Joshua: Carl Froch says George Groves showed glimpses of old self in Martin Murray 'Gloves Are Off'
Monday 20 June 2016 11:24, UK
Carl Froch admits that it's not fun being on The Gloves Are Off but has now become a fan, even when his old enemy George Groves went face to face with Martin Murray...
I sat down and watched The Gloves Are Off because like all of you, I am looking forward to seeing the fight between George Groves and Martin Murray.
I've got to be honest though, I was also keeping an eye on what sort of Groves we would get. We know Martin Murray is respectful and keeps calm, but what sort of Groves did we get?
It is a bit contradictory, because part of me sees it through a fighter's eyes, the other part as a fan, like everyone else who watches these shows.
We were never going to expect to see the same old Groves, because every fight and every fighter you're going up against brings out something different.
I did one with Andre Ward in America and it was completely and utterly different to the two I had with Groves. And I am sure if Ward does one with Sergey Kovalev, that will be completely different, too.
It's based on personalities and you don't need to be a psychologist to remember how mine and Groves' clashed. But I've got to say, I wanted to see a bit of the old Groves, I really did - and that is what we got.
Don't think for a minute we are friends, but the Groves of old was at least entertaining. He was a cocksure, arrogant young kid, who would give it large and come out with all sorts of rubbish. And we did get bits of that here.
He still came out with some ludicrous statements, like selling out those 80,000 tickets. Murray made me laugh when he mocked him, asking if he sold all of them himself - and there I was wondering what happened to the other 77,000 for his return at Wembley... Arena!
Groves clearly thinks he's far superior to Murray and he made that clear. Most of British boxing has this down as a genuine 50-50 fight but he insists he is the "heavy favourite".
Groves still came out with some ludicrous statements, like selling those 80,000 tickets. Murray made me laugh when he mocked him, asking if he sold all of them himself - and there I was wondering what happened to the other 77,000 for Groves' return at Wembley... Arena!
You know fighters always say things like that, but if even you are a Groves fan - and the complete opposite to me - you will have been sat there thinking: 'Why did you say that?'
I am not going to have a proper go at Groves and his over-inflated opinion of himself but he has failed three world title attempts. And on The Gloves Are Off, he blamed Paddy Fitzpatrick again. He's always got an excuse.
When he accused Murray of being beaten from pillar to post by Gennady Golovkin, Martin hit back. He said it was the same as the first fight with me, yet told Groves he just wasn't fit enough to carry on after nine rounds.
Gloves Are Off: Groves v Murray
And then, there was no response, he had nothing to come back. I was glad to see some flashes of the old Groves, but maybe he has finally realised that shooting his mouth off does nothing.
I honestly think that has been well and truly knocked out of him. He still thinks he's clever but he no longer thinks he is smart enough to get inside the head of his opponent.
I don't know but you'd imagine that a reality check has kicked in. Maybe he has finally realised that the Rubik's cube and the rest have never had any substance and certainly don't win fights.
He used to give all of that stuff out and then get in the ring and let them big shots go. His jab is not the best in the business as he claims and from a fighter's perspective, I hope he realises he is in for a very, very hard night's work.
I hope he doesn't think it's going to be an easy night's work against Murray because as a fighter, that is the worst mind set you can have.
Maybe Groves has finally matured. He will need to be when that first bell sounds because if the old George Groves is in the ring again, we could see the same old outcome. At least this time there was a pleasant handshake!
Watch George Groves vs Martin Murray as part of Joshua vs Breazeale, live on Sky Sports Box Office from The O2, on June 25. Book the event online here.
