Froch interview - Post Groves fight

[Chrismart]

How are you feeling now, it's all over? There was so much pressure on you ahead of the event.

It's been a good day in the office. I need that, I need that kind of pressure because it raises my game. It brings the best out of me. I was too relaxed last time and this time I put myself under a bit of pressure, put myself under the cosh and I knew. I just knew.

Were you pleased with your performance overall?

Taking everything into consideration I think I boxed absolutely to a plan and I think I boxed brilliantly, I think, watching it back, I think I won more rounds that I thought I did on the night. I thought I controlled the fight from start to finish, I had a couple of sloppy moments in a couple of rounds – it was nothing really bad – and none of that matters because I did what I knew I was going to do and landed that heavy right hand on his jaw.

Did you feel yourself getting drawn in by the atmosphere?

Not at all, because if I did I wouldn't have been able to fight how I boxed. There was a couple of times where I pushed forwards and I could hear them and I thought, 'I've got him here, if I stay on him he will crumble but I'll get hit doing it' so I backed off and stayed on my jab. I didn't get drawn in by the atmosphere at all. That experience at top level made it possible for me to keep my composure.

What was the difference between Wembley and your other big nights?

There was no real difference. We both had our blocks of cheers but overall there was a lot of booing, unnecessary booing, for both of us on the night. But I left with cheers and he left with boos this time, so he came in with boos and left with boos.

I came in with half and half and left with full cheers but I did what the crowd wanted. 'Are you not entertained?' I'm a modern day gladiator and I'm in there to do a job. They wanted to see what I deliver, I delivered it for them and they loved it. I watched it [the knockout] on the replays on the big screens and there were oohs and aahs and they were satisfied. Everyone in that stadium was satisfied with what I gave them.

No one was more satisfied than you...

I couldn't be more satisfied. I've got the biggest smile on my face and I don't think it will be gone for the rest of my life. I've had to endure some serious abuse, silly games and unnecessary antagonising. He's been antagonising me for so long and I've only just watched the Sky Behind the Ropes just now, because I was waiting for the seven o'clock repeat on pay-per-view that I just bought, and because I couldn't tape it it cost me £16.95, I'll get some of that back, I get a sniff of that. I've watched them, parts one and two, and it makes me even more satisfied beating him because some of the stuff Gavin [Groves's trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick who boxed under the name Gavin] was saying and some of the stuff Groves was saying, it was just horrible. And I thought to myself, 'It's such a good thing that they did not win.' If they'd deserved to win I would have held my hands up and said 'Fair play to you, a fight's a fight and I hold my hands up.' After watching the shows I just thought it's unnecessary. Between the pair of them I think they've really made themselves look ******. both of them.

You talked about possibly retiring if you lost.

It could have been a career ending fight for both of us. He's only 26 and he probably won't retire but he might never be the same again. He got absolutely stretched. He got put flat on his back in a bad position. He's lost two on the spin, to somebody who in his mind is not any good. He said I'm not any good. I don't know if he tried to convince himself of that or he tried to convince me of that but I think he should eat humble pie now and have some respect. But I'm not building any of my future or any of my past around George Groves now. He's now been sent back to the hole he crawled out of, as far as I'm concerned. He came out his hole and he just abused me, he's been horrible, and I feel no love or hate nor am I happy or sad for him, I have put it to bed. I have a big smile on my face, I've watched it back and I'm the happiest man on the planet.

[Chrismart]

Are you relieved now?

That was a fight I had to win. If I didn't win that fight I would have had to listen to him and his fans. The abuse pretty much stopped the last two or three weeks because he's done some silly things and said some silly things and made himself look a bit ****** on that Gloves are Off so he turned it on himself, he turned the negativity back on himself anyway, but I had to win. No ifs or buts. If that shot hadn't landed then I was starting to close the gap. Round nine, round 10, I was ready to got to war on him for the last 10 minutes. I was going to have a 10-minute dogfight and there was no way George Groves could have gone 10 minutes with me letting body and head combinations go. I would have walked through his punches. I hit him with a right hand, which was a great right hand, I hit Kessler and other top level fighters with the same shots. Mind you, it was quite crisp and it was right on the button. It was a good shot. But I hit Pascal with some pearlers. I'm not known for being a one-punch knockout man. Look at my record and the fights I've been involved in and I catch people with right hands and they don't get flattened like that. That was a good right hand punch. We'll see how George Groves comes back from that but he's got a lot of rebuilding to do. If I could offer him any advice I think he needs to consider what he wants to do with his trainer, I'm not sure that relationship will work because of Gavin's inexperience at any level. He's an 0-5 fighter, who's been knocked out three times.

What was so different this time?

I put three months of hard work and graft, discipline, dedication and commitment. I've been offered this and that in terms of sponsorship, appearances and I've said 'No no no.' I'm boxing, I'm staying disciplined, I'm staying in Sheffield, I'm listening to Rob, I'm living like a monk in my single bed in digs and just getting up every morning and running every day, doing the right diet and I did everything smack on and it paid off. You get out what you put in.

He was doing red carpets, going to the opening of envelopes, doing all his own bits and bobs. He was there in the day doing his own rehearsal on his ring entrance. Ridiculous.

You wore tape on your elbow that everyone saw in the build-up sparring with Chris Eubank Jnr...

If you over-extend you jab, and loads of boxers get it and some of them have had operations on it, if you over-extend your arm you jar it, and I've thrown thousands and thousands of punches and I've had bad elbows since the amateurs... They've got this new tape, a resistance tape, and the physios tried it because every time I sparred I used to ice my arms, have massages, take anti-inflammatories, so I saw my physio and he said, 'Try this tape, it stops you from over-extending your arm. If you miss with a jab and you over-reach you won't jar your arm.' So it's a prevention rather than a cure, because my left arm was hurting before the first Groves fight with all the sparring because you don't land every punch, do you? That strapping on my arm was a safety measure. It was another box ticked in a professional approach in a brilliant approach. I didn't have to take any anti-inflammatory tablets in the build-up to that fight because of that strapping. And I went into it with a really solid jab and no problems which I didn't have in that first fight. He can say what he wants about that strapping. All that was was an over-genic aid to keep my ageing joints in check for the whole camp. It worked perfectly and I will do it again.

He said, 'Oh, I told him to keep it together I didn't realise he would tape himself together' 'F*** off.' I keep a diary so I know that I'm fit and I know the times for my runs like other professional athletes. Marathon runners don't know what there personal bests are? And cyclists don't know how fast they're cycling or what mile-a-minutes they're doing? Well boxers are actually runners as well and our running needs to be on speed so we know how fit we are. I don't think I need to explain myself but it's so unprofessional, some of the stuff he does and some of the things he tries to do to wind you up and take the piss out of it's so childish I just look back and it makes me laugh.

Groves seemed to sting you with some shots in the fight.

He can punch a bit. They can all punch at this level. Those gloves are so small. He can punch a bit. He's had 15 knockouts from 19 wins so he can **** but he doesn't hit any harder than any of the other top 10 fighters I've boxed like Pascal or Taylor or Kessler or Abraham. Nowhere near as hard. They all hit hard but he's not a massive, concussive puncher.

And you didn't get off to the same start as last time.

Take the centre of the ring, don't take a step back, meet him as he comes, that was important to keep the focus and concentration and that's what I did.

I believe they thought you weren't as strong moving to your right, but you finished him go to that side.

I kept moving to my right away from his right, that was the plan, but in the end I backed him into the ropes and he tried to throw that silly left hook, because he talked about the left hook, and I threw a fake and then I threw a left hook-right hand. The left hook had nothing on it, but George Groves tried to throw some sort of check hook when the right hand came but he left his chin open and exposed and because he was against the ropes he had nowhere to go. I knew the punch was going to land before I threw it. It was perfectly in line. He could have ducked it but he didn't have time. It was one of those punches where I was so relaxed when I threw it I had my feet under me, the centre of gravity was perfect I just threw the punch without thinking too much about trying to knock him out, I just wanted to land the punch, and it wasn't until I dropped him that I knew he wasn't getting up. I just thought, 'Yeah that hurt', and then when I saw him on the floor with his ankle around the back of his neck I thought, 'He's in trouble here, he's not going to beat the count and if he does it's game over.' If you see he stood off his stool after about a minute and he collapsed into Paddy or what's his name? Gavin? He collapsed into Gavin's arms and they sat him down and gave him oxygen because he was in a really, really bad way, knocked out badly. Thankfully he's in good medical condition.

After the fight he tweeted: Haven't watched it back properly yet but I think... I got knocked the f*** out.

That's fair comment.

What did you make of the pre-fight coverage?

I've swerved everything. I don't even realise I've boxed in front of 80,000 in such a massive event. I've just watched it then and thought 'Wow, f****** hell.'

Did you propose to your girlfriend Rachael Cordingley after the fight?

It wasn't an official proposal. It was me telling her how much I missed her and that it was one of the biggest nights of my career and it will probably never be topped. I just wanted her to know that I love her and that she's the woman for me and I want to marry her. But it wasn't an actual 'Will you marry me' because I've still got to get a ring and I've still got to propose. I just wanted to let her know that she's the one and if there's an interim proposal or a silver belt proposal that was it.

[MBE]

Great interview thanks for sharing "'are you not entertained.'- I'm a modern day gladiator" ATG quote from the cobra.

[Dr Rumack]

It could have been a career ending fight for both of us. He's only 26 and he probably won't retire but he might never be the same again. He got absolutely stretched. He got put flat on his back in a bad position. He's lost two on the spin, to somebody who in his mind is not any good. He said I'm not any good. I don't know if he tried to convince himself of that or he tried to convince me of that but I think he should eat humble pie now and have some respect. But I'm not building any of my future or any of my past around George Groves now. He's now been sent back to the hole he crawled out of, as far as I'm concerned. He came out his hole and he just abused me, he's been horrible, and I feel no love or hate nor am I happy or sad for him, I have put it to bed. I have a big smile on my face, I've watched it back and I'm the happiest man on the planet.

I've always defended Froch but what a ****head. George Groves turned a mundane match-up into a massive event. How many times would he have had to fight Andre Ward to get the money he earned last weekend?

[Sane Man]

Not a fan. Very good fighter, but damn does he love the sound of his own voice.

Hopefully is next fight is a rematch with Ward or a fight against GGG.

Would love to see him humbled again.

[Ham Porter]

So much for Froch's newly-found humility.


I don't understand why he's still all pissy over the things Groves said and did. He was the one who went out of his way to insult and badmouth Groves in the first place. You've got your definitive win, just move on and stop acting like a teenage girl.

[Sane Man]

Froch is extremely touchy about insisting on everyone giving him the respect he feels he's due and playing up to his warrior image.

Guy has a huge God complex.

Glad to see he's finally over not getting the fight with Calzaghe though. That was embarrassing watching him harp on "Come on Joe. Come out of retirement and face me. don't duck me Joe."

Calzaghe was at the twilight of his career and in a position to pick his own fights. Now Froch is in that same position and expect him to do the same.

For what it's worth Calzaghe UDs Froch if they fought prime for prime.

[Weebler I]

Great interview thanks for sharing "'are you not entertained.'- I'm a modern day gladiator" ATG quote from the cobra.

I can see Froch in the attire

[Weebler I]

I've always defended Froch but what a ****head. George Groves turned a mundane match-up into a massive event. How many times would he have had to fight Andre Ward to get the money he earned last weekend?

Groves has been on the wind-up for months though. It would get tiring listening to someone in your ear taunting you and not being allowed to hit them, just having to sit and take it.

That said, Froch did start it all back last year.

[BattlingNelson]

Great interview. Thanks for sharing.

Froch really had and probably still has, a massive distaste for Groves. He genuinely dislikes that guy. Not even after such an emphatic win Froch is gracious. That doesn't sit to well with me. He is however being very honest about everything and that is a relief.