By Scott Gilfoid: #2 WBC George Groves (22-3, 17 KOs) will be taking a non-risky 12-round fight at super middleweight against light hitting domestic level fighter David Brophy (16-0-1, 1 KO) on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Charles Martin fight card next month on April 9 on Sky Box Office from the O2 Arena in London, UK.
There had been talk of the 27-year-old Groves fighting former four-time world title challenger loser Martin Murray, but that fight isn’t happening next for Groves. It looks like he needs another confidence booster type of fight, and the 25-year-old light hitting Brophy is the perfect opponent for Groves to boost his confidence.
This is arguably a step down from Groves’ last opponent Andrea Di Luisa, who he stopped in the 5th round last January at the Copper Box Arena in London, UK.
At least with Di Luisa, he had a little pop in his punches. Brophy isn’t a big puncher at all, as you can see for yourself with his one knockout on his 17-fight record. But at least Brophy is unbeaten, so it’s not all bad. Yeah, Brophy hasn’t fought any worthwhile opposition during his entire five-year pro career, but he is still unbeaten. His record is obviously inflated with a lot of fluff wins, but it’ll still make Groves look good to the casual boxing fans to see him beating a fighter with an unbeaten record.
Groves may still end up fighting Murray at a later date, but that’s a fight that will need more time to negotiate and build up. The Brophy contest is a stay busy fight for Groves, who needs to keep improving and building up his stamina.
I would hope for Groves’ sake that he doesn’t just blast Brophy to smithereens in this fight, because he really needs to work on his conditioning. With Brophy virtually no threat to KO him, Groves would be wise to take him to the 11th or 12th rounds so that he can get accustomed to fighting longer fights.
Groves has had too many short fights during his career, and I don’t think he’s ever truly learned how to pace himself and fight a full 12 round fight. I mean, Groves can do whatever he wants and blast Brophy out in two rounds if he wishes, but I think it would be stupid. Groves needs to use Brophy as a training tool to improve the weak part of his game in terms of his stamina or lack thereof.
Groves ran out of gas in the second half of his fight with WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack, and ended up losing a 12 round split decision. Groves fought well in the first six rounds with the exception of a knockdown he suffered in the 1st round. Groves came back and appeared to be in control of the fight through six rounds. However, in the second half of the contest, Groves’ face turned red and he gassed out badly. This allowed Badou to take control over the fight to win a close 12 round decision. In hindsight, if Groves had the needed stamina, he would have won the fight. I blame that on Groves for blasting out too many of his early fodder opponents and never developing his stamina to go 12 rounds the way smart fighters normally do.
“It’s nice to be in a domestic dust-up!” said Groves. “David is an undefeated fighter so I’m sure he will be coming with a lot of confidence. It’s great to be back on Sky Sports and part of a great Box Office line-up. I’m looking forward to it.”
The Saint returns on April 9th @StGeorgeGroves v unbeaten David Brophy at the London 02 🇬🇧🇬🇧 #GrovesBrophy
— Kalle+NisseSauerland (@SauerlandBros) March 17, 2016
Brophy is going to obviously be trying to win the fight, but without the punching power to stretch Groves out, he’s not going to have any chance of winning. If Brophy is smart, he’ll load up with everything he has with each punch and aim for Groves’ chin. He might get lucky. I doubt it, but when you’re dealing with a guy with stamina issues like Groves, anything is possible.
I’m not sure that Groves brings much to the table to the Joshua-Martin card. Having Groves’ name attached to the card might get some boxing fans to purchase the fight on Sky Box Office, but I can’t imagine too many of them will be excited at the thought of paying to see him fight a little known fighter like Brophy.
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