Groves’ appeal against Callum Smith – Hadillah Mohoumadi WBC eliminator rejected

By Boxing News - 02/15/2016 - Comments

groves677By Scott Gilfoid: In not too much of a surprise, #2 WBC George Groves’ appeal for the World Boxing Council super middleweight eliminator bout between #1 WBC Callum Smith (18-0, 13 KOs) and #6 WBC Hadillah Mohoumadi (20-3-1, 15 KOs) has been denied by the WBC.

Smith and the 35-year-old Mohoumadi will be fighting in a WBC 168lb title eliminator bout in less than two months on April 2 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. The winner of the Smith-Mohoumadi fight will be the WBC mandatory to champion Badou Jack.

Groves should have fought Callum Smith ages ago to get him out of the picture. If Groves had taken the Smith fight and beaten him already, then he wouldn’t have to worry about being passed up by him in his chase for a second fight against WBC champion Badou Jack.

Unfortunately for Groves, Smith will now be fighting what amounts to be an easy mark in Mohoumadi on 4/2, and he’s pretty much in the driver’s seat to become the WBC mandatory challenger to Badou. I don’t think it’s going to result in Smith beating Badou for his WBC title later this year, but it at least will get him a big payday.

With Groves being ranked above Mohoumadi at No.2, it seems that he’s been passed over by the WBC for the title eliminator. However, it’s not as if Groves didn’t recently get a shot at fighting Badou for his WBC title, as Groves was beaten by the talented American last September in losing by a 12 round split decision.

If the WBC had allowed Groves to immediately fight in an eliminator bout after his loss to Badou, it might look bad to some boxing fans. As it is, Groves has been getting boo koo chances for fighting for world titles. Groves twice fought world champion Carl Froch for his titles in 2013 and 2014. Groves also fought Badou for his WBC title. The problem is Groves keeps losing.

“As predicted, the WBC have rejected the George Groves and Sauerland protest to stop the final eliminator between Callum Smith and Mohoumaddi,” said Callum Smith’s promoter Eddie Hearn to skysports.com. “We have called the Groves fight out for some time and it was continually scoffed at by him and his team. Now we are one fight away from Badou Jack and the WBC title, Callum has the biggest test of his career on April 2 but I believe this young man has everything needed to become a world champion in one of boxing’s hotter divisions.”

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Groves probably doesn’t even need to worry about being the No.1 WBC mandatory in order to get another fight against Badou. Yeah, it would give Groves a bigger payday if he were the WBC mandatory, but he probably doesn’t need to be the mandatory to get another fight against him. All Groves needs to do is have his promoters at Sauerland Events throw some big dollar figures at Badou, and they’ll then likely get the rematch.

Personally, I don’t think that would be best option for Groves to take with his career, but if he’s all worked up for a second chance at fighting Badou, then that would be the way to do it. I think Groves will lose again if he takes the fight with Badou. I see that as another Froch-Groves outcome for Groves. That’s why I think it’s better if Groves goes after a flawed champion like IBF belt holder James DeGale or WBO champ Arthur Abraham.

Those guys are vulnerable champions, and Groves already beat DeGale once before in 2011 in a close 12 round majority decision win. I could see Groves beating DeGale again. DeGale looked horrible in his last fight against 35-year-old Lucian Bute in November last year. The fight was won by DeGale by a 12 round decision, but you can make an argument that it should have been a draw.

Before that, DeGale won a close 12 round decision win over Andre Dirrell last May. DeGale would have lost that fight if he hadn’t got credit for two knockdowns in the 2nd round. One knockdown was a flash knockdown, and the other one was where DeGale shoved Dirrell to the canvas. I could see Groves beating DeGale again because the guy is totally flawed and Groves seems to be the smarter fighter.



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