By Tonte Davies
Fighting for the super-middleweight title was definitely not a time for Carl Froch and George Groves to mince words ahead of their rematch. And what a rematch it was on Saturday as Froch defeated Groves with his right-hand power jab retaining the world titles. Described as a “stunning knockout”, the fight was in front of an 80,000 crowd at Wembley stadium, London, and a large TV audience around the world. Quite a number of celebrities were attracted to the fight too.
Typical of pugilists, Froch and Groves had fuelled the rematch with war of words which appeared to be somewhat of a bitter feud between the two. Apparently, this is not the first time both fighters will be facing each other. Their previous encounter was November 2013, in which Froch won the fight in what was deemed “controversial” by some observers in the ninth round.
Saturday’s encounter ended in the eighth round with Froch striking a devastating blow to Groves’ face who went down flat. Groves had earlier in round one piled a predicted hook to Froch granting the former a lead. The second round was not far from the first and again, Groves was still in the lead while Froch attempted to be careful. By the third round, Froch delivered a solid right jab earning him a first round despite a retaliatory right from Groves.
It seemed Froch had more fans behind him than Groves. Fans were aroused by a head-snapping left hook from Froch on Groves, with Froch still in the advantaged lead in the fourth round. “I’ve been in with some of the best fighters in the world, and it was neck and neck in there,” said Froch to Sky Sports Box Office, after the final decision. Froch pointedly made it clear his win did not come easy. In round five, Froch was steady in control trapping young Groves with left and right punches.
Froch was bleeding slightly from his nose by the sixth round but this was not an obstacle to his tempo and well-driven punches. “Not only do I fight but I can box a lot better than people give me credit,” Froch said. All this while, Groves was not totally out of the picture. The young challenger submitted his promised left hook making a “heavy connection” to Froch’s face and for a moment, Froch learnt the “crip walk” move stepping backwards.
Groves hook slowed Froch for just a little while; it did not stop Froch. In fact, Froch did not want to be stopped. Unlike their first fight last year, Froch delivered his right landing it mightily on Groves with the latter losing balance and difficulty to stand or keep up. It was over. “Ours is a brutal sport, but still a sport. Maybe sometimes we don’t much like each other. But while I knew it was fight over as soon as I landed that punch and was very happy about that, none of us want to see anyone’s health damaged permanently,” Froch said.
George Groves laughed off his loss joking about himself in a television interview on Sky Sports but congratulated Carl Froch for his win.
Image source: Kevin Quigley