By Scott Gilfoid: Former James DeGale (20-1, 14 KOs) conqueror George Groves thinks DeGale can defeat American Andre Dirrell (24-1, 16 KOs) this Saturday night on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC in their fight for the vacant IBF super middleweight title at the Agganis Arena, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. If DeGale beats Dirrell, Groves says he’d be interested in facing him in a rematch.
Of course, Groves would obviously have to beat WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack first before a Groves-DeGale rematch could take place. Groves will be fighting Jack for his WBC title this summer at some point.
We’re probably looking at July or August before the Jack-Groves fight takes place. With the way that Groves has looked recently in his victories over Christopher Rebrasse and Denis Douglin, I don’t think he has any chance of beating Badou Jack. Further, I don’t see things going well at all for DeGale against the faster, stronger, and better defensive fighter Dirrell on Saturday. I do think a battle of the losers from the DeGale-Dirrell and Groves-Jack fight would be a good one for late this year. That would be interesting, but I don’t see Groves and DeGale coming into that fight off of wins.
“He’s in with a chance, a real good chance,” Groves said about DeGale via Skysports.com. “We will see if he can step up to the mark and perform – and I wish him the very best of luck. I think he can do it. If he goes out there and performs, if he’s up for it. A points win wouldn’t surprise me.”
This is the way I see it. Dirrell would likely destroy Groves in easy fashion if they were to face each other, which they probably never will. I can’t see Groves’ promoters at Sauerland Events ever letting him fight a guy with the talent that Dirrell has. Since we already saw that Groves beat DeGale four years ago in 2011 in winning a 12 round decision, it tells you that DeGale has very, very little chance of winning this Saturday’s clash against the more athletic and experienced Dirrell. It’s a real longshot for DeGale in this fight in my view.
DeGale will have to show more talent than he ever has before, both at the pro and amateur levels, for him to be able to beat a guy in Dirrell’s class. The DeGale that won the Olympics in 2008 isn’t nearly good enough to beat someone like Dirrell in my estimation. DeGale won the Olympics, but I feel that it was against weak opposition compared to the fighters that Dirrell fought in the 2004 Olympics when he battled the likes of Gennady Golovkin. Had DeGale had to fight Golovkin in the 2008 Olympics instead of the likes of Shawn Estrada and Emilio Correa Jr., I don’t think DeGale would have won the gold medal. I think he would have been soundly beaten by Golovkin, and possibly knocked out.
When asked if he’d like to fight DeGale in a rematch, Groves said “I’ll have it in a heartbeat.”
Unfortunately, I don’t see DeGale winning the fight against Dirrell on Saturday. Yeah, Groves and DeGale can face each other in a rematch in the UK, but I think it will have to be with the two of them coming off losses, because I don’t see Groves beating Jack and I definitely don’t see DeGale beating a talent like Dirrell.
Comments are closed.