By Scott Gilfoid: We saw plainly how easily IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko was able to figure out and defeat WBA heavyweight champion David Haye recently by a lopsided 12 round decision. Wladimir and his trainer Emanuel Steward picked apart Haye’s trainer Adam Booth’s strategy of having Haye throw pot shots and use a lot of running around.

This fighting style is basically the brain child of Haye’s trainer Booth and we saw the same strategy used by Commonwealth super middleweight champion George Groves 13-0, 10 Ko’s) to win a controversial 12 round majority decision over British super middleweight champion James DeGale in May.

Groves would come in range fire of one or two shots against DeGale and then skitter away to the outside. It took DeGale five rounds to figure out the style and then take the fight to Groves in the last seven rounds in what turned out to be a controversial win. However, now that the entire world has seen how you defeat Booth’s hit and run strategy, will Groves be able to find future success? I think not.

Oh, I know he’ll find success as long as he’s matched against domestic and European level opposition. It doesn’t matter what style Groves fights with against those kinds of fighters, he’s going to win against them. I’m talking about world level fighters like DeGale and the other talented fighters.

They know how to defeat Groves by jabbing a lot and applying constant hard pressure. Booth is going to have to come up with a new strategy if he wants to have Groves find success in the future and I just don’t think he can come up with anything that will work.

Groves doesn’t have the speed or the power to beat the good super middleweights like Andre Ward, DeGale and Andre Dirrell, and his run and pot shot technique won’t work against them. Groves isn’t powerful enough to adapt with a new style where he punches with these guys, because that would be disastrous.

I think what we’re going to be seeing from Groves is like a record that can only be played on one side. He won’t be able to adapt and I question whether Booth can come up with anything new other than his tired old run and pot shot strategy that his fighter Haye been using his entire career. Because of that, I don’t see a good future for Groves.

I think he’s a one hit wonder. The high point of his career will be his controversial decision over DeGale, and that’s it. DeGale will likely move onto world class honors, while Groves will be beaten over and over again now that he’s been figured out. He will be weeded out of the pack and end up having to settle for domestic level titles. I do see a rematch between him and DeGale at some point, but mostly as DeGale throwing a bone to his old nemesis. Say what you want about DeGale, but he’s a good guy. He’ll help Groves out when he’s needy in a year or two.