accuracy were considerably better (40% to 28%). Thought there really was not much in it. He also did seem to be turning up the heat up in rounds 7 and 8 and I disagree with the assertions of some that he began to look tired. He was a gracious loser, and congratulations to Froch for being a gracious winner.

What I find troublesome though is how much time he had to evade that massive right. Was it just that he was so focused on landing that left hook like he had promised, had he spent too much time building up this fight and not taking Froch as seriously, or is there a chink in his defensive armour that needs improved? Whilst a great shot I am concerned for George that he allowed that to land. On a sidenote, Jim Watt had a complete 180 degree turn from being a Groves fanboy in fight 1 to a Froch fan in fight 2.

In regards to him saying he won the first fight I believe that he meant he was up on the scorecards and the stoppage was early, rather than outright refusing to believe he has that loss on his record. I really would back him to beat Froch in a 3rd provided he fought with tactics more like the first fight’s.

Anyone else feel that Groves tactics weren’t the most effective and we might see him with a new trainer, or back with Booth? Would love to hear your opinions on this. I am surprised he didn’t try to take centre ring again when in the first fight he showed he could push Froch back at will. I was also getting frustrated that he wasn’t feinting half as much as the first fight. Doing so created so many openings for him which weren’t there this time around. Credit for that also goes to Froch’s much superior defence and establishing his jab more like he did in Kessler 2, though neither fighter I believe had a dominant jab in this fight.

What’s next for Saint GG? I personally would love to see Groves take on Bika/Abraham next, possibly even in his next 2 fights. Imagine if he unified those 2 titles in his next 2 fights and fought Froch again this time next year in a huge unification match? It would be just as big as this one. Though that is a whole lot of ifs and not realistic but one can dream.

Groves to come again!

theanimal316 wrote:

What I find troublesome though is how much time he had to evade that massive right.  Was it just that he was so focused on landing that left hook like he had promised, had he spent too much time building up this fight and not taking Froch as seriously, or is there a chink in his defensive armour that needs improved?  Whilst a great shot I am concerned for George that he allowed that to land.

Malignaggi (disappointing I  thought... Maybe didnt want to upset the applecart of the nick and jim show.) suggested that froch's left hook was a distraction and not meant to land. I thought he was wrong, it was just a one-two with a hook not a jab. The hook hit his glove at the side of his face and knocked his head sideways into the path of the following right. Perfectly executed by froch, but without the hook landing, the right hand doesn't. It probably loosened his neck muscles and also gave him less time to ride or evade the follow up. One of those things, but obviously if he had the left hand up, there's a chance it blocks the following right.

Froch's feint helped close the gap before he threw the left, and a few of us before the fight were suggesting we 'd like to see groves move sideways rather than back up in straight lines onto the ropes. He did on occasions but not on this one. So... A great knockout that could maybe... I emphasise could not should... Have been prevented.

Guess its like any goal in football, the conceding team will see it as an error, the attacking team as great play... It's often a combination of  both.

Well that's my take anyway

to me Groves' error was that when he started swinging his own left hook back, he didn't bring his right hand around to the left of his face to block the following right. Instead he just threw the hook without looking with nothing protecting his chin. Great shot from Froch, and Groves barely saw it coming. Thought Groves showed some heart though trying to get to his feet.