By Scott Gilfoid: WBC super middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell (27-0-1, 22 KOs) still feels that #1 WBC, #4 IBF, #6 WBA contender George Groves (21-2, 16 KOs) doesn’t deserve a shot at his WBC title due to his two knockout losses to Carl Froch.
In a very strange move by the WBC, they let Groves fight in a WBC 168 pound eliminator bout this year against little known Christopher Rebrasse after Groves had been knocked out twice in a row in his two previous fights against Froch.
It’s still unclear why the WBC picked out Groves to fight in an eliminator bout given the fact that he’d been knocked out twice in a row. As you would expect, Dirrell doesn’t feel motivated in fighting a guy who arguably doesn’t deserve another world title shot.
To be sure, Groves has won his last two fights against Rebrasse and another little known fighter named Denis Douglin, but Groves hasn’t faced any quality fighters to get his shot at Dirrell.
“There’s no interest. Why would there be? He got knocked out twice,” Dirrell said to the Dailymail.co.uk. “Why would you get a shot if you got knocked out twice? He’s a good fighter but you got knocked out twice. You need to prove yourself. You haven’t fought anybody yet to prove yourself and won. He got knocked out twice. Who deserves a shot after that?”
The WBC isn’t going to make Groves prove himself. They allowed him to fight Rebrasse to get the title shot, and now he’s Dirrell’s mandatory. Dirrell hasn’t said anything about him planning on vacating his WBC title, so you can expect him to be forced to fight Groves at some point in 2015.
Dirrell has an optional title defense available to him for his next in early 2015. After that fight though, Dirrell will need to face Groves or else he’ll likely be stripped of his title by the WBC.
Dirrell has said repeatedly that he has no interest in fighting in the UK, but the chances of their negotiations going to purse bids are fairly high. If it goes to purse bids then Groves’ promoters at Sauerland Events will have a good chance of winning the bid, and then staging the fight in the UK whether Dirrell likes it or not.
Dirrell feels that because he’s the WBC champion that the fight should thereby take place in the U.S, but this is likely going to come down to whichever promotional team has the deepest pockets or the most interest in staging the fight.
You’ve got to assume that Sauerland will win the purse bid and stage it in the UK in order to give Groves his best chance of winning the fight and making the most money. The good news if you’re a Dirrell fan is that he’s got the kind of power, hand speed and talent to knockout Groves no matter where the fight is staged.
Groves appears to have a chin problem, and his stamina isn’t so great either. Having a fighter with the kind of power that Dirrell has hitting Groves on the chin for 12 rounds can’t be a good thing if you’re Groves. I don’t see him being able to take more than 6 or 7 rounds of Dirrell’s right hands to the head before Groves gets put to sleep.
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