george groves the next british boxing star

[stevedoc]

groves has improved massively in the last 2 years he has power a great jab and seems at home in the ring .
i'd love to see him fight kessler if kessler carries on then fight froch after.
i think groves would give froch a lot of trouble right now , and in 18 months grove will be the no2 168 fighter in the world behind ward

[gobbles]

Won't it be best to judge him against an opponent who actually moves his feet? The guy he fought last night was very poor and DeGale is still head and shoulders the best guy he has fought.

[Newport Daz]

I agree, George has really improved. His accuracy and power is excellent, I like the way he feints and uses upper body to attack and defend. I think he's ready for one of the lesser belt holders at 168.

[MightyWarrior]

Love watching Groves, 2nd best super middle to ever come out of Hammersmith ( Calzaghe was born there! ) He's got a fantastic style about him, and has great personality. Very bright too.

I dont think his chin is as good as say DeGales, but he fights smart, and when hurt he's got that get out of jail big punch - as we saw v Smith & Anderson.

He's box office, could be a star if the cards fall right.

[MarkMcBurney]

Won't it be best to judge him against an opponent who actually moves his feet? The guy he fought last night was very poor and DeGale is still head and shoulders the best guy he has fought.

Degale would struggle more with Glen Johnson IMO.

[ScottDetonator]

Brian Magee would be another decent name to add to the growing Groves record and should be a another KO for the highlight reel.

George's last three opponents haven't been up to much but he did take two of them at short notice when he moved over to Matchroom.

We'll probably see Groves fighting the likes of Ruben Acosta or some other Argentinian possibly Robin Reid, on a couple of the under-cards Matchroom have coming up, then a real test, which I feel George may have to take in the states.

It would be hard to see the likes of Dirrell or Bute coming over here again, even Abraham for that matter.

We've got a couple of decent fighters coming through at the weight that are a fair way behind Groves and DeGale, but could make for some good contests over the next few years - Rocky Fielding, Frank Buglioni, Callum Smith, possibly Eubank Jr and Ogogo in the future as they move up.

I'd say Groves is 5+ fights away from a Carl Froch fight, in which time, Froch may well be retired. However, the ace Groves has up his sleeve is similar to the one that Lee Purdy had, by appearing on the same cards as Froch, being in the same stable and same weight etc. he is always in the frame should injuries occur or opponents pull out close to a fight.

The WBC belt is available after Ward vacated it and it looks like Julio Cesar Chavez Jr may well be moving up and facing Sakio Bika for it. If JCC Jr gets that title, it would be great to see JCC Jr vs Froch early next year!

[mickey1975]

What would be hard about Dirrell coming over? He got robbed against Froch, apparently the best thing sliced bread, and then turned in a masterclass against Abraham before getting fouled. Real twat isn't he?

[NazNaci1]

What would be hard about Dirrell coming over? He got robbed against Froch, apparently the best thing sliced bread, and then turned in a masterclass against Abraham before getting fouled. Real twat isn't he?

Dirrell? Yes, he was unlucky against Froch but he bailed out in the most appalling and pathetic way against Abraham (I was in fits of laughter at his appalling 'acting' and his 'crying' as he walked from the ring, right up to the point where you see him walking around his dressing room afterwards). Pathetic. The same Dirrell bottles it from fighting Ward and pathetically withdrew from the S6. So yes, he is a tw@t.

[davie]

How is dirrell sneaking into every thread? is he that important?
if he doesn't leave me alone to discuss other fighters i'm going to replace groves with dirrell as the man i blame everything on!

****Back on topic****
regarding groves, i was impressed with how he got the win over degale, a fight i thought he'd lose.
and he just seems to have grown and grown since then, almost as if the degale fight gave him some real confidence.

i'm interested to see what people think the outcome would be between degale and groves now. i think groves would be more convincing this time round and i honestly don't think degale would take the fight now as it would be too great a risk. losing twice to the same guy before you reach a shot at a title could be really damaging

[davie]

also, still on groves, i was looking at the world rankings on fightnews.com

george is ranked 3rd for the vacant WBC title, 2nd for the WBA, 7th by the IBF and 1st by the WBO.

there absolutley has to be a title shot for george in the next 12 months....surely

[TheCobra]

I like Groves, but it's time now to step up in levels, his last few fights haven't been against the toughest of opposition.

[Bard of Boxrec]

I like Groves but he just doesn't have the constitution to make it to the top.

[magnus]

I like Groves but he just doesn't have the constitution to make it to the top.

In what sense mate - chin, strength etc?

[ajwesty13]

yeah like groves a lot.. he is very entertaining and has bags of talent... can fight inside and on the out.. on the front foot and as he proved against de gale on the back foot to... however i would like to see him step up, but he is a definite one of better prospect for titles...

cant wait for selby the brothers to come to the surface, the same for kal yafai, callum smith.. and other good little prospects...

anyone know when quigg is fighting again and who it will be?

[Final round]

What would be hard about Dirrell coming over? He got robbed against Froch, apparently the best thing sliced bread, and then turned in a masterclass against Abraham before getting fouled. Real twat isn't he?

Dirrell? Yes, he was unlucky against Froch but he bailed out in the most appalling and pathetic way against Abraham (I was in fits of laughter at his appalling 'acting' and his 'crying' as he walked from the ring, right up to the point where you see him walking around his dressing room afterwards). Pathetic. The same Dirrell bottles it from fighting Ward and pathetically withdrew from the S6. So yes, he is a tw@t.

Yes;-) i'm not saying the bloke can't box cos he can well BUT the shitbag feigned with the help of some quack whore doctors note citing signs of early pugilistic dementia to duck out of fighting Ward in the S6 after IMO getting AA DQ'd when he fouled him.
On second thoughts I'd like to see Froch brutalise him.

[TheCobra]

Mickey you have an unhealthy obsession with Dirrell, the guy is a gutless wonder. Where has his career gone since? Down the drain, because he's a total shitbag. He's great at bitching and moaning, but doesn't seem to like doing very much actual fighting.

[Old bones Ian]

For some reason i'm not fully sold on Groves, I have a feeling he may turn out to be a very good euro boxer, but falling at world class. Kind of like Ryan Rhodes.

[mickey1975]

I post on here daily, mention Dirrell for one day and I have an unhealthy obsession? Much the same Froch fans do with Hopkins-Calzaghe? I won't mention him again, he was beaten fair and square by Carl and Abraham never fouled him, sorry lads.

[Final round]

Mickey AA fouled him but Dirrell rolls around like he'd been shot. The amount of serious blows we se men take each week and they tough it but he just saw a get out and took it.

[TheCobra]

For some reason i'm not fully sold on Groves, I have a feeling he may turn out to be a very good euro boxer, but falling at world class. Kind of like Ryan Rhodes.

Yeh I feel like that myself a bit, I think he might still get his hands on one of the lesser world titles if they match him right though.

[mickey1975]

And I'm being accused of bring obsessed by a bloke who calls himself "The Cobra"! I'm assuming its not Carl... I post under my own name, pal, and watch boxing at all levels on a regular basis. I'm obsessed with no one.

[andeeholden]

Groves has definitely got the confidence, he is entertaining to watch, a big hitter and doesn't mind getting involved in a tear up. The Magee fight mentioned in this thread would be my pick for his next fight, would certainly give us an idea as to how far away GG is from the bigger players in the division.

[btahthezone]

I think he has the potential but as others have said there will be doubts until he ups his class. On his record domestically he has beaten James Degale, Kenny Anderson and Paul Smith which are decent names domestically.

The only really gate keeper he has beat which in my opinion while old is still a very durable Glen Johnson. That was a decent step up he has had 3 keep busy fights I would love to see him get in with Brian Magee, Peter Manfredo Jr or someone along them lines.

You can say what you want about Alcoba but his only two losses came against Felix Sturm for the WBA Middleweight Championship in 2007 losing on the scorecard by every round and recently Adonis Stevenson for the WBC Silver Super Middleweight Championship by TKO in the second. So he really was a better class of opponent than James Degale has been facing isn't he?

[sucracristo]

also, still on groves, i was looking at the world rankings on fightnews.com

george is ranked 3rd for the vacant WBC title, 2nd for the WBA, 7th by the IBF and 1st by the WBO.

there absolutley has to be a title shot for george in the next 12 months....surely

he should go to germany and fight stieglitz this summer

[MightyWarrior]

Personally I think DeGale would jump at the chance to get Groves back in the ring. And almost certainly the Groves camp wouldn't want it.
Firstly, there's no need, but secondly, its a very risky fight. Just look how ultra careful he was told to box JD last time, strict orders not to get involved AT ALL.

DeGale is not the biggest hitter out there, but he's very fast, durable & if GG started exchanging with him, I think DeGale would do him. And this is from a Groves fan.