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Froch vs Groves: Interviews with Carl Froch, George Groves, Eddie Hearn, Paddy Fitzpatrick, Paul Smith, and Jamie Moore

Kugan Cassius of iFilm TV speaks with the fighters, their promoter, Groves' trainer, and more.

Kugan Cassius (@KuganCassius) spoke with everyone and their dogs after the final press conference for Saturday's Froch-Groves fight. Here's a selection of those interviews, including thoughts from the fighters, their promoter Eddie Hearn, Groves' new trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick, Paul Smith, and Jamie Moore.


Eddie Hearn: "I don't think you can run from Carl Froch or box him on the back foot for 12 rounds. If you do and you lose, where's your career at after that? You've gone into the fight of your life and tried to nick it, really. I've always felt that Groves would meet him in the middle, try to push him back, beat him with the jab, and it's going to make for a brilliant fight. I hope that does happen, but no one can tell until the bell goes. This is the fascinating thing about boxing, because it's such a tension-filled and testosterone-filled sport. You can say anything you want, but when you walk out there in front of 21,000 people, and your bum's going like that, and all of a sudden everyone clears out of the ring, anything can happen."


Paddy Fitzpatrick: "I can honestly say, and I mean this, I have not heard George be disrespectful or arrogant. One time on 'Ringside,' at the very end when Johnny Nelson asked him what's gonna happen, he said, 'I'm gonna knock this chump out.' Now if you think Carl being a chump is disrespectful, that's the one time he's been disrespectful. Any time that I have spoken to him about Carl, he has full respect for Carl as a champion. He has full respect for what Carl's done in the game. But he said, 'Paddy, I'm just better than him.'"


Jamie Moore: "I think George Groves really thought he got to Carl, and I think he realized today he's not. He's fed the fire. He's fed the flames."


Paul Smith: "I think Froch is rattled. Very much. Whether it matters or not is the top and bottom of it. Froch has been rattled before before fights. ... Carl Froch has lost before. He knows he can be beat. He knows he has lost and he's got that fear in him. ... Groves has got that arrogance and confidence about him, in a good way."


George Groves: "I've said that he's been a great ambassador for British boxing, I've said he's been a great champion. What more can I say about him? ... He announced himself as an international superstar. All he ever talks about is his legacy. He refers to himself as a legend. I mean, legacy is history. I wouldn't want to describe myself as a current fighter talking about history, because that means you're in the past. I'll put him in the past and give him his legacy if he wants. He'll be remembered for the wins he's had, and times where he has struggled against Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell, Glen Johnson, where he got the wins, people will forget that in time, because it will just be the BoxRec record -- 'win.'"


Carl Froch: "He's downplaying my fantastic record at world level, if I do say so myself. I've boxed some really, really good quality, classy, top-level fighters in my career. I'm not gonna name them all, because people know who I've boxed, and if you don't know, have a look on BoxRec, and have a look at my last ten opponents. He's showing no respect. ... The good thing about boxing is we get to put it right on fight night. So I'm really, really looking forward to hitting him hard in the face, believe it or not."

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