By Terence Dooley
Wembley Stadium will be unveiled as the venue for Carl Froch's WBA and IBF Super middleweight title rematch with former British and Commonwealth champion George Groves live on Sky Sports News on Tuesday afternoon. The England football team's home ground has beaten Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and Nottingham's City Ground in the race to hold the eagerly anticipated fight, which takes place on May 31st.
BoxingScene understands that the Sky TV team have already visited Wembley to work through the pragmatics of broadcasting a show from the 80,000 capacity stadium. Wembley will host England versus Peru the night before, the venue will then welcome Sky, Froch, 32-2 (23), and Groves, 19-1 (15), as well as a huge amount of boxing fans.
Tickets go on general sale next Monday (the 10th). British fans will have to be quick off the mark, though, as the fight is bound to sell out quickly despite the size of the venue due to the level of attention that was generated when referee Howard Foster stopped Groves at 1:33 of the ninth round in November. The 25-year-old challenger has protested the stoppage ever since—his appeal to the IBF garnered an instant rematch, but his efforts to get the BBBoC to overturn the result came to naught.
Froch was floored heavily during the first stanza of their meeting at Manchester's Phones 4U Arena only to edge his way back into the fight when Groves's paced dipped in the middle rounds. The 36-year-old believes that Foster denied him a clean KO, he is keen to prove his point in the rematch.
The IBF confirmed that the rematch was taking place during a conversation with BoxingScene last month. It was formally announced the next day—despite erroneous reports that official confirmation would take a few days—and British fans have been speculating over every aspect of the fight ever since. With the lure of Wembley now thrown into the mix, the event will continue to grow and grow.
Please send news and views to neckodeemus@hotmail.co.uk or Twitter @Terryboxing.
BoxingScene understands that the Sky TV team have already visited Wembley to work through the pragmatics of broadcasting a show from the 80,000 capacity stadium. Wembley will host England versus Peru the night before, the venue will then welcome Sky, Froch, 32-2 (23), and Groves, 19-1 (15), as well as a huge amount of boxing fans.
Tickets go on general sale next Monday (the 10th). British fans will have to be quick off the mark, though, as the fight is bound to sell out quickly despite the size of the venue due to the level of attention that was generated when referee Howard Foster stopped Groves at 1:33 of the ninth round in November. The 25-year-old challenger has protested the stoppage ever since—his appeal to the IBF garnered an instant rematch, but his efforts to get the BBBoC to overturn the result came to naught.
Froch was floored heavily during the first stanza of their meeting at Manchester's Phones 4U Arena only to edge his way back into the fight when Groves's paced dipped in the middle rounds. The 36-year-old believes that Foster denied him a clean KO, he is keen to prove his point in the rematch.
The IBF confirmed that the rematch was taking place during a conversation with BoxingScene last month. It was formally announced the next day—despite erroneous reports that official confirmation would take a few days—and British fans have been speculating over every aspect of the fight ever since. With the lure of Wembley now thrown into the mix, the event will continue to grow and grow.
Please send news and views to neckodeemus@hotmail.co.uk or Twitter @Terryboxing.