Carl Froch vs George Groves

Henno30 wrote: »

The much discussed footage of sparring between Froch and Eubank Jr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfd37A4z37M

Some delish combos from Eubank there, Froch didn't seem on the ball in that one. Mind you, we have no idea how long they had been sparring for that day.

If Groves' stamina is very good then he has a great chance. They have been replaying the first fight. Groves looked really gassy from rd 5 onwards. Worrying. Sure, he put a lot in, but he was blowing hard and looked very tired. Watching the training camps it seems that Groves is taking the fitness/stamina issue very seriously. Either he improves the stamina or he boxes a little more conservatively and a little less gung ho to conserve the stamina.

boxer.fan wrote: »

Getting the win over Kessler in the rematch was massively important for him & I think his exit strategy was to have a reasonably good payday against Ward in the UK. This didn't work out & here he is today with the biggest payday he could have dreamed of.

He's on record as saying (before the Groves rematch was announced) that his dream was to finish his career with a/ a fight at the City ground Nottingham and b/ a fight in Las Vegas. If he beats Groves I can see him having two more fights. A big fight in Vegas early next year and if he wins that one last fight in Nottingham. Obviously if he loses tomorrow evening it will most probably be his last fight.

walshb wrote: »

Will depend on the manner in which he loses. Surely a rubber match would be considered?

Eddie would certainly be rubbing his hands at the thought.

Froch gets 8 million from this, he could walk away regardless.

obezyana wrote: »

8 million, where did you see that? I read on Sky Sports he was due to pick up 4.5million and George would get just over 1million.

PPV upside presumably?

When all is said and done Froch should be down on his knees thanking his lucky stars for George Groves.

Groves has made this whole thing what it is. How many times would he have to fight Andre Ward to earn the money he's getting tomorrow night?

obezyana wrote: »

What? Have you followed George at all?

He is feeling very confident but him like Froch dumbed it down today at the press conference they know it's time to shut up as the fight is so close, Words mean nothing now.

The huge bulk of communication is non-verbal. The words coming out of your mouth can be totally at odds with your body language.

George seems to me to be completely bemused that the stuff that worked so effectively last time round has been countered so easily by Froch this time.

An example in microcosm was during the face-off interview with Johnny Nelson. When Carl answered calmly and more importantly honestly about the first fight, George seemed shocked. The longer the interview went on the more he was sitting there with his mouth open, saying nothing, mainly because (I believe) he was basing his strategy on Carl being in denial about the first fight. He didn't have a Plan B when Carl told the truth. But most obviously (to me at least) was when Carl countered Groves' "I'll tell him what punch I'm going to finish him with" with "Let me guess, it will be a right or a left". George let out a nervous laugh, then looked around for reassurance in a scene reminicent to that played out in hundreds of school playgrounds every day when the bully doesn't know what his next step is and looks to his gang for backup, but they're no help cos they know he has just been owned.

The more I hear George, the more I hear him going on and on about what Carl can't do rather than on what he himself can do. It's like he's trying to convince himself.

Having said that, I'm inclined to think the constant reference to the knockout is a smokescreen by Groves. I think this time round he's going to be far more conservative and disciplined and the gameplan will be to win on points without taking any major risks. He did it before with De Gale, when most thought (me included) he couldn't maintain his discipline.

Like last time round the best bets are probably Groves on points or Froch late.

walshb wrote: »

As much as a "dick" that George is acting there is something likable with him. He's just very naturally confident. There's a niceness to his confidence. With Froch there's a little more arrogance and superiority with his confidence.

Erm I don't really see that, Groves is confident enough in himself but I think his dickish almost schoolboy behaviour is just a selling tool, he wasn't half as bad in interviews when he was taking on DeGale. He got under Carl's skin last time, I don't really think he's achieved it this time.

walshb wrote: »

Joshua a solid and ripped 236 lbs

He really does look the part anyway!

Groves 166.5 lbs. Bit light. And wearing headphones
Froch is ??

Some dick covered the scales...