My View on the Groves Stoppage.

I personally don't feel it should have been stopped in that moment. Groves got caught a few times but took the shots, he threw two punches seconds before the fight was stopped and was moving and trying to evade punches. He wasn't caught on the ropes, getting teed off on with his head snapping back. Having said that probably a few seconds later it would have been time to stop it. Probably. But due to the circumstances in that moment, the nature of the fight and its importance I feel Groves earned an extra few seconds to prove he could weather the storm. But to be fair to the referee he's got a split second to make a decision. If he'd allowed it to continue and Froch seriously hurt Groves then everyone would be crucifying him for that reason. What I take issue with is that he gave Froch every chance after the knockdown. Froch was down heavily and on jelly legs when he got back up. Groves followed up with two big punches that buckled Froch. He made the correct decision there and let Froch get saved by the bell and weather the storm. So why in a similar situation for Groves does he immediately stop the fight? You don't see many stoppages taking place in the centre of the ring, while the other guy is still on his feet. Bottom line is: yes Froch probably would have stopped him for real soon after, but Groves earned the right to have the chance to prove that outcome wrong. Gutted for him. You could see what it meant to him. Froch his usual cocky, motormouth self. Froch believed his own hype and got exposed. Non existent defense. Always struggles against someone who can box skillfully. Which makes a mockery of his suggestions he would have beat Calzaghe and would have won a rematch against Ward. For that reason I'm not convinced he genuinely wants a rematch with Groves. Hopefully his hurt pride will make it happen. Because it's what we want to see. There's too much doubt after an ending like that. Never seen public opinion change like that. Groves is being portrayed as the gallant loser and Froch as someone who lucked out. Have some sympathy for Froch though. He wouldn't have wanted it to turn out like that. But it is what is it is.

Comments (20)

My god. You're a prized idiot. :rofl: Yes you're correct I'm mistaken. Groves was about to be KTFO. Sorry for ever doubting you......idiot go watch the fight. Getting pushed into the ropes and being tired does not equate to a stoppage in my world. I would never defend Haye if I felt he was in the wrong.

12y ago

yoz

He was robbed of the chance. He may have been stopped a couple rounds later, who knows. Froch was getting stronger and groves was tiring. But he was never in danger to me. And thats why i feel for the guy. I do agree with you though for what it's worth. My god. You're a prized idiot. :rofl:

12y ago

yoz

You honestly have no right to discuss boxing. You a klit fan, worst type of fan. I'd say i'm fairly neutral. I don't nuthug the Klitschkos; whereas you defend Davey boy to the hills. I expect in your warped mind, Adam Booth is a better trainer than the late, great Manny Steward.

12y ago

Curtiz

Don't even ****ing start on me *****. I was saying Groves was gonna win and am pissed he got ripped off but your acting like a little girl who got her dolls stolen. Man up and stop ****ing *****ing. I happened, it's over. Move on. Groves has why can't you? How did I start with you when you made the reference to me in the first place you absolute goon. Go **** yourself and I can do whatever the **** i like. If im annoyed im not going to stop being annoyed because some fat punk behind a screen tells me to. You said i was annoyed because I lost money like some ****y piece of ****, it goes much deeper than that and is one of the reasons people hate boxing at times. Go eat ****.

12y ago

Curtiz

He's just pissed he lost money. Don't know why anyone would waste money betting on such an unpredictable sport Yes thats the only reason, has to be. Can't be that it actually a controversial decision and half of NSB is talking about it. Not my fault you're all seeing sense finally.

12y ago

Sane_Man

Ok, calm down. He is saying that he is starting to agree with you. It was bull****. Groves only a round before was dropping his hands and doing a "whitaker" on Froch. He was always trying to avoid them shots and as the guy above said was throwing back. People making excuses are doing just that, making excuses. It was a piss poor stoppage. The hilarious bit is that I never actually disagreed with him. I was just trying to objectively look at the decision from both sides. And trying to find reasons why the ref stopped it. Then when I make a post that agrees with his stand point he says it's beyond belief. Dude is just spoiling for a fight. My initial reaction was it was a BS stoppage and after watching the closing seconds multiple times and a few times in slow motion I stick by that opinion.

12y ago

FrankieBruno

Okay. I just watched the ten seconds of the stoppage on a loop on YouTube and I gotta say it looks suspect. When you repeatedly watch it you see certain things. Like the fact Groves throws two punches seconds before it's stopped and has his gloves up a few split seconds before it's stopped. And literally a split second before it's stopped Groves attempts to push Froch off. That straightens his arms out. As that happens the referee jumps in and holds Groves. Groves is leaning forward due to his push attempt and the referee drapes himself over Groves. So in all the pics it looks like Groves is slumped over with his arms down. Watch 0:40 to 0:50 a few times. If you watch the clip you clearly see Groves didn't turn his back, it was Froch who moves back and side stepped him, which gives the illusion that Groves had his back to him. Everything is much more revealing in slow mo Stoppage was a disgrace, the ref was bent

12y ago

Curtiz

12y ago

Curtiz

groves admitted he was hurt in the post fight buzzed is not hurt his words http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-2512685/George-Groves-demands-rematch-Carl-Froch-Howard-Fosters-controversial-stoppage.html

12y ago

Sane_Man

12y ago

Sane_Man

Thats funny you say that. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-2512685/George-Groves-demands-rematch-Carl-Froch-Howard-Fosters-controversial-stoppage.html Watch the 1st video and apologise for lieing. From what I got "Buzzed a little bit." And "I was nowhere near as hurt as he had been" So he was buzzed...but just a little. He never denied he was hurt. He said he was hurt but downplayed it. And of course he's going to downplay how hurt he was. He's a fighter, that's their mentality. It's why Vitali Klitschko wanted to fight on against Lewis despite having a cut that needed dozens of stitches. Do you not understand that? If Groves says he was capable of fighting on then I'll take that at face value and accept that. But does this look like a guy defending himself? http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/11/24/article-2512568-199AEBF100000578-852_634x445.jpg Arms at his sides and turning away. Froch was caught with some huge punches but his arms were always back up and he was always facing Groves.

12y ago

slimshandy69

Yet you are claiming robbery despite not knowing what would have happened either? Please explain who was robbed, and of what. Groves was around 4 points up and just about to lose an almost certain 10-8 round even if he wasn't stopped. There were still 3 rounds after that and he was fading while Froch was starting to walk through him, he wasn't even clinching anymore. The way I see it Groves was only robbed of the chance to carry on, not of the actual fight. Froch was robbed of the chance to finish him properly and the public were robbed of a satisfactory end to the fight. Nobody is happy about how the fight ended but in no way was Groves robbed of a clear win. For what it's worth I put money on Groves too. great post....

12y ago

thebowtod

Few seconds later? The stoppage was pathetic. Was groves hurt. NO So how would he be seriously hurt after a few seconds more. It was a fuking bull**** call and obviously rigged. I'm disgusted ...... Froch is a piece of **** aswell.groves admitted he was hurt in the post fight

12y ago

Curtiz

The mere fact that there is so much "predictive" hearesay shows a bad decision. There are criteria for stopping a fight and while judgement figures into it these judgements should never take the form of the ref "predicting" what will happen next. The ref should see if a guy is hurt but the real issue should be "is the guy defending himself?"...if the guy is not the ref has a duty to immediately run in and stop the fight....at this point the ref earns the big bucks because it his duty to not let the guy get hit with any punches the ref can prevent. Good refs often run in front of a punch, why? because the ref has given the fighter every opportunity and the split second that guy is unable to act in his own defense, the ref shields him. My point is that bad decision making from a ref is when a ref predicts in some fashion what a fighter's ability to defend oneself will be. The criteria is really simple: when a guy is not throwing punches, not getting out of the way of punches and not defending in any way against punches. Any one of these reactions can occur in a split second though so it is easy for a ref to predict rather than stand by and do his job properly. yet another way for a ref to get involved in the fight....make his presence known...Being a good ref should be like being a good waiter in a romantic restaurant....guy comes in with the date he wants to impress, the waiter shuts up, says "exellent choice" and quietly serves the meal making his presence known as little as possible. Great post.

12y ago

billeau2

12y ago

Curtiz

Groves admitted he was hurt at the time of the stoppage. The way he reacted to being hurt was probably what prompted the stoppage, although obviously only the referee could definitively corroborate that. Thats funny you say that. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-2512685/George-Groves-demands-rematch-Carl-Froch-Howard-Fosters-controversial-stoppage.html Watch the 1st video and apologise for lieing.

12y ago

Sane_Man

12y ago

Curtiz

12y ago

Curtiz

Apologies. It's just that your posts don't make a lot of coherant sense. It's just agnry rambling for the most part. Okay, so now I am aware of what you take issue with I will respond. So? So what? What is wrong with me saying that? I didn't say it was a sure thing. I qualified my opinion by saying PROBABLY I didn't state it as a fact. I'm admitting that nobody will know what would have happened in the next few seconds. For sake of argument let's say Groves wasn't badly hurt. But having your arms at your sides while you turn away sets off alarm bells in the referee's mind. It's that simple. Listen because you choose to soak up my posts as drivel doesn't make it so. You actually sound like my maths teacher, sounded like he knew what he was talking about but in all honestly knew **** all. Everybody has an opinion, but in this case yours is wrong( and before you qualify me on the fact that an opinion can never be wrong, understand that thats how stupid i believe you are). I've already realised that if we go further into this debate the more annoyed with you I will get, you're not smart, you obviously don't understand boxing & you most certainly need to get a grip of yourself .

12y ago

Bodyshot3

Let's get back to the boxing and a good thread..... I am not a fan of Jim Watt's punditry on Sky Sports because Jim tends to come down far too heavily and early in favour of a fighter who is on top at the time and builds a case for it being one-way traffic and a beatdown. He got it wrong again for a fair few rounds last night with Froch-Groves, failing to see that Froch was clawing his way his way back into the fight and that Froch is the master of turning bad situations around and pulling things out of the proverbial bag. It's exactly what Carl does!! But I did agree with Watt's view that Groves was stopped way too early and that the correct time to call off the fight was if/when George got put down. If he got dropped and staggered to his feet and could not defend himself, then stop fight. But he was still seeing punches, a mile ahead on points and clearly not needing the assistance of the ropes to keep himself upright. It was a piss-poor call by Howard Foster.

12y ago