Froch defends his IBF and WBA super-middleweight titles against Groves on Saturday and there will be plenty of tension in the air when they climb into the Manchester ring.

According to Froch, his animosity towards Groves stems from the Londoner’s ringside reaction within seconds of him landing the IBF belt in May last year.

Froch, 36, collected the crown with a fifth-round stoppage of Lucian Bute and Groves was one of the observers at a packed Nottingham Arena.

Froch said: “It all stems from jealousy – the jealousy of George Groves. I saw it at ringside as soon as I had beaten Bute.

“I saw Adam Booth (Groves’s ex-manager and trainer) cheering and punching the air – like everyone else in the arena.

“Everyone, that is, except Groves.I saw him sitting next to Adam and he was looking like his world had just ended. You see people at ringside and you take it in. You pick people out, you look at them and it sinks in.

“I saw Groves that night, commentating for BBC radio with Booth.

“I knocked Bute over, I celebrated, everyone was happy – but Groves just looked pig sick.I knew his problem – he’s jealous of me. He should be behind the English fighter, but he’s not.