By Jonathon Fell: Last Saturday night saw the much anticipated return of “The Saint” George Groves as he seeks to re-establish himself in the elite 168lb mix following 3 damaging world title tilts (2 vs. Carl Froch and most recently vs. Badou Jack) all ended in defeat for the Londoner. Under new stewardship of Jake McGuigan who is rapidly developing his reputation as one of the best young trainers in the UK and can no doubt develop his name globally with an ever-increasing number of fighters in his stable.
I was ringside for the fight which took place at The Copper Box arena situated on the Olympic Park in London’s East End. It’s the first time I’ve been to the venue and it is definitely a good venue for boxing events. The arena, although only around 75% full created a good atmosphere for the arrival of Groves, supported by a slightly odd brass band belting out traditional English march songs to get the crowd going. Groves looked very businesslike throughout his entrance and to the first bell, almost snarling that he has had to step back down to this size of venue and level of opposition when he feels passionately that he should be holding a version of the 168lb strap.
Groves’ opponent was the Italian Andrea Di Luisa, a contender who has had success only at a domestic level and has been outclassed on all of his excursions to a higher class of opponent. Still, he came in good shape, and was clearly a much more able import than some of the previous ones we’ve seen been brought in for our UK fighters. The start of the fight was quick from Groves, typically dominating from the centre of the ring with a good, snappy jab. I, like others did notice that Groves tends to sink down and throw the jab from such a wide stance, he not only loses some of his height by doing that, he can also inhibit himself when looking to follow up with the right hand. In any case, the start was much more authoritative than in some previous performances, particularly vs. Denis Douglin where Groves was sluggish throughout.
The fight while it lasted took quite a similar path throughout, Groves began following the good jab with a larger variety of shots which began troubling Di Luisa more or less immediately, damaging the Italians nose badly. From round 3 onward, it became more of a survival attempt for Di Luisa, but against Groves this is not easy, he is busy and relentless and still maintains a good amount of power in both hands. Di Luisa was down briefly in the 5th round and Groves piled on more pressure which Di Luisa couldn’t hold off, the end came in somewhat strange circumstances with Di Luisa returning to his feet while the corner were hovering the towel around as to almost offer an escape route, Di Luisa took this escape and Groves was back with a dominant TKO win.
Moving forwards, Groves is keen to be active, and keen to be in big fights. While the elusive world title will still be a huge draw for Groves, he has several options in the super-middleweight division to make big fights for big money. Groves could go on to fight Martin Murray, Callum Smith among to name two. Previously, Groves would have felt like he was above these fighters, but having 3 defeats on his record has forced him to re-evaluate his worth in the game. No doubt his promoters The Sauerland brothers are able to engineer him a world title shot somewhere across the division but personally I would love to see Groves take the challenges of some of the domestic opposition available. Smith, Murray, Fielding etc. would be great matchups for UK fans and would provide stiff competition for Groves which may be just what he needs as he builds up towards another potentially world title tilt.
Overall, I think there is still something for Groves to give at the elite 168lb division. Yes the defeats were incredibly devastating but he can be nurtured back to the elite level of the division. If he can win one or two 50/50 fights that would boost his confidence so much that his 4th world title fight could very much end up going his way. Fighting limited opposition in tune-up fights won’t give him what he needs to excel on the biggest stage. Personally, I think Groves could beat Murray and Smith and go on to world honors, targeting a “weaker” champion. One fight that we have to see is Groves vs. arch rival James DeGale. Groves who beat DeGale in the tightest of fights back in 2011 and went on to develop in to a world-class fighter more quickly than DeGale. However Groves has since been forced to watch on as his nemesis claimed IBF 168lb strap and surpass him in the world rankings. I fully expect Groves to win a world title at some point, I just don’t expect him to win a world title from DeGale because that’s a fight that, in my opinion, he doesn’t win right now, nor in the future.
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