By Scott Gilfoid: It’s quite possible that George Groves (19-1, 15 KO’s) could find himself facing James DeGale (18-1, 12 KO’s) in a rematch for his first title defense of his IBF/WBA super middleweight titles if Groves gets past IBF/WBA champion Carl Froch (32-3, 23 KO’s) in their rematch this month on May 31st at the Wembley Stadium in London, UK. Groves beat DeGale by a narrow 12 round majority decision three years ago in May of 2011 by the scores of 115-115, 115-114, and 115-114.
It was far from a conclusive victory, but there was never a rematch for some reason, even though DeGale badly wanted one. Groves moved on and fought a series of lesser fighters before getting the fight against Froch last November for his two titles, which Groves subsequently lost by a controversial 9th round stoppage.
Whether Groves faces DeGale or Brandon Gonzales (18-0-1, 10 KO’s) next will be determined on May 31st, when DeGale faces Gonzales in an IBF 168lb eliminator bout on the undercard of the Froch-Groves 2 fight at Wembley Stadium.
“This is being billed as the biggest fight in British boxing history, and once I beat Carl I might have a mandatory and that might be James DeGale,” Groves said to Sky Sports. “It’s not a fight I’m going to lose any sleep over, though, because I’d beat James DeGale seven nights of the week.”
DeGale will be a tough opponent for Groves if DeGale can get past Gonzales. DeGale gave Groves a lot of problems when he started pressuring him in the second half of their fight in 2011, and I suspect that DeGale will be using the same strategy in the rematch. He found out in that fight that you can’t let Groves dictate the pace of the fight, because he’ll use his in and out attack style of fighting all night long. The only question about whether DeGale could beat Groves is his chin. DeGale has looked fragile at times in fights since his loss to Groves, especially in his last one against Gevorg Khatchikian last March. DeGale was staggered in that fight, and he looked far from impressive.
Groves wants the big fights if/when he beats Froch, but he’s going to need to be careful because if he faces someone too good, like Andre Ward, he’ll lose his titles almost immediately. Ward is someone that Groves will likely struggle against.
Comments are closed.