DeGale was initially upset when he learned that Groves had been signed by Warren

By Scott Gilfoid: Former British super middleweight champion James DeGale (10-1, 8 KO’s) reportedly was extremely upset after learning that his promoter Frank Warren had signed British and Commonwealth super middleweight champion George Groves 13-0, 10 KO’s) to a contract and would be thus joining the same stable as DeGale.

DeGale lost a controversial decision to Groves last May in a fight that many boxing fans felt that DeGale should have won. DeGale didn’t know what to think and went and spoke to Warren about it soon after.

DeGale told the Independent “When Frank rang and said he had signed Groves, I felt betrayed. So the next day I went and met [with Warren]. He sat me down and I digested it properly. I makes sense, it’s a great move. If Groves beats Paul Smith in his next fight and I win this European title, in the early part of next year we’ll meet again and the winner will go on for a world title.”

It was a very smart move by Warren, because Groves, who was previously promoted by Hayemaker Promotions, wanted no part of fighting a rematch with DeGale and neither did Hayemaker. If Warren hadn’t signed Groves to a contract we’d likely not be seeing a rematch between Groves and DeGale for at least two, possibly three years after DeGale would capture a title and Groves would be the challenger.

It’s much better getting the fight over with early before someone beats Groves and takes the interest out of a DeGale-Groves II fight. This way we’ll definitely have a fight between the DeGale and Groves while it still means something. If it had been left to Groves’ old promoters, we’d likely not see the fight until it was rather pointless.

Once Groves gets beaten, the interest in the fight will die down a lot. It’s better sooner rather than later for the fight to come off. At any rate, Groves is no real threat to the popularity that DeGale has. I see both fighters on different talent tracks. DeGale appears to be headed for a world title and super stardom while Groves looks to be headed for a spot as one of the many contenders in the division where I see him as a gatekeeper type fighter that beats the lesser guys and slaps them down.

Groves defends his British and Commonwealth titles on November 5th against Paul Smith in Wembley. DeGale fights for the European Boxing Union title next Saturday night against EBU champion Piotr Wilczewski at the Echo Arena, in Liverpool.