Who is better positioned than Carl Froch to give an opinion on whether George Groves is simply the master of hype, with average boxing ability or the real deal and a possible upcoming champion. Unfortunately and probably predictably so for George Groves, Froch has stated in a recent interview that he simply isn’t world champion material. He went on to say “To sum up George Groves, he’s a giver, not a taker. He can dish punishment out and he’s good on the offence, but he can’t take punishment”. Damning words from the man who so brutally knocked out Groves at Wembley Stadium in his last fight.
“If you want to become a world champion and dominate at world level, you have to be able to take a punch. You have to be like myself, or Mikkel Kessler, or Jermain Taylor, or Jean Pascal, or Arthur Abraham – these fighters that go 12 rounds with me.”
Froch makes an excellent point and it was clear for everyone to see that over the two fight he had with Groves, Groves really only caused him any trouble in the first half of the first fight. Froch was rusty throughout the first fight, he probably underestimated Groves and wasn’t prepared for the early onslaught but even then he didn’t manage to knock Froch out.
Froch has one of the best chins in boxing, it may as well be made out of granite so it takes a decent punch to knock him down, but a hell of a lot more to actually knock him out. Groves demonstrated his power well in the first fight, but when it came to ring craft, defensive skill and picking the right moment to launch an attack, Froch showed he was in another class to Groves.
