Paul Smith thinks the Brits will soon rule the 168lb division soon

By Boxing News - 02/03/2015 - Comments

smith67By Scott Gilfoid: Former world title challenger Paul Smith believes that the super middleweight division will soon be ruled by the Brits with himself, Carl Froch, James DeGale and George Groves all potentially holding down world titles at the same time.

Froch, 37, is already a world champion with his WBA title at 168. Froch did give up his IBF title though, but DeGale will be vying for that belt in two months from now against likely American Andre Dirrell on April 25th in a fight that could take place in the UK, if DeGale gets his way.

“Can you imagine me, Carl Froch, James DeGale and George Groves all holding world titles at the same time?” Smith said via Skysports.com. “That would be one hell of a statement and prove – again – that we run that super-middleweight division.”

I personally think Paul Smith is dead wrong in thinking that all the belts at 168 will be held by his fellow Brits. I don’t see how in the world that he’s going to be able to beat WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham in their rematch this month on February 21st in Berlin, Germany. I see that as a big loss for Smith unless he knocks Abraham out. Smith doesn’t have the punching power to compete against the hard hitting Abraham, and he definitely doesn’t have the defensive skills either.

As for Groves, he’s on course to battle Dirrell’s brother, WBC super middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell in 2015. There’s also a small possibility that DeGale’s promoter Eddie Hearn might be able to get Groves to agree to a fight against DeGale for the IBF title, but only if Dirrell chooses to not face DeGale and only if Hearn waves enough money under Groves’ nose to get him to agree to the fight.

In all likelihood, Groves will probably price himself out for the DeGale fight by asking for too much money in terms of the purse split. As of now, it doesn’t look like that fight will happen. Groves will then face Anthony Dirrell, and I think that’ll result in Groves getting knocked out by Dirrell within 7 rounds. Dirrell is a lot more accurate with his shots than Carl Froch, and the combination of his speed and accuracy will give Groves a lot of problems.

DeGale is going to have his hands full if he faces Andre Dirrell on April 25th. Dirrell is like a better version of DeGale in every way. Dirrell remains me of an upgraded cell phone version of DeGale with a better processor, software, speakers, you name it. I can’t see DeGale doing anything against Dirrell other than losing and losing badly in a one-sided fight from start to finish. I mean, this isn’t Brandon Gonzales or Marco Antonio Periban that DeGale would be fighting.

“I know people will throw Andre Ward into the equation and rightly so, but he hasn’t fought for 14 months and it doesn’t look like he’s going to get back in the ring any sooner,” Smith said about Ward.

Even if Ward stays out of the gym until June, he’ll still be the best fighter in the super middleweight division, and still capable of beating Froch, Smith, Groves and DeGale. It’s not as if Ward is old or has been out of the ring for three years or more.

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