Referee Howard Foster has sparked controversy by appearing to 'like' a comment on Facebook predicting that Carl Froch would beat George Groves in the ring after nine rounds.

Froch retained his IBF and WBA super middleweight titles in Manchester on Saturday after Foster controversially stopped the bout in the ninth round.

The Nottingham-born fighter was knocked to the ground for only the second time in his career in the first round by Groves, who left the arena to a chorus of cheers, despite losing the bout.

Before the fight, a comment on Facebook by user Daniel Coy to Foster read: "Just watching you at the weigh-in mate! Looking smart!! I'm saying froch in 9th?".

The referee then 'liked' the post, which Groves has retweeted on his official Twitter page.

Take a look at the message below: