One needn't’ be a Sherlock Holmes to deduce that Carl Froch and George Groves, who meet in the ring this Saturday night, don’t like each other.
The all-British clash will take place at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England with Froch putting his WBA and IBF super middleweight titles on the line.
The bad blood started a few months ago when Froch was training to fight Mikkel Kessler. When it was revealed that Groves was sparring with Kessler, Froch acted as if Groves had morphed into an English Judas.
“I certainly wouldn’t help a foreign fighter prepare for a British fighter and I’ve not spoken to anybody who would,” said Froch to the media.
After a testy news conference to announce their fight, the two combatants met up again at the Sky Sports Studio.
Groves, dressed in a blazer, resembled a young executive, while Froch, in a knit sweater and T-shirt, dressed down. Within minutes of their joint interview commencing, the animosity between the two fighters began to boil over.
Interviewer Adam Smith quickly sensed what was going on and asked a question.
“We've noticed you're just using his surname,” said Smith to Groves.
Groves quickly replied, “That's his name isn't it? His name is Froch. At this moment in time he's not my friend so it would be rude for me to address him by his first name.”
Froch was asked if the lack of respect bothered him.
"I come to expect this from a young fighter,” he said. “I've heard it all before. I've heard the same confident talk or arrogance, whatever you want to call it, about what they're going to do and how they're going to beat me time and time again. I get in the ring on the night and something totally different happens.”
Groves disagreed, “The fact remains that all I've done is tell the truth. I told the truth about how he's been exposed in previous fights and I've shown where's he's looked vulnerable and shown weaknesses. It's up to me to go out there and exploit those weaknesses.”
What was this young upstart up to?
He’s undefeated in 19 professional fights, with 15 knockouts, but he’s never faced anyone like Froch. The Nottingham bomber has won 31 of his 33 fights. He’s fought all the best fighters in the super-middleweight division. His only convincing loss was to the supremely talented Andre Ward two years ago.
Froch looked genuinely perturbed as Groves continued his verbal assault.
“Calm down, Carl. Are you going to cry,” said Groves. “I can hear your voice breaking. He’s going to cry!”
Smith’s sidekick Johnny Nelson picked up on the irony of Groves’ arrogance and total lack of respect. He asked Froch a logical question.
“Does this remind you of a younger version of yourself?” said Nelson.
Froch, who hadn’t even glanced at Groves during the interview, answered the question like he was testifying at a trial.
“No. I don't think I've ever been so stupid and arrogant in my whole life,” Froch said. “That's not me in previous years.”
Actually, Froch has a very selective memory. Seven years ago, he taunted and called out undefeated champion Joe Calzaghe on a regular basis. Calzaghe ignored him, defeated Mikkel Kessler, Bernard Hopkins, and Roy Jones and promptly retired.
So in a way, Froch is facing a variation of himself on November 23. Groves hasn’t faced near the competition that Froch has. His 15 knockouts have come against lower-level fighters. Still Groves has a chance to spring the upset. He’ll have the edge in speed, but in the end the more experienced Froch should be able to prevail.
Will a loss shut up Groves?
Probably not. And why should it? A defeat hasn’t stopped Froch from telling it like it is, at least from his own particular perspective.
As the ring announcer used to say over 100 years ago, “Let 'em go.”
Indeed.
A big thanks to Ringside and skysportsboxing for allowing me to use the above quotes for this article.
John J. Raspanti responds to all his emails. Please send all questions and comments to John at: marlow_58@hotmail.com
