By Scott Gilfoid: In hopes of raising his game enough to defeat WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack (19-1-1, 12 KOs), #1 WBC contender George Groves (21-2, 16 KOs) has flown over to California to train at Big Bear Gym.
Groves is hoping that some of Golovkin’s talent will rub off on him to get him to the next level. Unfortunately, Groves won’t be able to spar with Golovkin this time around, because it’s still too early for Golovkin to start his sparring. His fight isn’t until October 17th against IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs) on HBO pay-per-view from Madison Square Garden.
Unless Groves want’s to hang around until mid-September for when Golovkin is sparring, Groves isn’t going to be getting any sparring done with the Kazakhstan star. Groves’ fight against Badou Jack could be taking place on September 12th on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr’s next fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s still not confirmed for that date and card, however. Unless Groves’ fight with Jack is pushed to October, it doesn’t look like Groves will be able to spar with Golovkin.
“I only like Golovkin in camp for eight to nine weeks,” Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez said via skysports.com. “Our fight is on October 17 so he won’t be back until August 17. By that time, George will be finishing up and Golovkin is just starting – so probably not.”
Groves and Golovkin sparred together in the past, with Golovkin rumored to have hurt Groves with a body shot to the ribs. Sanchez hasn’t given the details what transpired during the sparring sessions.
Sanchez thinks that Groves will defeat Badou Jack by a knockout. Why does he feel this way? Sanchez thinks that merely by Groves having fought former IBF/WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch in the past it will have improved Groves’ game and made him a better fighter. I don’t agree with that. I don’t think a fighter gets better after being knocked out twice, but then again that’s me.
Taking a beating and being left on the canvas out cold doesn’t seem like it’s something to aspire to. Fighters like Joe Frazier weren’t better after being knocked out by George Foreman, were they? Jeff Lacy wasn’t better after losing to Joe Calzaghe, was he? Yeah, there are some fighters that do improve after sharing the ring with a better fighter, but I think in most cases the losing fighters aren’t better after failing. I think it works the opposite direction. They take a beating, lose confidence or get something shaken lose in their heads, and then are never the same fighters again. All I can say with Groves is he doesn’t look like the same fighter he once was before he lost those two fights with Froch. I think there’s no comparison. Groves looked a heck of a lot better before the two losses to Froch than he does right now.
“He’ll stop Badou Jack,” Sanchez said. “I don’t think Jack understands the level that George is at. Just by fighting Carl Froch and having been in that situation makes a big difference mentally.”
Oh brother, I think Sanchez is blowing smoke up Groves’ backside by trying to make it out as a good thing that he was knocked out twice by Froch. Yeah, it’s really great to lose twice by knockouts. It makes you a better fighter. That’s why Yusaf Mack and Lucian Bute are doing so well after they were knocked out by Froch. Not. I don’t see where Groves has come out ahead from being knocked out twice by Froch. I mean, where’s the gain from that? You get knocked out twice and all of a sudden you’re world championship material? Nah, it doesn’t work out like that in the real world. Maybe in some kind of movie it would work that way, but in real life, fighters don’t get better after they get blasted out like Groves did. They get worse, and that’s what I expect to see from Groves when he gets inside the ring with Badou Jack. He’ll go in, try, and then get knocked out by Jack. Groves can train all he likes at Big Bear, but I don’t see it changing anything at all. I just don’t think he has the chin or the stamina to beat the top fighters in the division. If an aging 38-year-old Froch could beat Groves twice, it kind of shows you Groves’ level.
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