George Groves: 'Carl Froch is in the twilight of his career'

George Groves feels he's ready for Carl Froch, but also expects that the 35-year-old star to avoid the fight, saying he's not going to want to risk losing to someone on the rise:

"Of course I want to fight Carl. A lot of people's eyes might roll when I say that, but the truth is, I'm there. Carl is in the twilight of his career and keeps banging on about his legacy. But if he retires now he won't have a legacy worth remembering like Ricky Hatton or Joe Calzaghe.

"He needs a few more good fights but instead he is targeting opponents who there is no disrespect in losing to, people like Andre Ward who he has already lost to. If he loses to a young fighter like me with 19 straight wins, his pride might take too much of a knock."

Groves (19-0, 15 KO) stopped Noe Gonzalez in a tune-up bout on the Froch-Kessler II undercard, easily winning as expected. The 25-year-old is planned to return in September for what Eddie Hearn says will be a "big" fight. Froch-Groves does have serious potential in the UK, and honestly I think it would be a terrific fight -- top, established star vs rising star is generally always a good thing.

Of course, I doubt that Froch would avoid Groves because he's threatened by him, and I'm sure Groves knows that, too. This is just a baiting tactic, and it's not a bad one. It doesn't reek of arrogance, it's one that purposely shows a little humility -- he doesn't put himself on level with Andre Ward, and cleverly turns that around into Froch only wanting to fight guys that, if he loses to them, won't bring him or his legacy any shame.

I doubt we see this next, but my guess is we'll see it sooner or later.