Groves strategy was on point....

All credit to Froch for that devastating shot...but Groves has only himself to blame His fightplan was fine, his execution far from it. Choosing to trade on the ropes after what happened in the first fight was careless & unneccessary. It was almost as if he didn't respect Froch's power. The fight was there for Groves to win but he threw it away with his wild predisposition to forget the gameplan and get involved in a tear-up. Sure sign of immaturity. If he'd have carried on boxing smart, cautiously slipping and moving whilst catching Froch with the more eye catching shots and the sharper, faster jab... he may well have pulled out the win. He had conserved his energy well through the first half of the fight whilst winning his fair share of rounds and looked the sharper of the 2 going into the 7th and 8th. Froch was slowing and had expanded more energy with his heave-ho combinations inside. Congrats to Froch and all the best to Groves who will learn from this and hopefully will be lined up for Abraham's belt by Kalle. He can come again :boxing:

Comments (20)

lewishamboy

I think his plan was pretty bad and he didn't execute it very well at that. He wasted a ton of energy with little quick twitches moving a ton with every Froch feint. That energy would have been put to better use focusing on putting damage on Froch, instead of the fruitless effort of trying to make Froch miss when he was already making him miss a decent amount and that added effort was not really making Froch miss more and put his body at risk which Froch took advantage later in the fight and made Groves fade even faster. Guys who fight like jack rabbits constantly twitching don't hold up, especially when someone attacks their body (even just a bit). People notice when a guy throws a ton of punches wasting energy that way, but I think that tightness and twitching is the absolute worst way to preserve stamina. I've thought the same about Groves fast twitchy style and whether it could be one of the reasons he tires in the later rounds.

12y ago

The_Gambler1981

12y ago

Skip_Bayless

I don't recall saying he should do the same as he did in the first fight? Where did I say that? There's a difference between going gung-ho and take centre of the ring and dominate behind a strong jab and a quick right hand. He can do that, but he was adamant to steal rounds and box - but ultimately he wasn't concentrated enough. but he wont be able to do that the whole fight because he doesnt have the stamina and froch is dangerous in exchanges so groves will get caught. i think the gameplan was pretty good but groves just isnt good enough thats the main problem. no matter what gameplan he chooses he would lose to froch

12y ago

LacedUp

and what was the outcome of the first fight? yeh he got stopped. he threw everything at froch and he couldnt take him out so it would be foolish to try and do the same thing again. he boxed a good fight but maybe got too ****y with throwing the left hook and trying to counter froch most powerful punch. he should have instead not thrown a left hook, just stick to jab, straight right, movement and defence. groves just isnt good enough to beat froch, they could fight 100 times and maybe he will survive to win once. I don't recall saying he should do the same as he did in the first fight? Where did I say that? There's a difference between going gung-ho and take centre of the ring and dominate behind a strong jab and a quick right hand. He can do that, but he was adamant to steal rounds and box - but ultimately he wasn't concentrated enough.

12y ago

LacedUp

Don't get why nobody has mentioned the bodywork of Froch... that was a huge part of the fight and the ending... the reason Groves got caught with the right was because of the zapped reflexes due to Frochs barrage of Body Yeah Froch certainly hurt him to the body. He also did that in the first fight. It's always a good strategy to hurt big people to the body, as they are taking weight off - like Groves is. He's a naturally larger guy. And is vulnerable to the body. Still don't think Groves showed any stamina issues or bad fitness levels.

12y ago

Skip_Bayless

He was never going to win boxing on the back foot. His defense is not nearly tight enough to do that, and he's not physically strong enough to tie Froch up - two things that are essential when fighting Froch on the back foot. He should have taken it to Carl from the beginning, make him remember the last fight and get him cautious. That didn't happen so he got knocked out. and what was the outcome of the first fight? yeh he got stopped. he threw everything at froch and he couldnt take him out so it would be foolish to try and do the same thing again. he boxed a good fight but maybe got too ****y with throwing the left hook and trying to counter froch most powerful punch. he should have instead not thrown a left hook, just stick to jab, straight right, movement and defence. groves just isnt good enough to beat froch, they could fight 100 times and maybe he will survive to win once.

12y ago

_JSFD26_

Don't get why nobody has mentioned the bodywork of Froch... that was a huge part of the fight and the ending... the reason Groves got caught with the right was because of the zapped reflexes due to Frochs barrage of Body Exactly. His reflexes were greatly slowed. His hook didn't start coming out till Froch's punch was almost about to make impact.

12y ago

Stuntman_Mike

Don't get why some have referred to stamina issues being a reason for Groves' defeat. Groves simply had a wrong gameplan and was sloppy off the rope. You do that against Froch and you pay the price. Groves' fitness level seemed fine to me. Don't get why nobody has mentioned the bodywork of Froch... that was a huge part of the fight and the ending... the reason Groves got caught with the right was because of the zapped reflexes due to Frochs barrage of Body

12y ago

_JSFD26_

If you watch the replay, the reason Groves was caught was cause his reflexes were slow. He threw his left (or attempted too) way too late. He had the right idea tho. Had he hooked with Froch while keeping right hand up, he wouldve caught Froch. Stimpy cause he has the faster hands.

12y ago

FrankieBruno

man i am gutted for Groves his strategy was all wrong imo he fought cagey as did froch prince naz predicted this would happen, both men would come out not giving each other anything groves finally took the risk in round 7 and landed a heavy hook, then in 8 he was dominating, somewhat ****y and bang, froch lands the shot of his career the fight was very close, i had groves up by 2 rounds all credit to froch for pulling out that punch, best shot he has ever thrown groves needs to firstly get rid of that trainer of his and go back to booth, or someone who can teach him a bit of defence and a gameplan. this kid is 26 and has given froch hell twice, he's up there in the top 5 imo, just needs to sharpen up more. groves got too ****ky and paid the price, he had round 8 in the bag, then he stayed fighting off the ropes, jesus stupid

12y ago

Joe2608

People are reading too much in to the specifics of the fight. For me, there is a more important factor than any game plan which dictated how the fight ended up the way it did. You could see Froch did not respect Groves the first time around, he didn't take it seriously and thought he was miles above Groves. After the first fight he learned a lesson and you could see all throughout the build up to the second fight last night that Froch prepared properly and had respect for Groves. When Froch puts his mind to something and has something to prove he is more focused and a different animal. It was always going to be tough for Groves because he hit him with everything he had in the first fight and couldn't finish Froch. Whereas Froch turned up in the worst shape of his career and still managed a result. That alone for me was enough to be confident that Froch would win clearly this time because there was no way Groves could pull off another performance as good as that and there was also no way Froch could fight as bad as he did in the first fight.

12y ago

Bird1

He could have won both fights just jabbing and occasionally firing off some power shots. But I think this is really difficult to stick by with 80,000 fans cheering. That's why Mayweather really is quite remarkable at sticking by his gameplan no matter what happens. Not all boxers can do that and not let the emotions take over.

12y ago

soul_survivor

I agree, the gameplan of moving, jabbing and trying to keep Froch off balance was terrific but Froch was prepared for that and fought in bursts, unloading on Groves any time Groves lay on the ropes and Groves simply tried trading with him. But that punch that Froch threw to end the night was so beautiful and the double feint before it was a work of art. Anyone taking that right hand would have gone down.

12y ago

bojangles1987

Don't get why some have referred to stamina issues being a reason for Groves' defeat. Groves simply had a wrong gameplan and was sloppy off the rope. You do that against Froch and you pay the price. Groves' fitness level seemed fine to me. I don't get that either. He looked fine. It was the whole point of his tentative start, to have stamina late, and he did.

12y ago

bojangles1987

I'd say he's good enough ...just not disciplined enough He's not good enough, not for this Froch. In two fights he ended up wide open and getting caught both times. Once was questionable, but still saw Groves taking punishment after a while. The second time he was knocked out. He can't avoid getting sloppy when the fight breaks out, and when the fight breaks out Froch will catch him.

12y ago

LacedUp

12y ago

LacedUp

12y ago

jas

Froch held it pretty well. Groves didn't want to have to trade too early and get drawn into a fight. yea it was a bad gameplan by groves, im glad you realise you are contradicting your thread title

12y ago

TGD

Groves should have used a similar game plan to the first fight. His only chance of winning was by early stoppage. You won't beat Froch down the stretch, and certainly not with the poor fitness that Groves has. Despite George claiming to the contrary, I think the fact he changed the game plan proves that Froch hurt and took a lot out of him in the first fight. Froch slowed George down with body shots in both fights. His foot speed certainly slowed last night for Froch to close the distance. Commentators rarely seem to acknowledge body work these days.

12y ago

lewishamboy

that was a bad gameplan actually...............he should have took control of the centre of the ring more Froch held it pretty well. Groves didn't want to have to trade too early and get drawn into a fight.

12y ago