By Edward Chaykovsky

Trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick is preparing George Groves to pour on the pressure in the May 31 rematch with IBF/WBA 'regular' super middleweight champion Carl Froch.

In the first meeting in late 2013, Groves sent Froch crashing the very first round and then punished him in the first half of the contest. Froch rallied in the second half of the fight to stop Groves, controversially, in the ninth round.

According to Fitzpatrick, Froch conserves much of his energy by taking things slow in the first six rounds and then he significantly increases his activity in the second half of the contest.

“Carl Froch can say what he wants about the championship rounds but he is going to be made to work those championship rounds early in this fight. This next fight he will have to work 12 complete rounds, if it goes that far, because George will be on him from the start,” Fitzpatrick told the Swindon Advertiser.

“He is a six-round fighter. He fights in the championship rounds, he is not a 12-round fighter. Even when George gave him that kind of fight and took it to him he wasn’t winning the fight. So you can say what you want and he can say what he wants about the championship rounds but he is going to be made to work those championship rounds early on in this fight.”