IT WAS 10 years ago — on November 25 2013 to be precise — that George Groves put in a performance against Carl Froch at the Manchester Arena that will go down in history as one of the most sensational and audacious ever seen in a British boxing ring.

All the way during the build-up to the fight, Froch had talked like a man who was going to roll over his young challenger like a juggernaut. The veteran champion was not only rattled but offended, you could tell, by Groves’s extraordinary confidence and self-belief.

Groves told everyone prior to the fight that he was going to come out, take the centre of the ring and engage with the four-time world champion. No-one believed him. Most believed his only chance lay in staying on the back foot and using his movement to avoid Froch’s power, while countering.