By Mark Vester
WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch has denied a recent story put out there by undefeated British champion James DeGale. In a recent piece, DeGale claimed Froch knocked out another unbeaten Brit, George Groves, during a sparring session. DeGale faces Groves on May 21 at the O2 Arena in London. Froch admits that he dropped Groves during the sparring, but there was never a knockout and Groves continued to spar.
"That’s rubbish; I don’t talk about sparring cos its just sparring. Yes I put Groves over, he’ll tell you that, and it was in Sheffield with the GB squad so a lot of them watched me do it and have probably talked about it I guess. It’s sparring at the end of the day. And I didn’t knock him out, if I knock somebody out that means they’re out cold and don’t carry on fighting. I put him over in about round two or three of our spar and he got up and carried on for another couple of rounds, he was alright. I’ve already said DeGale is kidding himself if he thinks this fight is a formality," Froch told boxingfutures.com
Froch is not ruling out an upset win by Groves. Most have DeGale as the big favorite to win, but Froch is giving Groves a shot because of his tough training and good preparation for the fight. Groves has been sparring in Miami with top contender Andre Dirrell.
"For me it’s a lot closer than everybody seems to think. People say DeGale hasn’t been tested yet but that’s because he’s outboxed everyone he’s gone in the ring with. But don’t write off Groves, he’s got the perfect sparring partner in Andre Dirrell, he’s fast, hard to hit and comes back with good shots. It’s great preparation for someone like DeGale," Froch said.