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GROVES SAYS HE CAUSES FRIGHTENED FROCH TO LOSE SLEEP

George Groves says he causes frightened Carl Froch to lose sleep

GEORGE GROVES says he is such a nightmare opponent that Carl Froch is suffering sleepless nights in the run-up to their showdown on Saturday.

By: Frank Wiechula - express.co.uk

Groves works out with his trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick yesterday

Groves works out with his trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick yesterday ACTION

Challenger Groves is a big underdog against three-time world title holder Froch as he bids to dethrone the WBA and IBF super-middleweight king in Manchester.

But the Londoner feels he possesses the style and ability to dismantle his vastly experienced Nottingham rival, never mind the surge of confidence he has been given by watching and listening to Froch ahead of this defining showdown.

Groves said: “I’ve watched a few of his interviews this week and he doesn’t seem to be saying anything of substance.

“But looking at his face, he looks grey. Maybe not everyone will understand what I am saying but it looks like the life is draining out of him.

“I think it is getting to him and he’s slipping up now and again. I think he is having trouble sleeping at night. He is beatable and I have the style to cause him nightmares.”

This week, Froch, 36, labelled Groves, 25, a “petulant, immature child”, saying the challenger’s comments stem from nerves over the task at hand. Groves, in his first world title bout, believes the opposite. “He is trying to bank on that,” said Groves. “A lot of the things he says, I think, ‘Are you really talking about yourself here?’ Who is the one that seems nervous and who is the one who seems laid back and confident? That’s me.”

Froch shot a look of disdain when asked if he will shake hands with his bitter rival after their contest, and Groves feels he knows just why.

Groves said: “Of course I will touch gloves with him and shake his hand after the fight. He won’t shake hands with me because he’s petrified his so-called legacy, that he has spent a whole career looking for, is going to be blown away in one night.

“From the way he is acting, maybe it will. The pressure is building on him now.

“Maybe afterwards people will say, ‘He was not as good as he thought he was’.

“He is going to have to live in the UK, knowing a British fighter, a young pretender as he likes to call me, has come out and has beaten him.

“But his history, his legacy is already there, he just needs to wait for it. He has had the big fights and the wins. As time goes by, people will forget his losses and the fights he struggled in, they will just remember the wins.”

Groves said Carl Froch has been feeling the pressure leading up to the big fight GETTY

Groves has a new trainer in Paddy Fitzpatrick after his split with long-time mentor Adam Booth two months ago. And Groves feels the link-up gives him even more ammunition with which to hurt the champion .

He said: “Paddy has made everything a lot more precise, I’m working on perfection.

“Foot placement is important because Carl Froch’s feet are so bad and his defence is so bad.

“If you start getting this reputation for having a good chin, you think, ‘I don’t need defence any more’, and the same thing with the jab.

“But his jab is a fraction of my jab. If he feels for one second he is going to be able to win the jab exchanges, he is going to be in for a massive shock. And, once he can’t control his jab, where’s he going to go from there?

“Carl is not a pressure fighter like he’s built up to be and he likes to punch at arm’s range.

“If you look at his weaknesses, it is a struggle to concentrate on his strengths.

“He does have his strengths but his actual boxing ability is inferior to mine.”

Froch versus Groves is live on Sky Sports Box Office on Saturday. Book via your Sky remote, call 08442 410888 or visit skysports.com/frochgroves.

Source: www.express.co.uk/sport/boxing/444022/George-Groves-says-he-causes-frightened-Carl-Froch-to-lose-sleep