Bet on Groves to go the distance against Carl Froch in Manchester

London-born bruiser George Groves has certainly made a name for himself ahead of the biggest fight of his life thus far against Nottingham Terror and world super-middleweight champion Carl Froch.

Many seasoned boxing observers believe the 25-year-old underdog – who is 3/1 to beat Froch at Manchester’s Phones 4U Arena – has won the pre-fight psychological battle.

The younger fighter laughed off claims by his more experienced rival that Froch dropped Groves in a sparring session in Sheffield and countered by stating that he had taken the champion apart in another training bout, ahead of Froch’s first career loss against Mikkel Kessler.

Froch was visibly rattled on camera recently when his unbeaten opponent spoke of the 36-year-old’s losses against Kessler and Andre Ward, but the Cobra has an imperious record on these shores and can edge a tight clash in the north west.

Carl Froch to win on points @ 10/3

The Nottingham native avenged the defeat against Kessler by beating the Dane at the O2 in London last May and is gunning for a rematch with Ward, after losing to the Californian in the final of the Super Six World Boxing Classic two years ago.

That fight will not happen unless Froch can overcome Groves and that is no foregone conclusion, as the Saint has proved an impressive performer since his shock points victory over James DeGale in May 2011.

Olympic gold medallist DeGale has upheld that form by winning seven out of seven since and could be Groves’ next opponent, whatever the outcome of this bout.

Groves clearly has a lot of heart and commands respect, having gone unbeaten since his professional debut in 2008 and knocked out 15 of his 19 adversaries along the way.

However, he is giving away a massive eight centimetres in reach to Froch, who has a wealth of big-fight experience to draw upon when his callow opponent turns up the heat in this bout.

Froch believes he has the punching power to subdue Groves and that is likely to be the case, but six of the Cobra’s last eight fights have gone the distance and the young pretender showed against DeGale – and when beating Glen Johnson over 12 rounds last year – that he has the stamina to punch all the way to the final bell.