It’s regarded as one of the best British rivalries in boxing history, and now George Groves has revealed one thing he would change from the build-up with his fights with Carl Froch.
Groves and Froch first met for the IBF and WBA super-middleweight titles in November 2013, with the boxing world stunned when ‘The Cobra’ was sent crashing to the canvas from a right hand in the opening round.
Froch was able to get up, and after a ferocious battle, controversially stopped Groves in round nine after referee Howard Foster waved off the bout, many believing prematurely.
A much-anticipated rematch then happened in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in May 2014, and the finish was much more conclusive this time around, with Froch knocking out Groves in round eight, before retiring after that bout.
In the build-up to the second fight, the pair took part in the regular ‘Gloves Are Off’ feature by Sky Sports, and while speaking on ‘Froch on Fighting’, Groves said that if he could go back, there was one thing he would change from that encounter.
“I wouldn’t have offered you that handshake at the end of The Gloves Are Off. I should have been ready and pulled you first.”
The handshake became famous for the ‘pull and a push’ sentence spoken by Froch, and while they may have been bitter enemies at the time, it appears that the duo are on much better terms a decade on.