IN what many consider the best British rivalry of all time and one of the best rematches of the decade, ‘The Cobra’ and ‘The Saint’ faced off, in the immortal words of Carl Froch, in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium to decide who was the king of the British super middleweights.
The first fight of their rivalry came to a controversial and disappointing conclusion when the referee stopped the fight in the ninth round as Groves found himself under pressure from an advancing Froch who was growing into the fight.
But up until that point, Groves seemed in comfortable control of the contest, dropping Froch at the end of the first round, as he had promised in the build-up, with an overhand right.
The rematch was inevitable and both fighters were brimming with confidence. Groves made a chilling statement to the champion that he intended to pick up exactly where he left off at Wembley.
“I don’t need to antagonize Carl. I want him to be at peace because it is dawning on him that his day of reckoning is fast approaching,” Groves told The Guardian. “He is going to have the face the inevitable. He is like a man on death row.”
They met face to face before the fight on “The Gloves Are Off”, where the infamous “we can all pull about” incident took place – the stage had been set for a seismic clash between the two and the build-up would not disappoint.
Groves well and truly brought the show to Wembley arriving to his ring walk atop a double-decker bus to the tune of “Underdog” by Kasabian and the reaction from the crowd made it abundantly clear the crowd was in favour of “The Saint” on the night.
Froch stayed true to himself and made a comparatively understated ring walk, without the need for a robe and with a determined aura that underlined Froch’s intentions for this contest.
The early rounds burned slowly with cagey jabs and hopeful counter shots – Froch took his towering and robotic stance in centre ring, letting the more fluent and languid Groves circle him, crouched in his wide stance with a low hunch and dangling lead hand to mask his spearing jabs.
The fight erupted into life in the fifth round. Froch came out with bad intentions pushing onto the front foot, forcing Groves to move or throw, which resulted in electric exchanges of power that brought Wembley to its feet at the end of the round.
The action continued through rounds six and seven and the fight was on a knife edge as two judges had Froch narrowly ahead and the other had the same for Groves, but it was Froch who looked to be on the ascendancy pushing the action. Groves would not be so easy to quash, however as he was still having success with sharp counter shots and movement.
Headed into round eight, “The Cobra” had taken everything Groves had thrown at him and had not taken a single backward step. He had become an unstoppable force, taking all the punishment and resistance Groves could offer and as Groves once again found himself touching the ropes, Froch threw a distracting left hook to drag Groves’ guard wide and detonated a straight right hand that left Groves a heap on the canvas.
British boxer Carl Froch (L) celebrates beating British boxer George Groves (R) during their WBA and IBF super-middleweight title bout at Wembley Stadium in north London on May 31, 2014. Froch knocked Groves out in the eighth round to retain his WBA and IBF titles. AFP PHOTO / BEN STANSALL (Photo credit should read BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
The referee did not need to count and called an end to the fight as Groves admirably climbed to his feet. Froch was lifted into the air as the victor and celebrated, unknowingly at the time, the last punch he would ever throw as a professional boxer in one of the most unforgettable moments Wembley Stadium has ever seen.
