George Groves: Martin Murray is in trouble

By Boxing News - 06/21/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: George Groves (23-3, 18 KOs) feels more stronger now than he has in the past, and he’s feeling more motivated now than he has in a while. Groves, 28, will be fighting in a WBA super middleweight eliminator bout against former four-time world title challenger Martin Murray (33-3-1, 16 KOs) on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Dominic Breazeale card this Saturday night on 6/25 at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

Groves feels like he’s a new man with the help of trainer Shane McGuigan. Whether this is something that’s just in his mind or not is unclear. It’s generally believed that Groves was at his best when he was with trainer Adam Booth. Ever since he parted ways with him, Groves hasn’t looked nearly the same.

“I’ve always been vicious mentally but, physically, I’ve struggled to get it off as good as I can do but this year I feel like a new man and Martin Murray is in a world of problems, he’s in big trouble,” said Groves to skysports.com. “I’ve never felt so big, so strong, I don’t think I’ve ever hit so hard, never felt so sharp.”

It’s difficult to imagine Groves getting stronger now than he was in the past. He’s 28 now, and if anything, he doesn’t look as good physically compared to three years ago when he fought Carl Froch for the first time in November 2013. Groves dropped Froch in the 1st round, and fought well through the first five rounds before he started to fade from gassing out. Groves lost to Froch in the rematch in May 2014 in losing an 8th round knockout.

Groves’ wins since then have been empty ones with him being inferior opposition clearly designed to be confidence boosters. When Groves struggled to defeat the limited fighter Christopher Rebrasse in September 2014, it was clear that he didn’t have the talent to be a major player in the super middleweight division. Groves was beaten by WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack last year in September in a fight in which Groves was knocked down in the 1st round and battered to the body for the last six rounds.

Surprisingly, the WBC didn’t drop Groves from the rankings or even lower him in any significant way. As such, Groves has a high ranked at #2 by the WBC and #4 WBA. Groves’ two wins since the loss to Badou Jack have come against mediocre fighters Andrea Di Luiasa and David Brophy. Instead of the sanctioning bodies lowering Groves for facing weaker opposition, they’ve raised him in their rankings.

“I’m going to win and win well, and show everyone in the world that I’m a force to be reckoned with at super-middleweight,” said Groves.

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If Groves beats the 33-year-old Murray, he’ll be the WBA mandatory challenger to WBA champion Giovanni De Carolis. This is the champion that some boxing fans see as the weakest by far of the champions, besides Felix Sturm. Groves would have a good chance of beating De Carolis and Sturm, but those aren’t the really talented fighters in the division in my view.

Sturm arguably lost his last fight against Fedor Chudinov. I don’t think Groves will be able to show much if he beats Murray and then De Carolis. I think Chudinov beats Groves without any problems. I also see Anthony Dirrell and Patrick Nielsen defeating Groves as well.

It’s a big question mark whether Groves can get past Murray, because that’s a potentially hard fight for Groves because Murray can still fight. He’s not a huge puncher, but he doesn’t need to be a hard puncher to ge Groves out of there and/or wear him down. All Murray needs to do is fight hard, and make Groves expend energy and he’ll run out of gas like he did in his fights against Badou Jack and Froch.

I think one of the major reasons why Groves fades so badly in his fights is because he’s so heavy for a super middleweight. I think Groves is really a boiled down light heavyweight when he makes weight for his fights at super middleweight. He’s probably drained when he fights in the 168lb division. Like a lot of weight drained fighters, Groves is able to fight hard for five or six rounds before his body just gives out due to the dramatic ordeal it’s been through in taking off all that weight to get down to 168. I think Groves would be better off fighting at light heavyweight against guys his own size.