why so suprised?

[keirw]

why is everyone so suprised in the outcome of the Froch vs Groves fight?

on paper it turned out as most predicted, Groves, the better boxer dominating him early on. And Froch, the warrior , coming on late in the fight to finish it.


was it the premature stoppage that shocked people most? or the sheer level of domiation shown by Groves?

be honest guys, dont hold back

[U.F.O]

I wasn't surprised by Groves Domination, it's not like we havn't seen Froch easily outboxed before.
and we already know Froch is a warrior and comes on strong late on.

I was mainly surprised with Groves power, the Froch knockdown and then of cause the hopelessly early stoppage that ruined the fight .

[CheckHook]

I was shocked by Groves power.... Prefight I would've said he probably didn't even hit as hard as Kessler/ Bute and had over rated power. He showed he had legit power tonight and enough ability to get his punches home. Really feel like Froch needs to start to think about his future though, that chin wont hold up forever.

[jessi]

Even those who thought groves would do it must of been shocked at groves's domination of the first 5 rounds, Froch really took a while to get over that 1st round knock down, ashame the ending was controversial, it was a great fight

[palooka]

Bought stoppage; Groves dominated and Froch was very shy of getting whacked. George did what he said he would do and Froch was desperate to shake Groves' hand at the end; if Foster was to jump in after 2 punches from Froch he should have done it after 10 from Groves earlier.

[manno]

Bought stoppage; Groves dominated and Froch was very shy of getting whacked. George did what he said he would do and Froch was desperate to shake Groves' hand at the end; if Foster was to jump in after 2 punches from Froch he should have done it after 10 from Groves earlier.

Palooka i generally look for your posts on a subject as your opinion is sound and for what i can see un-biased (recent example, Hobson-Mcdonnel debacle). So honestly despite, GG's domination up to that point, do you think Froch would have got him out of there anyway at some point in the fight after hurting him if Howard Foster hadn't dropped a bollock?

[Tykemania]

Bought stoppage; Groves dominated and Froch was very shy of getting whacked. George did what he said he would do and Froch was desperate to shake Groves' hand at the end; if Foster was to jump in after 2 punches from Froch he should have done it after 10 from Groves earlier.

Are you Jim WAtt in disguise?

Seriously, two of the judges had it 76-75 before the ninth and I think that was a far more accurate assessment of where the fight was to that point. I got quite irate watched what was a superb brawl hearing the Sky commentators repeatedly praise Groves's work whilst ignoring loads of clean shots going the other way - it was clear that they desperately wanted Groves to win and were only looking at one side of the action.

The stoppage is a different matter - it was pretty premature. Groves should have been given a standing count - he was kept up by the ropes within that barrage - and then allowed to continue. I don't think he would have survived because the Cobra was getting to him at will by then, but the stoppage leaves a real question amrk in people's minds.

[Happy Slapper]

Bought stoppage; Groves dominated and Froch was very shy of getting whacked. George did what he said he would do and Froch was desperate to shake Groves' hand at the end; if Foster was to jump in after 2 punches from Froch he should have done it after 10 from Groves earlier.

Are you Jim WAtt in disguise?

Seriously, two of the judges had it 76-75 before the ninth and I think that was a far more accurate assessment of where the fight was to that point. I got quite irate watched what was a superb brawl hearing the Sky commentators repeatedly praise Groves's work whilst ignoring loads of clean shots going the other way - it was clear that they desperately wanted Groves to win and were only looking at one side of the action.

The stoppage is a different matter - it was pretty premature. Groves should have been given a standing count - he was kept up by the ropes within that barrage - and then allowed to continue. I don't think he would have survived because the Cobra was getting to him at will by then, but the stoppage leaves a real question amrk in people's minds.

You're an idiot. Sky have put LOADS of money into Froch and he is their new PPV darling. They wanted him to win and the build up showed that.

Doing the tactics to the fight on Friday were James Degale (Groves biggest enemy) and Richie Woodhall (works in Rob McCraken's gym)! Hardly a Groves friendly set-up!

Don't be a fool. Jim Watt was calling what he saw and what 95% of the population saw. A total mauling.

[palooka]

Bought stoppage; Groves dominated and Froch was very shy of getting whacked. George did what he said he would do and Froch was desperate to shake Groves' hand at the end; if Foster was to jump in after 2 punches from Froch he should have done it after 10 from Groves earlier.

Palooka i generally look for your posts on a subject as your opinion is sound and for what i can see un-biased (recent example, Hobson-Mcdonnel debacle). So honestly despite, GG's domination up to that point, do you think Froch would have got him out of there anyway at some point in the fight after hurting him if Howard Foster hadn't dropped a bollock?

Thank you manno I honestly do not know how Groves would have fared; we all know Froch keeps on until the end and has a real will to win; I do think that Groves could have gotten through that mini crisis and gathered himself. I don't think the ref was bought off (though I was mad at the time having put a tenner on Groves) but the 'narrative' before the bout was that Groves would do well early on and Froch come on strong - the ref allowed Froch to endure punishment and gather himself and did not allow Groves the same opportunity. (It also looks as though the judges wouldn't allow Groves to have won the bout even if he did win the bout - it's a strange sport, my wife won't watch as she says it's corrupt - she gets madder than me! )

[SamWise72]

I did not see a total mauling. I saw the first two rounds strongly Groves way, even without the knockdown. From the third onwards (with Groves three points up) to the 5th, I saw lots of give and take, with Groves generally getting the better of it, but far from dominating. The 6th, Groves had that big attack, but I felt like after that, he'd shot his bolt. At that point, I could have given 6 rounds plus a 10-8 to Groves, or I could have given p to 3 rounds to Froch, so the score 60-52 and 57-56, with only the 10-8 separating them. I'd say that at that point, 59-53 was probably about right. Froch for me won the 7th and 8th, so I'd have it 79-75 and was winning the 9th up til the stoppage. Also, I note that whilst Groves absolutely flattened him in the first, he clearly didn't feel confident enough to mount a really effective follow-up; imagine how Benn would have gone after that KD. For me, that suggests he really didn't feel Froch was gone. By comparison, when Froch hurt Groves in the 9th, he went after him like a wild animal, and Groves was being punched around like a rag doll, a real contrast. To the stoppage was premature, but I have no doubt that Groves was done, and clearly Froch had little doubt either.

The big surprise to me was how hard Groves hit; I was expecting him to be a bit slicker, and to steal a few early, but I wasn't buying the second coming of Julian Jackson line, and I think he did well to maintain his control of the fight so long as he did. He hits a lot harder than I thought.