• Carl Froch v George Groves II

Froch vows to stop 'petrified' Groves

Carl Froch branded George Groves' call for neutral officials as "bad taste" © PA Photos

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Carl Froch insists he is not distracted by all of the pre-fight hype which is surrounding his eagerly anticipated rematch against George Groves and has vowed, once again, to end the bout by stoppage.

The pair will square off for a second time on May 31 at Wembley Arena following the controversial ending to their first fight in Manchester last November. Groves was pulled away from Froch with referee Howard Foster stopping the bout in the ninth round.

It took a protest to the IBF in New York to force another world super middleweight title bout and, after Froch pushed Groves during a press conference at Wembley, the Cobra believes his opponent is running scared.

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"He [Groves] looked petrified actually so I'm just lapping it up and smiling," Froch told Sky Sports.

"I went away quite happy from the press conference so whoever says round one to George Groves for that ... I mean people are saying round one, round two, round three, George Groves does a lot of that - round one to me, round two to me, round three to me.

"I don't even get involved in any of that stupidness. It's just noise - it comes in one ear and goes out the other to be honest."

Interest in the rematch hit fever pitch with an initial 60,000 tickets for the bout selling in less than an hour. With plenty of other British fighters contesting on the undercard - James DeGale and Anthony Joshua have both had fights confirmed - it is expected to be one of the biggest domestic bouts in history.

The fight carries extra baggage after Groves called for neutral officials and claimed the British Boxing Board of Control had "failed" him.

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However, Groves' criticisms do not sit well with Froch and the current champion has reiterated his desire to end their rematch before the final bell is tolled.

"It looks bad for the British Boxing Board of Control. They are being told they can't officiate the fight. I don't like that. I think it's in bad taste to be honest," Froch said.

"But who referees the fight is of no concern to me. If they tell me who it is or if they don't tell me who it is, I won't even give it a second's thought.

"It's going to be a mid to late stoppage victory for me unless George Groves does anything erratic and comes out swinging - which he is talking about doing, but I don't think he's going to.

"But if he does, that suits me brilliantly. He is going to walk straight into a sucker punch and the fight is going to be over early.

"But I don't want that to happen because there will be 80,000 people there and I want to give them their money's worth."

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