Just watched them both.
Can't argue with the result of the second obviously, it was emphatic and probably Froch's best knockout. But I'd have watched a third. Groves was doing okay in the later rounds in the second fight, did he ever say why he started so slowly?
I really enjoyed the animosity between the two as well, I don't suppose there was ever a platform to sell a third fight but I would have liked to have seen it.
Strange that George is now 21-3 and seems an old 21-3 but he's relatively a young man with possibly a lot of years left ahead of him, where does he go? A Degale rematch at some point seems obvious, does he win it again? The first was razor thin. Or has Degale gone on, I'm not sure but I don't think George is the same fighter he was then, who trains him these days?
Carl Froch - George Groves
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MarkMcBurney
- Super Middleweight
- Posts: 1670
- Joined: 18 Nov 2012, 07:47
Re: Carl Froch - George Groves
Agree with most of that - I think in all honesty, even as a massive fan of GG, the first Froch fight probably came six months too early in terms of his overall development, even though he showed what he was capable of. I always felt he was good enough but with hindsight he'd have benefitted from another fight or two at, ironically, the Rebrasse type level to give him some awkward rounds, I think.
I think he started slower in the second purely because he knew he'd get a different Carl Froch, and going in swinging would have seen him taken out early by Carl IMO. I felt, and I haven't watched the second fight for at least a year, that Groves was just edging it up to the KO, even winning that round, but he made a fatal mistake. Take nothing away from the finish though, that's one of the best finishes I've seen in a British ring ever, it was perfect from Froch.
I think Groves can come again certainly. A rematch with Degale will always be there, although in reality it's at least 12 months away now. No idea who's training him but it's a big decision for George now. An Adam Booth trained Groves would have beaten Froch the first time round, I'm convinced of it, and he'd probably not have fallen for the feint in the second fight either. Paddy seems like a top fella and he knows his boxing but for one reason or another it just didn't really work with Groves. I'd like to see him team up with Shane McGuigan now.
I think he started slower in the second purely because he knew he'd get a different Carl Froch, and going in swinging would have seen him taken out early by Carl IMO. I felt, and I haven't watched the second fight for at least a year, that Groves was just edging it up to the KO, even winning that round, but he made a fatal mistake. Take nothing away from the finish though, that's one of the best finishes I've seen in a British ring ever, it was perfect from Froch.
I think Groves can come again certainly. A rematch with Degale will always be there, although in reality it's at least 12 months away now. No idea who's training him but it's a big decision for George now. An Adam Booth trained Groves would have beaten Froch the first time round, I'm convinced of it, and he'd probably not have fallen for the feint in the second fight either. Paddy seems like a top fella and he knows his boxing but for one reason or another it just didn't really work with Groves. I'd like to see him team up with Shane McGuigan now.
Re: Carl Froch - George Groves
Big fan of Groves in the ring. I think he started slow to have something in reserve for the later rounds when he knew Froch would come on.
But he had his way with Carl for so much of the first fight that he maybe fought under a false impression. Froch was still recovering from that early KD for the first half of the first fight...which is why groves had so much of his own way.
In every fight since the second Froch loss Groves seems to be trying too hard to impress. He just needs to go back to being relaxed and countering his opponents. I think he's a world class operator and hope he gets a title one day soon.
But he had his way with Carl for so much of the first fight that he maybe fought under a false impression. Froch was still recovering from that early KD for the first half of the first fight...which is why groves had so much of his own way.
In every fight since the second Froch loss Groves seems to be trying too hard to impress. He just needs to go back to being relaxed and countering his opponents. I think he's a world class operator and hope he gets a title one day soon.
Re: Carl Froch - George Groves
In the first fight, Groves had everything his own way and landed all of his best shots on Carl who was clearly buzzed but kept on coming and eventually wore GG down to a slightly premature stoppage. At that point Groves was spent and it’s unlikely he would have got through the next round, never mind survive until the end of the fight.
In the second fight, Groves adopted different tactics to try to outbox Froch, which in itself was an acknowledgement that he was spent in the first fight. Groves did do well through the first half of the fight, which was to be expected. At the time that the finishing punch landed I thought it was a close fight but felt Froch would be the more likelier of the two to finish stronger. The ending was conclusive.
I honestly think a third fight would have been more of the same. Froch simply had Groves’s number and if he didn’t take him out with a single punch he would probably always catch up on Groves with his far superior stamina and chin. Plus Groves has not looked as good since that defeat and IMO is highly unlikely to go on to become a better fighter than he was on either of those nights against Froch.
In the second fight, Groves adopted different tactics to try to outbox Froch, which in itself was an acknowledgement that he was spent in the first fight. Groves did do well through the first half of the fight, which was to be expected. At the time that the finishing punch landed I thought it was a close fight but felt Froch would be the more likelier of the two to finish stronger. The ending was conclusive.
I honestly think a third fight would have been more of the same. Froch simply had Groves’s number and if he didn’t take him out with a single punch he would probably always catch up on Groves with his far superior stamina and chin. Plus Groves has not looked as good since that defeat and IMO is highly unlikely to go on to become a better fighter than he was on either of those nights against Froch.