Carl Froch landed the punch of his life to knock out George Groves in the eighth round and retain his WBA and IBF super-middleweight titles in front of an 80,000 sell-out crowd at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
The grizzled 36-year-old, in his 12th world title fight, exploded his right glove flush on to the chin of fellow Briton Groves late in the round to end the contest in brutal fashion.
“That was a great right-hander. I timed it perfectly,” said the Nottingham fighter, who has struggled throughout his career to earn the plaudits his 33-2 record merits. “It must be the best punch I have ever thrown and landed in my life. It is not going to get any better than this.”
Photo: Reuters
Froch’s 24th knockout victory came out of the blue after an often cagey fight that occasionally burst into life before a British record crowd for a boxing match, according to local media.
The hype had been building for weeks, with both fighters trading insults and the atmosphere before the fight was electric as the two boxers made their way into the stadium.
The first couple of rounds were cagey with Groves landing the odd crisp jab and staying well clear of trouble.
Boos rang out early in the third round as the fighters continued to size each other up, but battle commenced almost immediately, with Groves landing a thumping right hand.
Froch’s durability, rather than his style, has been his trademark down the years, and in the fifth round, he finally drew Groves into the kind of toe-to-toe brawl that was far more to his liking, leaving the challenger with a smear of blood under his left eye.
The champion continued to claw back the early deficit in the next two rounds, although the tiring Groves showed he was still dangerous by staggering Froch with a spiteful left jab.
There was no warning of what was to come as the action lulled in the eighth, but when his chance came, Froch landed one of the best punches of his career to claim a brutal victory.
A swinging left knocked Groves off balance, and with his chin exposed, Froch unleashed a punch so pure that the referee did not even bother to go through the formality of a count.
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