By Scott Gilfoid: Former three-time world title challenger loser George Groves (22-3, 17 KOs) will be fighting his stepping stone opponent David Brophy (16-0-1, 1 KOs) this Saturday night in a scheduled 12 round fight for the vacant WBA International super middleweight title on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Charles Martin card at the O2 Arena in London, UK.
The fight card will be televised on Sky Box Office PPV for the fans interested in shelling out cash to see it.
It’s one of those cards where boxing fans will have to make up their minds whether they feel that the main event between Joshua and Martin is worth paying to see because the undercard fights leave a lot to be desired in my view.
Groves, 27, can only hope that he can get a title shot against WBC champion Badou Jack in the near future, because the fight against Brophy isn’t going to put Groves at No.1.
Callum Smith is already the WBC’s mandatory challenger at 168, so he’ll be fighting for a world title at some point against the winner of the Badou Jack. vs. Lucian Bute fight. However, the Jack-Bute winner will almost surely fight a unification fight after that against the winner of the April 30 fight between IBF champion James DeGale and Rogelio Medina.
Groves could wind up facing Callum Smith in the near future when/if he wins the WBC 168lb title. If that happens, Smith will give Groves a title shot.
“He’s going to have to step up. He’s never boxed anyone who is at my level, but he’s young, he’s hungry, he speaks well and seems like a really nice guy and this is his chance so I’m expecting the best Brophy there is,” said Groves to skysports.com.
This is arguably a worst mismatch than Groves’s recent fight against Andrea Di Luisa, who Groves stopped in the 5th round last January. Di Luisa at least had some punching power that Groves had to watch out for.
Groves couldn’t just walk him down without worrying about getting nailed by a big punch. But in the Brophy fight, Groves doesn’t have to worry too much because he can’t punch and it’s going to be easy pickings for Groves.
“He’s got power and knows how to finish the job; it’s hard to gauge the performance from a first round, but he boxed really well, so take nothing away from him and if there is a possibility of taking that fight, then 100 per cent I’ll take it,” said Groves about Callum Smith.
Smith stopped EBU super middleweight champion Hadillah Mohoumadi in the 1st round in his last fight last Saturday night in Liverpool, UK. Smith got the win, but you can’t really say anything about the victory because he wasn’t facing a quality opponent. He was fighting a 35-year-old guy who had been padding his record since his back to back losses in2012 to James DeGale and Nikola Sjekloca.
Groves seems to fall apart each time he steps it up a level against quality opposition. I think he’ll get past Brophy alright, but once Groves fights for another world title, I see him losing miserably no matter who he faces. If it’s Callum Smith, then I see him getting knocked out just like he did in his two fights against Carl Froch.
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