By Sean McDaniel: Unbeaten British super middleweight champion James DeGale (10-0, 8 KO’s) badly wants to get in the ring and prove himself against undefeated Commonwealth super middleweight champion George Groves (12-0, 10 KO’s).

The two will be fighting next month on May 21st on the undercard of the light heavyweight clash between WBO champion Jurgen Braehmer vs. Nathan Cleverly at the O2 Arena (Millenium Dome), Greenwich, London. England. The DeGale vs. Groves rivalry goes back a long ways when they both trained in the same gym and Groves beat him in the amateurs.

Although DeGale has since moved on and achieved greater success than Groves by winning the 2008 Olympic Gold medal, he still can’t forget about having been beaten by Groves in the past and it rubs him the wrong way. In their meetings together, Groves comes across the more calm and level-headed of the two, as if he knows he’s the better fighter of the two.

Of course, few people see Groves as winning this fight, it bugs DeGale to no end that Groves is so self-assured. This is something that DeGale is going to have to get used to – having opponents feeling that they’ve got the talent to beat him. This won’t be the last fighter that DeGale takes on that believes he’s got the tools to win, so DeGale needs to just recognize that it’s not wrong for his opponents to believe in themselves, even if they’re the only ones that feel they can win.

Groves doesn’t know what he’s capable of because he hasn’t been beaten yet. After he likely tastes defeat for the first time against DeGale, his attitude about himself will likely change as he realizes his limitations as a fighter. But right now, he’s still unbeaten and has that inner belief that he can’t be beaten. It’s DeGale’s job to drive that out of him and make him understand how limited he is.