Ringside Boxing Report: Carl Froch vs. Ruben Groenewald

Click for larger image © Jane Warburton SaddoBoxing.com

the Nottingham Ice Arena, local favourite Carl “The Cobra” Froch, defended for the forth time his Commonwealth Super Middleweight crown, against South African Ruben Groenewald, a seasoned championship operator with a renewed vigor for the sport. In a fight where the hometown boxer had a record of stopping fights quickly, and a challenger who has waited three years for this opportunity, a battle was sure to ensue on a quality

Hennessy Sports card televised by Sky Sports.

Groenewald launched the first assault in the opening round with a hard right hand, immediately exposing Froch’s open left guard, but quickly felt the weight of that lightning jab as the Cobra struck out from his hip. If Groenewald did appear to dominate the ring in the first round, Froch found himself in the corners but seemed content to answer massive blows to his body with left jab after left jab, and was kept extremely busy by his eager challenger. In the remaining seconds, Froch opened up and unloaded a four-punch combination. On the bell the men were in a clinch, Groenewald appearing to be composing himself after such an attack.

The first exchange in the following round began with a hard right cross from Groenewald and ended with a Froch uppercut with mayhem in between. If their cornermen had told them to come out firing they had certainly listened. Groenewald appeared to be comfortable punching on the back foot and led Froch straight into the corner and pulled off some convincing body-head combinations where only one out six wild, but solid, punches misconnected.

If the first half of this round had taken its toll on Groenewald, it began to show in the second. He found himself being turned on to the ropes and even though he defended well, Froch’s quick body attack whipped the crowd into uproar. Froch may have taken this round but it was clear the South African had more to give.

In a tough test of determination in the third, Groenewald took control and powered his way into submitting Froch to a lonely corner of the ring and displayed combinations that struck right and left hooks to the body and a disturbingly brutal left uppercut finish. Unfortunately after this the pressure relented and Froch appeared to be allowed to have time to recover, and in composing himself made a brilliant effort to weave around some lazy counter punches and keep firing out his own jab. The last action was on the bell, which saved Groenewald from an early stoppage.

In what proved to be the penultimate round, Froch literally put up his horns and stamped his foot – much to the annoyance of Groenewald’s surprisingly large fan base. The blows that the South African had received in the last round clearly affected him to the point that thirty seconds in the corner hadn’t been enough for him to recover. The final round saw the action moving just corner to corner – with the “Cold Blooded Predator” the pursuer. His back against the ropes – Groenewald did appear to be acquitting himself well against the wrath of Carl Froch, but when the blows started coming thick and fast to his swollen face, the referee jumped in and stopped the fight with just moments to go in the fifth round.

Explosions ensued in the crowds, the champion’s followers ecstatic, while the loser’s fans were outraged that their fighter hadn’t been allowed to continue to display fully the amount of guts and determination that he had in the previous four rounds. When a boxer doesn’t appear to be giving anything back, is it a healthand safety risk or just that he has an amazing capacity to absorb punches? Clearly not those delivered by Carl “The Cobra’ Froch.

Click for larger image © Jane Warburton / SaddoBoxing.com