Froch vs Groves Main Event & Undercard Predictions/Analysis

With 80,000 fans in attendance at Wembley Stadium, this is guaranteed to be a thrilling main event, but also an underrated undercard that people may not know about. Hopefully Americans

will tune into this and see how much other fans actually love and support boxing. Since it is the main event, we'll start with that first.

George Groves 19-1(15 Ko’s) vs Carl Froch 32-2(22 Ko’s) II

George Groves, the young, brash super talented fighter shocked everyone last year by beating up and knocking down Carl Froch all around the ring the first 6 or so rounds of their fight. Groves was winning the fight pretty comfortably until Froch landed some big punches in the 9^th round and as is typical with British refs, the fight was stopped very prematurely. That is what led us here to this fight. 

Carl Froch himself looked very sluggish and slow during the fight, but that’s not something we haven’t seen when he’s faced off against faster fighters. But the untechnical, powerful style that he’s used has only left 2 losses on his record in 34 fights and it’s what enabled him to keep pressing Groves and eventually get the knockout.

This fight here isn’t very easy to predict. You could say, yeah Groves needs to just box for 12 rounds, but the stamina factor that reared it’s head in the first fight might still apply here. I believe Groves needs to not press so hard for a knockout and expend the energy he needs to stay consistent for the entire fight. Froch knows he’s at a speed and skill disadvantage but when has that ever really mattered for The Cobra? Even if he’s getting outboxed the first few rounds, Froch has always shown he will be there in the later rounds(Jermain Taylor). 

Ultimately, I believe the the pressure is all on Groves here. He may have been winning the 1^st fight, but it still counts as an L on his record. You don’t want to talk ALLL this shit only to lose and go 0-2 against Froch, especially with no 3^rd fight in sight.

Going with Groves +150. Probably by decision unless Froch's chin somehow cracks. Moves on with his career and captures the IBF and WBA Super Middleweight titles. 

Brandon Gonzales 18-0-1(10 Ko’s) vs James DeGale 18-1(12 Ko’s) , Super Middleweight

This is an interesting undercard fight here at the Super Middleweight division, with the winner of this possibly facing the winner of Froch/Groves somewhere down the line.  Both fighters are pretty dynamic talents and the fans should be in for fireworks before the main event fireworks.

With the 30 year old Portland, Oregon native, Brandon Gonzales, we have a somewhat unheralded up and comer, but also a very good fundamental boxer. When you watch at first it’s like, “oh shit, he kinda looks like Andre ward!”, and then the commentators will fill you in with the “spars with Andre Ward” and that his trainer is Virgil Hunter. But anyways, Gonzales utilizes a really strong jab as well as a diverse range of punches in his arsenal. He also is a pretty good inside fighter.  

Some notable fights Gonzales has fought are with Ossie Duran (27-8-2), which a few people actually had him losing, and with Thomas Oosthuizen(22-0), which many thought he actually won. 

For all the positive attributes of Gonzales, the biggest flaw is probably defensively. He holds his hands a little low at times, and in a couple fights, you’ll notice the commentators talk about him slowly bring his left jab back. In the fight with Duran, he found himself getting caught a lot with the jab (left hooks too) as well as right hands over his left hand. Point blank; he doesn’t move his head as much as he should.

The 28 year old, former British Olympic Gold Medalist, James DeGale is a similarly talented fighter who obviously has had all the pedigree of a world champion. He has the great hand speed, variety of punches, great movement around the ring and is a good defensive fighter when he turns it up. As the favorite(-485) in this fight, he’s expected to win and progress towards being a champion in the Super Middleweight division.

DeGale’s competition has been better than Gonzales’ to this point, with the most notable name being George Groves(19-1), which some people thought should have gone the other way. Dyah Davis(22-3-1) is also another strong name to add to his resume. The issues people have with DeGale are his too cool attitude and lulls in fights. He either starts floating around with his hands down, or he lets himself lean on the rope, often not engaging enough as the fight goes on.

Going with the favorite DeGale here. I think he just needs to box and stay active for the duration of the fight. He has the height and reach to do so and the better defense than Gonzales. If Gonzales is going to win the fight, he needs to apply the pressure all fight, can’t see him winning from the outside against DeGale, but he can capitalize on the inside and gain points on the ropes where DeGale seems to languish and smother his own attack at times.

James DeGale -485

Kevin Mitchell 37-2(27 Ko’s) vs Ghislain Maduma 16-0(10 Ko’s), Lightweight

Mitchell himself is a very good boxer who also has knockout power. His only 2 losses came in title fights to former WBO Lightweight Champion Ricky Burns and former WBO Lighweight Interim Champion, Michael Katsidis. In those fights he displayed his boxing skills but eventually was overwhelmed by the power of both guys and lost by TKO (BRIT REFS). He’s on a 4 fight winning streak since his tko loss to Ricky Burns, with 3 coming by way of TKO. 

Maduma is a largely untested Congolese fighter based out of Canada. He truly is dynamic and looks the part of a future champion. He has the chiseled physique, the breathtaking hand speed, power, and has an arsenal of punches he’s ready to unleash at any moment. His fight against Saul Carreon last year in May showed off his resilience in a 10 round fight. No Knockout but a great effort against a legit test.

I think outboxing Maduma would be tough for Mitchell. He’s just at a disadvantage in the speed department against a great boxer in Maduma himself. He has to really press the action and make this more of a brawl. For Maduma, he needs to use his speed advantage and box Mitchell. There will be openings for his right hand(which he sometimes gets a little bit too happy with), but also for Mitchell to counter as well. Gonna go with the undefeated prospect to stay undefeated.

Ghislan Maduma +120 .  Think the ko may be a possibility if he overwhelms with his speed with these refs.