By Scott Gilfoid: George Groves (19-2, 15 KOs) has been knocked out in twice in a row and is now getting a WBC eliminator against a little known fighter named Christopher Rebrasse (22-2-3, 6 KO’s) on September 20th. It sounds great. I like the WBC’s decision making to let Groves fight in an eliminator coming off of two knockout losses. It makes sense.
Why let a top 15 contender with a winning streak fight in an eliminator when you’ve got a perfectly suitable guy coming off of two knockout losses available in Groves. He’s not ranked in the top 15 by the WBC at this moment, but perhaps that’ll change as his September 20th fight date against Rebrasse draws nearer.
Groves is talking about wanting a third fight against IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch if he beats Rebrasse, and the winner of the Sakio Bika vs. Anthony Dirrell fight. Bika is the WBC strap holder, but he may not be for long if he doesn’t raise his game on August 16th in his rematch against Dirrell.
“I doubt Carl Froch is prepared to fight me as of yet. This seemed like the most logical route. It’s a final eliminator for the WBC, which is of course a prestigious title,” Groves said to Skysports.com. “I don’t think I have ever been in with anyone that I don’t think I can beat and the guy who I lost to in the last two fights, I still think I can beat him. If I get a shot at him [Froch] next year, brilliant, I’ll happily take it. I’ll take it tomorrow.”
That’s interesting. So Groves feels that a third fight between him and Froch should happen in 2015. That makes about as much sense as Groves fighting in a WBC eliminator bout after two knockout losses to Froch.
Gee, I wonder if Groves is getting a little ahead of himself here. Groves beats the little known fighter Rebrasse, beats Bika or Dirrell, and then gets a third fight with Froch. Would the British boxing public go for a third fight between Froch and Groves, or would they turn their noses at idea of seeing yet another mismatch?
My guess is they’ll go for the idea of Froch-Groves III, and won’t protest too much. I couldn’t see a scenario like that working in the United States if it involved someone like Floyd Mayweather Jr. If he brained some guy twice, and then the guy beat a no named fighter with an empty resume, and then defeated a paper champion to get a third fight against Mayweather, the U.S boxing public would not go for that.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Froch fight Andre Ward or Andre Dirrell again given that both guys did a number on him in the past, and he’s still not fought them again after the problems he had with those guys. Froch was given a win over Dirrell, but a lot of boxing fans see that victory as having asterisk next to it due to how well Dirrell looked in that fight.
For me, I’ve seen enough Froch-Groves fights to last a lifetime, and I don’t care to see another fight between them. It’s become wretched at this point.
A third fight between Froch and Groves them would come across as little more than just a money grab at best. It would be difficult for me to take it as a serious fight, even if Groves were to beat this Rebrasse guy, who terrible in his last fight, and then beat Bika or Dirrell. I mean, I can’t see Groves beating either Dirrell or Bika. But you have to assume that a Groves-Bika or Groves-Dirrell fight will take place in the UK, and that might give Groves a chance of winning a decision if it goes to the cards. I think Groves will get knocked out by either one of them, but he’ll definitely beat Rebrasse because he’s clearly not a puncher.
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