(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) By Scott Gilfoid: Well, it looks like #1 WBC super middleweight contender George Groves (21-2, 16 KOs) is going to need to find a stay busy fight while he waits for his eventual title shot against WBC 168 pound champion Anthony Dirrell (27-0-1, 22 KOs). The World Boxing Council has reportedly given Dirrell a four-month extension before he needs to face Groves later this year between September and December.
The WBC reportedly put it to a vote whether the give Dirrell the extension, and they voted in his favor.
“WBCBoxing voted in favor of Dirrell four month extension 4 Voluntary Defence. No opponent or explanation given as yet. #GrovesDirrellSaga,” said Groves’ promoter Kalle Sauerland on his twitter.
It’s all good because it gives Dirrell more time to find a guy for an optional title defense before he faces Groves later on in the year. Dirrell had to work hard in beating WBC super middleweight champion Sakio Bika by a 12 round unanimous decision last August in an impressive performance from Dirrell. In that fight, Dirrell showed that he could beat Bika at his own game by getting in the trenches with him and out-slugging him.
Dirrell’s combination punching and his big power had Bika gun-shy for much of the bout after Dirrell nailed him with some huge, huge shots. I’d never seen Bika back off before in any of his fights, but against Dirrell, he looked very cautious like he didn’t want to get hit anymore at a certain point in the fight.
Groves didn’t have to do much to become Dirrell’s WBC mandatory challenger. Instead of having to face a tough test like Bika, Groves only had the fight the light hitting Christopher Rebrasse in the WBC eliminator last September.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJQEeWjHDlc
This game after Groves had been knocked out twice in a row by Carl Froch. Just why the WBC allowed Groves to fight Rebrasse in an eliminator bout is unclear, because you would think that Groves’ back to back defeats to Froch should have disqualified him for fighting in an eliminator bout. I mean, if the WBC’s qualifications for a fighter taking part in an eliminator bout is for them to be knocked out twice in a row, then, yeah, I can understand Groves fighting in an eliminator, but otherwise I can’t comprehend what the WBC’s reasons were for allowing that fight.
Groves and his promoter Kalle Sauerland were counting on being able to start setting up a fight against Dirrell, but that obviously isn’t going to happen now that the WBC has granted Dirrell a four-month delay so that he can get his voluntary defense out of the way first.
It’s really no big deal because it gives Groves more time to put distance between him and his knockout losses to Froch. The more time that goes by the better it is for Groves. I mean, the last thing he needs is to get in the ring with the big punching Dirrell right now and find himself getting knocked out again.
For Dirrell, he has a ton of options available for him to get a voluntary defense in. It would be interesting for Dirrell to fight the likes of Badou Jack or Callum Smith. Those are nice stay busy fights for Dirrell to take before he defends against Groves.
Comments are closed.