Wembley to host Froch vs. Grove rematch in May
LONDON (AP) — The highly anticipated rematch between British fighters Carl Froch and George Groves for the WBA and IBF super-middleweight titles will be at Wembley Stadium on May 31.
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed the venue on Tuesday.
With Wembley able to seat up to 90,000, the fight is expected to set a post-World War II attendance record for a boxing match in Britain. The record is 56,000 in 2008 for Ricky Hatton-Juan Lazcano at the City of Manchester Stadium.
"It's brilliant news for many, many reasons," the London-born Groves said. "This is a huge fight. It needed to go to an impressive stadium and Wembley is top of the list. For me personally, it's going to be a great night. I was at that record-breaking Hatton fight, wow, what an atmosphere. We're going to have the same this time round, except I'm going to put Carl Froch to sleep as well. They've got that to look forward to."
Froch retained his WBA and IBF titles with a ninth-round stoppage against Groves in Manchester on Nov. 23. Groves launched an appeal, saying referee Howard Foster stopped the fight prematurely, and the IBF then ordered a rematch. Froch's belts will be at stake again at the historic football ground.
Wembley staff will be facing a tight deadline to get the stadium ready in time after an England-Peru football friendly just 24 hours earlier.
