Carl Froch and George Groves counted their bruises and considered a rematch after one of the most brutal and compelling all-British fights in recent years ended in controversy in Manchester on Saturday night.

The puffed-up faces of both men bore testament to the war they had just waged, with Froch surviving a first-round knockdown to earn a controversial stoppage victory over Groves in round nine and retain his World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation super-middleweight titles.

Referee Howard Foster's surprise intervention - with Groves ahead on all three of the judges' cards - brought howls of protest from fight fans and the challenger's camp and led to inevitable talk about the pair doing it all again in the new year.

Promoter Eddie Hearn appeared to pave the way for a second meeting, admitting: "Fights are made through the demand of the broadcaster and the fans and I can't see demand for any fight other than a rematch."

However, Froch, having initially accepted rematch calls at ringside, said in his post-fight press conference he would need more time to think. "I'm in a position where I don't have to give anyone a rematch," he said. "I am going to spend Christmas with my family and forget about boxing. In the new year I will decide what to do."

Groves had entered the fight unbeaten but still performed way above expectations, taking the fight to Froch, and dumping him on the canvas in the opening moments from a right hand. It was only the second time Froch had hit the deck in his career and as he sluggishly regained his feet and tried to clear his head it seemed for a moment a major upset was on the cards.

Groves continued to take the fight to Froch, peppering him with stiff left jabs and getting the better of an uproarious sixth, before showing signs of tiredness.

Froch was getting the better of a series of increasingly fractious exchanges in the ninth and when a pair of right hands left Groves sagging, Foster jumped in having deemed - as is his right - that a standing count was not necessary.

His decision sparked uproar, with both corners briefly squaring off in the ring and the same supporters who had roared Froch to the ring turning on the champion, and instead affording Groves, whom they had roundly booed, a hero's reception. Foster was smuggled from the ring by six security guards as Groves insisted: "It was an unjust stoppage. His shots weren't landing cleanly and I was nowhere near as hurt as he was in some of the rounds."

Froch called the fans' reaction "devastating" but backed Foster's call, insisting Groves could have been hurt had the action continued.

n Paisley light-middleweight Kris Carslaw failed in his bid to inflict a first defeat on Pole Damian Jonak at the weekend. The 29-year-old Scot was unanimously out-pointed in the 10-round non-title bout in Jastrzebie Zdroj after agreeing to the fight at short notice in the hope that it would lead to a fresh European title shot.