Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn spoke with Sky Sports today, on the subject of whether or not we will see a return bout between bitter British rivals Carl Froch and George Groves. Fans everywhere have craved a sequel ever since the November clash between the two super-middleweights thrilled and then ended controversially, with Froch retaining his super-middleweight titles via what was widely viewed as a premature 9th-round TKO.
Hearn says he feels a return will take place:
“I think there’s a great chance,” Hearn told Sky Sports on the possibility of a Froch-Groves II. “I think it comes down to pride and ego at the end of the day, and of course a lot of money. As a fan and a promoter it’s the biggest fight out there. I know we could have this at a huge stadium and have 60, 70, 80,000 people. It was a tremendous fight last time and taking away the controversy, it was one of the best fights I’ve ever seen. A rematch could be even bigger. If I was a betting man I think we are going to get there. I hope we do.”
As fight fans may have read, always thrilling Australian warrior Michael Katsidis is set to make a ring return. Reunited with long-time trainer and friend Brendon Smith, Katsidis, the former WBO interim lightweight champion, is scheduled to box in Australia in March (against a TBA, likely to be of the tune-up variety) but the 33-year-old is already looking at a bigger fight.
As boxing fans may have read by now, Amir Khan, the former WBA/IBF 140-pound champion, has put pen to paper to face superstar Floyd Mayweather Junior next May and is awaiting Floyd’s signature on the contract. This match-up, though derided by many, has long been expected (at least for a number of months now) and not too many people would be shocked if the match-up went ahead.
Unbeaten British giant Tyson Fury is ready to put a largely frustrating and unproductive 2013 behind him and enjoy a “big” 2014. Fury, who last fought in April of 2013 (getting up from an early knockdown to halt Steve Cunningham in New York) saw long months of his upwardly mobile career go down the drain due to his British super-fight with David Haye falling apart not once but twice.
2013 was a very good year for boxing by and large, and the elite operators of the last 12 months really had a chance to show their class. The mythical but always interesting/debatable/essential pound-for-pound rankings saw some old stars remain where they were, whilst some new stars burst into the charts.