Tuesday 4 March 2014

Boxing; Carl Froch v George Groves: Wembley Stadium to host rematch

Carl Froch and George GrovesWembley Stadium will stage the rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves on 31 May, with the fight likely to set a British post-War attendance record.
Froch retained his WBA and IBF super-middleweight titles with a contentious ninth-round stoppage of Groves at Manchester Arena last November.
Froch-Groves II will be the first boxing bout at Wembley Stadium since it re-opened in 2007.
Nottingham's Froch, 36, told Sky Sports: "It needs to be held at a big stadium because it is such a good fight. I want to beat him and put closure on this whole Carl Froch v George Groves saga.Wembley holds 90,000, although a crowd of 60-70,000 is more realistic.
"It doesn't get any bigger than this for British boxing."
Londoner Groves, 25, added: "The fight being at Wembley is brilliant news. I've never boxed anywhere close to the capacity of Wembley. To be crowned world champion in my home town of London will be an amazing feeling."
The current post-War attendance record for a boxing match in Britain is held by Ricky Hatton and Juan Lazcano,who fought in front of 55,000 fans at the City of Manchester Stadium in 2008.
Wembley appeared to be out of the running because England play a pre-World Cup friendly against Peru at the venue the previous evening.
There were reports that Manchester United, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest were all in the running to host the fight at their grounds.
Oliver McCall and Frank Bruno
Only 23,000 saw Frank Bruno beat Oliver McCall for the WBC heavyweight crown at the old Wembley
But promoter Eddie Hearn said he was confident any logistical problems would be overcome and that only Wembley was big enough to host the clash.
"We wanted to make a real statement, and ultimately we needed the seats for a fight of this magnitude," said Hearn.
"I think we have got the product to fill stadiums like this. When you get an opportunity to do so, you have to grab it with both hands.
"This is the ultimate, in my opinion - steeped in history - and this is the first fight at the new stadium. And what a fight."
Groves claimed the fight was stopped too soon and implored Froch to grant him a rematch.In their first encounter, Groves floored the champion in round one and was ahead on all three scorecards when referee Howard Foster halted the fight with Froch on the attack.
When Groves lobbied the relevant governing bodies and the IBF ordered the pair to fight again, Froch agreed to broker a deal.
The ill-feeling between the two men makes their second fight the most eagerly-anticipated rematch in British boxing sinceChris Eubank fought Nigel Benn  at Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium in 1993.
The last fight to be held at the old Wembley Stadium was between Frank Bruno and Oliver McCall  in 1995, when 23,000 people saw Bruno win a heavyweight world title at the fourth attempt.
Bruno lost one of his world title challenges at Wembley against American Tim Witherspoon in 1986, a fight which drew 40,000 fans.
But the most famous fight to take place at Wembley was a non-title encounter betweenHenry Cooper and Cassius Clay,  which drew an estimated 35,000 supporters in 1963.
British hero Cooper, who died in 2011, knocked the future Muhammad Ali down with a huge left hook at the end of the fourth round, before being stopped on cuts by the American in the fifth.
The all-time attendance record for a British boxing match was set by Cornwall's Len Harvey, twice in the 1930s.
In 1934 Harvey unsuccessfully defended his British heavyweight title against Welshman Jack Petersen at White City Stadium in front of an estimated crowd of 90,000.
In 1939 Harvey won the British light-heavyweight title with a victory over Rochdale's Jock McAvoy in front of a comparable crowd at the same venue.
Crowds gather for the Cooper v Clay fight in 1963
Crowds gather for the Cooper v Clay fight in 1963


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