Super middleweight contender George Groves was very close to securing one of the biggest upset victories of the last few years, when he scored a hard knockdown of IBF/WBA champion Carl Froch in the first round and then outboxed him for the majority of fight. Groves was ahead on all three of the official cards, when Froch got him in the some trouble in the ninth round and the referee jumped in to stop the action.

Groves admits he was hurt, but nowhere near as hurt as Froch was in several of the previous rounds. The Manchester crowd was furious with the stoppage by referee Howard Foster.

Groves felt the referee jumped in too soon because his ability to take a good punch has been questioned several times in the past and Froch is regarded as a very hard puncher.

"I feel that the ref got it wrong," Groves said. "There's no way it should have been stopped. It's a bitter pill to swallow. I think I'm a victim of my 'chinny' reputation and a victim of Froch's supposed punching power. We are going to look back at it and see if anything can be done. This won't sit easy with me."