By Ian S Palmer
Manchester, England is the site of an all-British super middleweight showdown this Saturday, November 23 when Carl “The Cobra” Froch of England defends his IBF and WBA titles against fellow countryman George Groves. While Groves may be a bit of a disappointment as a choice of opponent for the champion he still has a chance to pull off an upset here.
The 25-year-old challenger is undefeated with a perfect record of 19-0 and has shown some power in those fights by winning 15 of them within the distance. He’s about six feet tall, has a reach of 72 inches and is the former British and Commonwealth Super Middleweight Champion. He was an excellent amateur and possesses fine boxing skills. He managed to beat James DeGale by a majority decision in his 10th pro bout and has also beaten Glen Johnson by decision.
Froch is now 36 years old and he’ll be entering the ring with a record of 31-2 along with 22 Kos. He’s an inch taller than the challenger and also has a three-inch reach advantage. Froch has been a belt holder a few times in his career and his only losses came to Andre Ward and Mikkel Kessler, both by unanimous decision. Froch is a good boxer and banger, but he doesn’t really possess one-punch KO power. He hits hard, but tends to win fights by wearing his opponents down over the course of a fight. In fact, he may actually be a better boxer than pure puncher.
However, it’s not really in the champion’s nature to box while he can slug it out. There’s no doubt he’s not shy about getting involved in brawls as he still uses his excellent and stiff jab as an effective offensive and defensive weapon. But overall, Groves could very well be the better boxer here and he also has good power. This means Froch may try to slug it out here instead of trying to outbox his younger opponent.
Froch has also shown over the years that he has a solid chin and it’s doubtful that Groves has the type of power to discourage the champion from coming forward. Froch seems to always find a way to win unless he’s been in against the best in the world pound-for pound. He may give up some rounds to Groves, but his determination and heart could be the deciding factor. But if Groves’ chin is just as good as Froch’s this is going to be a see-saw battle with both men giving as much as they receive.
Groves could easily get a quick start on the scorecards here since he’s actually the better boxer. Froch will need to try and bull his way in to be effective and once he does the momentum should swing in his favour. Sooner or later the champion will take over and follow up his stiff jabs with hard rights to the body and head. Groves will probably stand up to the barrage though and land some counters of his own, but after 12 rounds we should see Froch hang onto his belts by a few rounds on the scorecards.
