Froch: Mission Impossible, No Way Does Groves Beat Eubank!

On February 17th at the Manchester Arena, an Ali Trophy semi-final bout will take place in the super middleweight edition of the World Boxing Super Series between WBA champion George Groves (27-3, 20 KOs) and IBO champion Chris Eubank Jr. (26-1, 20 KOs).

28-year-old Eubank Jr. went to Stuttgart in Germany on October 7 and produced a clinical display at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle to stop Turkish Avni Yildirim inside three rounds.

29-year-old Groves excited in London on October 14 when he defeated fellow British fighter Jamie Cox at the SSE Arena with a fourth round knockout due to a right-hook body shot.

Former super middleweight champion Carl Froch, who holds two knockout wins over Groves, believes his former foe will be no match for Eubank Jr.

Froch used Eubank Jr as his main sparring partner to prepare for the 2014 rematch with Groves - which brought in 80,000 fans to Wembley in London.

After mulling the matchup in his head, he sees no possibility of a victory coming together for Groves.

In the opinion of Froch, the sparring sessions with Eubank were a lot tougher than the actual rematch with Groves.

"I'm going to get this out of the way now. I've sparred one, fought the other of course, and it is impossible for me to make a case for Groves to win their fight. We've all seen and read what they've both come out with and yes, it is not until February, but I will not change my mind. It is Mission Impossible for Groves," Froch said to Sky Sports.

"I just don't think he has the capability of stopping Chris Eubank Jr and now, if you don't stop Chris Eubank Jr you don't win on points. Ever since that loss to Billy Joe Saunders, he hasn't messed around, took his time or taken his foot off the gas early on and to me, he is now super fit. He is strong enough to demand respect but Groves doesn't need to worry about getting knocked out with one punch, but that aside, Eubank Jr has a ferocious work rate, will go for the full 12 rounds and here's the sting in the tale: you just can't hurt him.

"It was far harder sparring him than it was fighting Groves with those small gloves on at Wembley. Sparring with him was competitive, uncomfortable and I hit him with around six or seven right hands - the same right hand that knocked Groves out - and I couldn't have hit Eubank Jr any sweeter. He just rolled off, looked at me and carried on punching. Eubank Jr also threw a lot of shots, and even though I was fully focused - unlike the first fight with Groves - I got hit with a lot that I just didn't see coming."

Froch was not impressed by Groves' win over Cox. He felt Groves was starting to tire and also got hit with more shots than necssary. 

"The only way for Groves to beat him is to keep out of his way and out-box him, win on points. But the problem is I don't think he's fit enough. He doesn't have the engine and if I am honest, he didn't look that good in the first Super Series fight against Jamie Cox," Groves said.