Froch-Groves II: The panel doubt they've ever seen a bigger fight
Monday 19 May 2014 11:24, UK
skysports.com: Carl Froch and George Groves will go head-to-head in front of a sold out crowd of 80,000 fans at Wembley. Is this the biggest fight in British boxing history?
GLENN: And while we always talk about Benn-Eubank, Hatton-Mayweather or a big Bruno fight, this is beyond that... already. I think this is bigger than that because we are - and were - talking about it beforehand. Eubank-Benn has been sitting in the sun for 25 years and we look back at it through tinted glasses. Everything then was "fantastic". But the first Froch-Groves fight was sensational. JIM: When it comes down to Benn and Eubank, there was the same rivalry and it probably came as close to this as anything has and probably will because that was two guys at their peak, perfoming well and probably beyond their peak because the first fight was slightly better than the second one. It was two guys who just didn't like each other. Benn was probably the worst when it came to that; Eubank probably put on a bit of an act, but Benn didn't. He hated him! Benn and Eubank were on national TV and we are talking about millions watching it, but I can't get away from the simple fact that twice as many wanted to be at Wembley for this one. It has to be bigger. JOHNNY: Old Trafford was nuts too! Being there for the Benn-Eubank rematch was just great. It was like going to the theatre, or maybe The Globe, and you saw your hero, your villain and you saw the cast and you were part of it, cheering or jeering. It really was a dream come true and I am sure Wembley will match that - and then some. It sounds strange but when I walked out at Wembley Stadium at that presser not long ago, it all came flooding back and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stick up. I realised then what faces Froch and Groves: when they see 80,000 people watching their every move and suddenly realise that they are there to watch them and them only... That is just massive. GLENN: I honestly think you've got to compare it with something like Ali-Foreman, I really do. It went totally off the wall, way beyond boxing. We had a guy who wanted to knock Muhammad Ali's head off and the Greatest was at his best when it came to trash-talking and making headlines in the build-up. The fact that it went out to Africa to have it "in the jungle" was a masterstroke because it not only got a new part of the world interested, we all of a sudden were desperate to see it. Ali and Foreman had great chemistry - as fighters and non-friends of course - and we have had those that capture the imagination, like Hagler-Hearns and Leonard-Duran. Eubank-Benn was a great rivarly but I really do think this one is bigger. JIM: This will be the biggest one I've worked on. We all knew about Julio Cesar Chaves pulling in 120,000 people in Mexico but I wasn't working on that so this will be easily the biggest I'll have worked on. The atmosphre is going to be terrfic. We have got a world title with Jamie McDonnell, and of course James DeGale back in the mix, so it it is going to build and build as the evening progresses. It is going to be a huge night and a huge spectacle. It will be huge event.
