Fight fixing claim by fighter

[Controversial]

This popped up on my YouTube feed. It’s a fighter called Ruben Groenewald who fought Froch in 2005 alledging he was visited the night before their fight by some unknown person, who informed him that the ref would stop the fight in the 5th round as there was a lot of money riding on it (it did get stopped in the 5th).



I can’t say I’ve heard of this allegation before, or of Groenewald to be honest. Seems a weird thing to come out with, what are your thoughts?

[jamamb]

well, tbh, i havent seen that fight, my first thought is if the stoppage seemed justified and like the appropriate thing to do anyway

also, the guy straight away says something like 'ive said a lot of controversial things and im going to keep doing it'. hmmm, i dunno, sometimes im not sure the 'keeping it real' guys keep it all that real

[tiny_acres]

Just watched it on YouTube.
Crappiest stoppage I've seen

[Boxerbeetle]

Terrible stoppage, but that’s no big surprise, we see loads of them from British refs. Corruption wouldn’t be a surprise either though, we also see that regularly from referees & judges.

I just don’t understand why the guy wouldn’t raise concerns immediately - if he’d been warned about fight fixing beforehand, surely he would have demanded a proper investigation straight after the fight?

[spudder56]

Think I recall Carl being interviewed on radio about this and I’m pretty sure he mentions it in his book as well so draw your own conclusions

[jamamb]

Think I recall Carl being interviewed on radio about this and I’m pretty sure he mentions it in his book as well so draw your own conclusions

as in, he supports some of the stuff that groenwaldo said ?

[dookus]

I remember Carl mentioning after the Haye-Harrison controversy (Haye said he'd told his friends to bet on round 3 then hastily backpedaled when it all blew up) that he'd done a similar thing with the Groenewald fight.

[Dirk Kelly]

Wonder why he didn’t lump everything he had on Frotch winning in round 5 then?

[rd350lc]

Corruption in boxing , ney cannie believe it !

[Oiky]

Skullduggery

[MasterG]

he (Ruben Groenewald) has written a book



hes quite a chatable fella on Facebook too.

[sharpei_louis]

Erm.... why didn't Groenewald go out there and spark Frochy out in the 1st then?

[rhino222]

interesting interview with a very nervous looking Ruben Groenewald.

it made me re-watch the fight:

firstly Rubens white shorts were not too small.

secondly he did wear his black gown (said he didnt in the interview)

thirdly - froch did connect with some decent leather in the 5th.

in support of Ruben, it was a very premature stoppage but not the worst id seen. im sure HF realises it was premature, but hindsight is easy in this game.

[Controversial]

Not sure it makes sense, I didn't realise he had a book out which might explain why this is now being talked about. I don't doubt for one second boxing is corrupt and I'm sure betting on fights finishing in certain rounds happens a lot, fighters carrying people etc or taking dives. With the lack of money some guys make I imagine it happens more than you think. But although the stoppage looked kind of premature it wasn't the worst. Why would some random stranger warn him? The bookies are quite good at spotting unusual betting patterns and high sums of money being bet on specific outcomes, be interesting to know if there was a higher amount of money than normal placed on round 5

[Controversial]

Actually I take it all back, looks like Froch did admit to it back in 2012 !!!

"Former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch helped family members win bets by extending the duration of his bouts, the fighter admitted today. The Nottingham-based fighter explained that during some of his previous title bouts he would consider when his family and friends had placed bets on him to win and wouldn't attempt to finish the fight until he reached the round in question.

"I've done it more than one occasion and it was round five but that's not illegal," he told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"I can say, 'right, I'll stop this kid in round five'. If I'm good enough to do that then fair enough.

"I don't gamble but my brothers and my friends, they did quite well off it."

One example of this came in Froch's 2005 bout with Ruben Groenewald, where Froch claimed he could have stopped his opponent early, but held back until a later round.

"I can openly say that because if I'm good enough to step on the gas in round five and force the stoppage then that's my privilege," he explained.

"And that's what I did in this particular fight at the Arena for the Commonwealth title defence.

"But the problem with that is I held him up in round four.

"He was there for the taking and I held him up, I got him with a shot, I could have ended up getting done myself in round four."

Despite Froch's insistence that his actions were not illegal, it is believed the British Boxing Board of Control may now want to meet with Froch to receive a fuller explanation".

[spudder56]

Actually I take it all back, looks like Froch did admit to it back in 2012 !!!

"Former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch helped family members win bets by extending the duration of his bouts, the fighter admitted today. The Nottingham-based fighter explained that during some of his previous title bouts he would consider when his family and friends had placed bets on him to win and wouldn't attempt to finish the fight until he reached the round in question.

"I've done it more than one occasion and it was round five but that's not illegal," he told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"I can say, 'right, I'll stop this kid in round five'. If I'm good enough to do that then fair enough.

"I don't gamble but my brothers and my friends, they did quite well off it."

One example of this came in Froch's 2005 bout with Ruben Groenewald, where Froch claimed he could have stopped his opponent early, but held back until a later round.

"I can openly say that because if I'm good enough to step on the gas in round five and force the stoppage then that's my privilege," he explained.

"And that's what I did in this particular fight at the Arena for the Commonwealth title defence.

"But the problem with that is I held him up in round four.

"He was there for the taking and I held him up, I got him with a shot, I could have ended up getting done myself in round four."

Despite Froch's insistence that his actions were not illegal, it is believed the British Boxing Board of Control may now want to meet with Froch to receive a fuller explanation".

The board were fully aware of the interview at the time

[Controversial]

The board were fully aware of the interview at the time

Did he get fined or is it deemed legal?

[bripez]

Actually I take it all back, looks like Froch did admit to it back in 2012 !!!

"Former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch helped family members win bets by extending the duration of his bouts, the fighter admitted today. The Nottingham-based fighter explained that during some of his previous title bouts he would consider when his family and friends had placed bets on him to win and wouldn't attempt to finish the fight until he reached the round in question.

"I've done it more than one occasion and it was round five but that's not illegal," he told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"I can say, 'right, I'll stop this kid in round five'. If I'm good enough to do that then fair enough.

"I don't gamble but my brothers and my friends, they did quite well off it."

One example of this came in Froch's 2005 bout with Ruben Groenewald, where Froch claimed he could have stopped his opponent early, but held back until a later round.

"I can openly say that because if I'm good enough to step on the gas in round five and force the stoppage then that's my privilege," he explained.

"And that's what I did in this particular fight at the Arena for the Commonwealth title defence.

"But the problem with that is I held him up in round four.

"He was there for the taking and I held him up, I got him with a shot, I could have ended up getting done myself in round four."

Despite Froch's insistence that his actions were not illegal, it is believed the British Boxing Board of Control may now want to meet with Froch to receive a fuller explanation".

The board were fully aware of the interview at the time

They certainly did, but will probably say the usual about nobody filling in a form and making a formal complaint in triplicate so they couldn’t investigate.

If a domestic level lad without one of the big promoters behind him said the same thing on Twitter they would probably ban him!

[bripez]

The board were fully aware of the interview at the time

Did he get fined or is it deemed legal?

You would think that this would come under bringing the sport into disrepute at the very least?

[Controversial]

The board were fully aware of the interview at the time

Did he get fined or is it deemed legal?

You would think that this would come under bringing the sport into disrepute at the very least?

Yes seems odd that Froch even admitted to it

[spudder56]

The board were fully aware of the interview at the time

Did he get fined or is it deemed legal?

You would think that this would come under bringing the sport into disrepute at the very least?

Only the board can answer that tbh

[bripez]

Did he get fined or is it deemed legal?

You would think that this would come under bringing the sport into disrepute at the very least?

Only the board can answer that tbh

Why?

Anybody with any sense can see that a boxer admitting to carrying a fight to stop his opponent in a specific round so his brother and mates can win a load of money falls into the category of bringing the sport into disrepute

[spudder56]

You would think that this would come under bringing the sport into disrepute at the very least?

Only the board can answer that tbh

Why?

Anybody with any sense can see that a boxer admitting to carrying a fight to stop his opponent in a specific round so his brother and mates can win a load of money falls into the category of bringing the sport into disrepute

Yes but as I said you will have to ask the board why they chose not to do anything at the time especially as they were fully aware of the interview etc

[bripez]

Only the board can answer that tbh

Why?

Anybody with any sense can see that a boxer admitting to carrying a fight to stop his opponent in a specific round so his brother and mates can win a load of money falls into the category of bringing the sport into disrepute

Yes but as I said you will have to ask the board why they chose not to do anything at the time especially as they were fully aware of the interview etc

Sorry, I misunderstood.

Like I said before, I am sure they will say that as nobody (ie BBBofC member) made a written complaint then they couldn’t investigate.

[spudder56]

Why?

Anybody with any sense can see that a boxer admitting to carrying a fight to stop his opponent in a specific round so his brother and mates can win a load of money falls into the category of bringing the sport into disrepute

Yes but as I said you will have to ask the board why they chose not to do anything at the time especially as they were fully aware of the interview etc

Sorry, I misunderstood.

Like I said before, I am sure they will say that as nobody (ie BBBofC member) made a written complaint then they couldn’t investigate.

Written complaints were made at the time