Carl Froch claims ticket sales were for him, not George Groves

Carl Froch believes his status as a "massive international superstar" is the reason for impressive ticket sales for his bout against George Groves.

Eighteen thousand tickets for the fight in Manchester on 23 November sold out in 11 minutes.

Froch will defend his WBA and IBF super-middleweight belts and has made no secret of his dislike for Groves.

"Boxing, unfortunately for him, is all about levels and I'm in a totally different league," Froch said.

"I've become a massive international superstar. I don't know about 'us two', it's all about me really. If George Groves was fighting somebody else, I don't think he'd have sold out this arena in 10 minutes."

The Nottingham-based boxer, 36, was angered by Groves sparring with Mikkel Kessler ahead of his fight with the Dane in May.

He feels that defeat to Groves, who is unbeaten in 19 fights, could be the end of his career.

Froch added: "I cannot see this fight going the distance.

"Trust me, believe me: this fight is ending by KO. I am knocking out George Groves - in style.

"I've got no respect for George Groves as a person. He's not shown the champion, me, a four-time world champion, the respect I deserve. He's talked very disrespectfully to me."

Groves, 25, maintains he is ready to make the step up in quality against Froch and insists he did nothing wrong in sparring with Kessler.

The London-based fighter was on the undercard of that Froch-Kessler fight and knocked out Uruguay's Noe Gonzalez Alcoba to become the mandatory challenger to Froch's IBF title.

He said: "It's a step up, but it's one that I'm more than ready for.

"I've only boxed maybe one other fighter as experienced as Carl Froch but he isn't going to get any better and I'm more than enough to beat him, and that's what I plan to do.

"It's typical Froch with his superiority complex, [to think] how dare someone go and help the guy he's fighting.

"I think Froch - knowing that somewhere down the line, we could end up meeting - was trying to paint me to be the bad guy and unpatriotic. Fight fans in the know were pulling his argument apart."