By Dennis McCarthy: During promotions for this fight, we will see James DeGale try his very best to unsettle George Groves, to take him out of his comfort zone and pressure Groves into fighting with his heart, not his head.

After watching the Ringside interview last week, and the way DeGale handled himself, if this carries on, I can see this having the exact opposite effect. James, while trying to maybe become the next Prince Naseem with his jibes and swagger, is making himself look an idiot, who has absolutely nothing of any relevance to say. His insults were that of a 14 year old schoolboy trying to look hard in front of his mates. DeGale will become frustrated that Groves is unaffected by the abuse, and it will get to DeGale as the fight draws closer.

On one occasion, DeGale said he would gladly put money on him winning the fight within the first four rounds, when challenged to put his money where his mouth is by Groves, his response was, “look at your tie you fool, sit down”. 1-0 to Groves there. Groves also showed that he is completely unfazed by DeGale’s insults, most probably due to the fact he has heard the same jibes over and over again down the line and has grown used to them, expects nothing else from DeGale. James is under the impression that the vast majority of support will be for him come 21st May, and at the moment, he is probably correct in thinking this, but should he carry on in this manner during the promotion campaign, making himself look an uneducated, silly fool at every opportunity, the neutrals will surely turn towards Groves come fight night.

James is the better fighter and should win the fight, make no mistake. He has improved in leaps and bounds since being beaten by Groves in a close decision a few years back as an amateur, whilst Groves has shown no signs of major progress, compared to his former sparring partner anyway. He didn’t look a world beater with his stoppage win against Commonwealth Gold champ Kevin Anderson, and his next fight against Daniel Adotey was just standard prep against a man who to be fair, wasn’t even in the same class, or classes directly below George.

I’m sure that DeGale will go on to win major honours down the line. I just hope he has people supporting him along the way.

It is, however, great to see two fighters, working towards their peak, fighting each other when they both have perfect records and near perfect knock out ratios. I hope the older, more experienced fighters at the top of the tree will take note and learn from this.