By Scott Gilfoid: James DeGale (10-0, 8 KO’s) looked to be the much more relaxed fighter compared to his opponent George Groves (12-0, 10 KO’s) at Friday’s weigh-in. Groves had been getting the better of DeGale during some of their verbal exchanges leading up to the fight, especially in their meeting on Sky Sports Ringside. However, when the two came together for a stare down and a bit of jawing, Groves looked psyched out, and came across like he was no longer sure of himself.

This wasn’t missed by DeGale, who said afterwards “He’s gone, I can see it in his eyes.” I have to agree with DeGale. Groves looked like all the confidence that he had before was totally melted away, leaving only a scared looking fighter who appears to be thinking a lot about how things might not go his way on Saturday.

Groves had a lot to say after the weigh-in but his words didn’t match the fearful emotions that his face was showing. Groves almost trembling as he spoke, saying “He’s not as ready as me and I’m going to take him out tonight. It’s going to be explosive. It might be over very quickly. If he thinks he’s going to trade blows with me, he couldn’t be more wrong. That’s going to be his undoing tonight. DeGale capitalizes on mistakes. I’m not going to make any mistakes. He won’t last four rounds with me.”

It was hard to buy what Groves was saying because his mouth was saying one thing but his body and face where saying completely different. Groves didn’t seem at all confident and self assured. He just looked like a little boy that was telling a tale that he really didn’t believe himself. It was kind of sad, because I think he understands that he’s going to lose on Saturday night and it’s stressing him out. I wonder if those sparring sessions with Andre Dirrell had something to do with knocking the confidence out of Groves. Dirrell had said he was taking it easy on Groves because of his limitations. But I wonder if Dirrell gave Groves a little taste of his talent and it was too much Groves to handle. I could see Dirrell opening up on Groves in their final sparring session and trowing punches that look like a blur.

DeGale, looking completely happy as if he was with a room full of friends, said “The talk is done. Time to walk the walk. While it lasts, it’s going to be exciting.”