By Michael Bailey
It has recently been revealed that Carl Froch and George Groves will face each other in a rematch that is expected to take place on 31st March 2014. This is after of course the controversial ending of the Froch-Groves I, in which George Groves alleged that he was stopped too soon in the 9th round. News of this rematch started rumors that this match will be the biggest bout in Britain of 2014. I expect that above rumor will be proven, but with little possibility of a controversial ending like the first Froch-Groves bout ended.
In my opinion Carl Froch will defeat George Groves to make it a second victory for the WBA & IBF Super-Middleweight champion. I believe that Froch has an advantage that he didn’t in his first bout with George Groves. This advantage I talk about is the fact that the WBA & IBF Super-Middleweight champion has faced George Groves before. This is of course obvious as you can’t speak of a rematch if two boxers haven’t faced each other before, but now Carl Froch knows all the finer things about his opponent when they face each other on 31st February 2014.
Whilst a valid reply to my argument would be “Yes but this can’t be an advantage for Froch as surely George Groves has this same experience”, there is another thing that allows Carl Froch to have a slight edge on George Groves. This advantage is Carts’ longer professional boxing record that has seen the WBA & IBF Super-Middleweight champion face a wide range of top level boxers who’s’ style that is far wider than George Groves. Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham and Andre Ward have all been opponents of Carl Froch, something that George Groves hasn’t experienced before.
Of course the level of opponents doesn’t make it an automatic victory for Car Froch, as sometimes looking at a boxers pass to work out how they cope with whoever they are facing in the future is a task doomed to fail. So Carl Froch is aware that he must be at his best when it comes to his fitness and all the other things that a champion has to be well versed in. Being a professional since 2002 Carl must be aware how much effort he needs in his training and not cutting too many corners, but at the age of 36 has the WBA & IBF Super-Middleweight champion reached the point where he no longer has the want or hunger that he once had?
I don’t have any facts to prove the above theory, so please don’t believe what I say without finding out the fact for yourself. But as a financially secure male, with a new child and a wife, does Carl Froch still enjoy all the hours of pain that is involved in training for each bout? But then perhaps the above is a great motivator for Carl Froch. All in all only Froch knows this. But in my opinion another win for Froch against George Groves is the likeliest result, in a bout that will be an exciting bout.
