By Scott Gilfoid: Commonwealth super middleweight champion George Groves (15-0, 12 KO’s) will be defending his title on December 15th against 43-year-old Glen Johnson (51-17-2, 35 KO’s) at the ExCel Arena, Dockland, London, United Kingdom. Johnson has been dragged out of a near retirement to take this fight, and Groves is talking about how this is great fight for him.

Groves said to IFilm London “This is the fight I need. It’s a step in the right direction. He’s [Johnson] still fighting on a high level, and I’m fighting Glen Johnson, a real opponent, in a Commonwealth title fight. I think I’m on the verge of a world title now. I’m ranked in the top 10 in all of the governing bodies.”

There’s no question that Johnson is the best fighter that Groves ever faced before, but you can’t get around the fact that Johnson has lost three out of his last four fights. It just seems like he’s been picked because he’s old and not the same fighter he once was. Could you imagine Groves facing a prime Glen Johnson? I can’t. I don’t think that fight would ever get made if Johnson hadn’t lost three out of his last four fights. That’s probably what got Johnson the fight in the first place.

Groves said to thesun.co.uk “It could turn into a brutal and bloody war, one that the fans will relish.’

If there’s going to be any blood spilled in this fight, it’s going to be Groves’ blood and not Johnson. Groves seems to cut way too easily, and Johnson is going to have a field day at slicing him up with his hard jabs and right hands. I sure hope Groves brings a good cut man with him on December 15th because I can see this fight easily getting stopped on cuts with Groves bleeding out all over the place from facial cuts.

It’s pretty easy to predict how this fight will go. Just watch Groves’ stinker of a fight against James DeGale to get a picture for how Groves will choose to fight Johnson. Groves will likely run around the ring all night long, every once in a while hitting Johnson and then running away again like a person playing tag and you’re it. I imagine the British boxing fans will love that kind of fighting, whereas people from the rest of the world will be turned off badly in watching a bunch of running.

In a one on one fight, Groves loses to Johnson. He doesn’t match up with him in the power department and he can’t beat him in a toe-to-toe battle. If Groves tries to do that, his skin will probably tear to bits and he’ll be blinded by the blood. The fight will be quickly stopped, and it’ll go to the scorecards. As such, I see Groves starting out fast and trying to win as many of the early rounds as possible before the fight gets halted from his cut up face. This could be like a five or six round fight at the most.