War of words heats up ahead of potential Froch v Groves II

The dust has barely settled after the epic Battle of Britain between Carl Froch and George Groves but the mudslinging usually seen in the weeks leading up to a fight has continued unabated ahead of any potential rematch.

Challenger Groves shocked many with a blistering start at the Phones4U Arena in Manchester by flooring strap holder Froch in the first round.

However, The Cobra recovered well and would have been ahead on many onlookers’ scorecards had the referee not stopped the fight in the ninth round in favour of the Nottingham man.

While the result has now been resigned to the history books of boxing, Groves’ belief that the bout was brought to a premature end, a view held by many boxing fans, has sparked huge demand for a rematch.

Groves has gone as far to claim Froch’s only options now are a rematch or retirement, telling BBC Radio 5 Live that his credibility will be “shot to pieces” if he avoids a potential Froch v Groves II.

“I feel for boxing’s sake this rematch needs to take place or Carl Froch will retire. I understand if he wants to retire. He took a hell of a lot of punches in that fight, maybe lasting punches,” he said.

However, it is comments like these that could well see Groves talk his way out of any future fight with The Cobra.

In a recent interview with Boxing News, Froch claimed Groves’ lack of respect is making a rematch less appealing, with the IBF and WBA super middleweight champion instead favouring another crack at America’s Andre Ward.

“If he wants this fight, he’s got to start showing a bit more humility,” Froch said of Groves.

“He needs to grow up and start being a bit more respectful of what he’s saying because he’s living in cloud cuckoo land at the minute. He’s obviously devastated and gutted but the only person he’s got to blame is himself, nobody else.”

Should the champ decide to climb through the ropes to face Groves a second time he will do so as favourite to retain his belts, with Ladbrokes pricing the 36-year-old at 1/2.

However, Groves did enough in the first bout to prove he is worthy of sharing a ring with Froch and despite being ranked as the outsider, the west London fighter is priced at 6/4 to cause an upset.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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