Groves disputes decision

[johnswan1]

I couldn't believe when one of the judges gave the fight to Groves. Jack won it pretty clearly for me, supported by the punch stats which are pretty damning. Groves simply isn't as good as he thought he was, plus he's chinny, his stamina isn't brilliant, and he doesn't seem to be able to raise his performance a level when he needs it.

Where does he go from here? I'd like to see him straight in with Murray or the winner of Smith-Fielding.

Groves threw more shots but landed fewer, according to punch stats. He was 154 of 721 overall, Jack 210 of 506. Jack outlanded Groves in power punches 127 (of 244) to 68 (of 266).

http://www.skysports.com/boxing/news/12 ... ack-defeat

George Groves felt he controlled his fight against Badou Jack and disputes the split decision which saw him lose a third world title fight.

The Hammersmith man was knocked down in the opening round but recovered to take the WBC super-middleweight champion the distance in a close scrap which was scored 115-112, 113-114, 116-111 in the title-holder's favour.

Groves, whose only other losses were in back-to-back fights against then-world champion Carl Froch, did not dispute the knockdown but had a problem with the decision.

"I thought I won the fight decisively,'' he said. "I thought I controlled the fight with my jab and that I was in control throughout, though, it appeared closer to the judges.

"It was a legit knockdown in the first round. He landed the right hand over the top, but I have good fitness and I thought I got back in control of that round. But all credit to him though, scoring the knockdown in the first round."

Groves will now take stock before establishing what his next career move will be, but has spoken of a desire to face Jack in a rematch.

"Congrats to Badou," he said. "I hope he has a successful reign as champion. I'd love to fight him again and hopefully I will do better next time. I am going to take some time to work out what's next. Losing a world title fight is the worst feeling in the world."

[TheCobra]

Bored with Groves' bluster now, the time has gone for words, he needs conclusive wins to put himself back on the map. Whilst he's never been disgraced at world level, he has shown a lack of chin and lack of control in his boxing, he loses his form and goes ragged and that costs him rounds when he's shipping big punches and getting his head rocked back.

To be honest I'm starting to think he's a bit deluded.

[CharlesListon]

Always blames someone else.

[crusader]

Jack won the fight in my eyes. Groves consistently outworked him but I thought Jack was effective enough when he did throw to edge it by a couple.

[handsofstone]

After being "Cobra'd" by Froch,did he get "Jack'd" this time?


I had Jack winning comfortable but it was a highly competitive fight where Jack was just that bit better on the night,Groves gave as good as he got till the end though,he didnt look as fresh as Badou though afterwards

[mikiesb]

I think it was. close jack edged it and did not seem in trouble.groves did not do enough to take the title but tried hard.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Close fight, Groves Stamina proved his undoing, he just seemed to go around the 9th.

[whiskey]

The paper champ kept it simple and composed, basic one-twos, going downstairs and moving well.

Groves was very erratic, lacked speed and explosiveness. He lost his shape and looked ragged and almost bewildered at times.

What he was a couple of years ago, that Haye-style of movement and throwing bombs has completely gone now. He was upright and lethargic.

He looked over the hill, not a 27-year old danger man at the peak of his game.

[Finn]

Groves needs to just shut up, the way he left the ring in a strop was ridiculous. It annoys me when fighters lose and then you say they thought they won. It like me saying I though I won a 100m sprint when everyone else saw me lose, and the judges gave the 1st place trophy to the real winner.

So far groves thought he was to robbed of a win in the first froch fight, was dominating froch in the second, and decisively beat jack. I think it comes to a point when he has to consider if he is really that unlucky or plain deluded.

[Finn]

The paper champ kept it simple and composed, basic one-twos, going downstairs and moving well.

Groves was very erratic, lacked speed and explosiveness. He lost his shape and looked ragged and almost bewildered at times.

What he was a couple of years ago, that Haye-style of movement and throwing bombs has completely gone now. He was upright and lethargic.

He looked over the hill, not a 27-year old danger man at the peak of his game.

Jacks a genuine champion imo, he beat a very good fighter in dirrell, and defended against a top level fighter in groves. He would beat AA and Chudinov who both hold world titles.

[whiskey]

Jacks a genuine champion imo, he beat a very good fighter in dirrell, and defended against a top level fighter in groves. He would beat AA and Chudinov who both hold world titles.

(without sounding rude) And exactly how many Badou Jack fights have you seen exactly to make such a bold statement?

The guy drew with Marco Antonio Periban. And Anthony Dirrell drew with Sakio Bika and was terrible against Rubio - for me they are all sub-world class.

[Finn]

Jacks a genuine champion imo, he beat a very good fighter in dirrell, and defended against a top level fighter in groves. He would beat AA and Chudinov who both hold world titles.

And exactly how many Badou Jack fights have you seen exactly to make such a bold statement?

I'll take a guess that you have watched none, until this weekend.

The guy drew with Marco Antonio Periban. And Anthony Dirrell drew with Sakio Bika and was terrible against Rubio - for me they are all sub-world class.

You seem unaware that sakio bika was also the world champion and that dirrell outclassed him in the rematch, or you're ignoring that fact to aid your argument.

I may have only seen jack fight once but I've seen enough of groves, dirrell, bika, a couple peribans fights, God knows how many of AAs fights and a couple of chudinovs to determine what level he is on.

[expe]

Groves needs to just shut up, the way he left the ring in a strop was ridiculous. It annoys me when fighters lose and then you say they thought they won. It like me saying I though I won a 100m sprint when everyone else saw me lose, and the judges gave the 1st place trophy to the real winner.

So far groves thought he was to robbed of a win in the first froch fight, was dominating froch in the second, and decisively beat jack. I think it comes to a point when he has to consider if he is really that unlucky or plain deluded.

It isn't though, the winner of the 100m is clear because it's whoever crosses the line first, the winner of a boxing match is subjective unless there's a knockout because it comes down to how the three judges saw it.

[whiskey]

You seem unaware that sakio bika was also the world champion and that dirrell outclassed him in the rematch, or you're ignoring that fact to aid your argument.

I may have only seen jack fight once but I've seen enough of groves, dirrell, bika, a couple peribans fights, God knows how many of AAs fights and a couple of chudinovs to determine what level he is on.

Well that's fair enough Finn, we will see how he fairs when he fights a few others. Personally I think he's fairly well rounded, but doesn't have that killer instinct and will feature in a lot of SD and MD decisions because he doesn't stamp his authority on the rounds enough.

I think Degale will beat him myself based on what I saw last night, unless he fanny's around.

The division has lost a lot since Kessler, Froch, Ward all retired or moved out.

It's up for grabs amongst the B-listers now.

[Finn]

Groves needs to just shut up, the way he left the ring in a strop was ridiculous. It annoys me when fighters lose and then you say they thought they won. It like me saying I though I won a 100m sprint when everyone else saw me lose, and the judges gave the 1st place trophy to the real winner.

So far groves thought he was to robbed of a win in the first froch fight, was dominating froch in the second, and decisively beat jack. I think it comes to a point when he has to consider if he is really that unlucky or plain deluded.

It isn't though, the winner of the 100m is clear because it's whoever crosses the line first, the winner of a boxing match is subjective unless there's a knockout because it comes down to how the three judges saw it.

It's not really all that subjective as demonstrated in the who won between McDonnell v kameda polls. The people who thought kameda won were in a small majority of people who seemed to miss all of mcdonnells jabs landing. It wasn't subjective just wrong. If the people watching the fight thought you lost, compubox showed you were out landed clearly, and the judges thought you lost, guess what? You lost. If one of those factors is to the contrary then there is a case that the result was wrong.

[WildWaylon]

Sadly Groves did his best but got outworked. Jack was a clear winner for me.

[TheCobra]

Amazing how many people saw it to Jack, even though the party line at allegedly was clearly to be biased towards Groves. I nearly swicthed the commentary off at one point, they were just picking out Groves' work and ignoring Jack's cleaner shots.

[rio]

I personally think leaving booth ruined his career

[Ezzard]

I had it even. I thought the KD had Groves trying too hard again. He wasn't relaxed in there.

I thought he was best when he was with Booth. Drawing people onto his shots. Now he goes after people he's less effective, I think.

[mullenman]

De gale is leagues above Georgia now

[Black Sam Bellamy]

If the fight is in London, Groves nicks it. Simple as that.

[taffytoon]

This is a simple one; GG is not as good as he thinks he is. Stop moaning; train harder and put more work into your fights. Oh and get back to booth on bended knees if needed, Paddy is not the trainer for you. Lastly stop blaming everyone else for your short comings.

[ste1983]

I scored it 1 round to Groves but loads were close, can't really argue with the home champion getting it.

[CMDY]

Like nearly every person who has voted in the poll so far I scored it as a Jack victory, and think the cards were about right. When they called the first card for Groves I was surprised, to my eyes he really needed to dominate the final few rounds and he didn't really seem to do this. George Groves lost a close-ish fight, it's a shame he didn't ask for a rematch straight after the fight. I know it doesn't look good storming off, but obviously was very upset.

Other people have stated that Groves sits in the awkward space in that he's too good for European class, and not quite good enough to be a World Champion. He's had some cracking pay days, but obviously wants a World Championship.

I can't see De Gale wanting to give Groves a fight whilst his career in the ascendancy.

[ILikeBeer]

It's my opinion that the first Froch fight being stopped early was the best thing to ever happen to Groves. Pre-fight everybody, myself included, was saying the fight was too early for Groves and he was going to get killed. Sure, he started well with Froch, but he was beginning to tire. If it had gone on a couple of rounds, there's no doubt in my mind Froch would've won. The doubt caused by the referee meant that Groves could have an extremely lucrative rematch. And despite losing the rematch, still has a name enough to challenge Jack for the title in Vegas.

I think we've reached a point though, where there really isn't anything that justifies Groves getting another World Title shot. He's had three, he's lost three. The only reason he's disputing this is because he's hoping to cause controversy like he did with Froch and get a rematch.

It'll be interesting to see if he gets a rematch. People won't be that interested this time. He was lucky that the first Froch fight was a lot more controversial than it should've been.

If he doesn't get the Jack rematch, the best he can hope for, in my opinion, is a few high profile losses. Maybe he can convince Andre Ward to fight him, if he admits willing to travel. Either that, or he'll have to fight some stiffs for a year or two, get a few wins, and hope eventually of some mediocre fighter fluking a World Title and getting a shot.

The real question is, where does this leave DeGale? DeGale seems to have gone a bit quiet since winning the title, I think maybe he was waiting to see if Groves won to set up a unification. That didn't happen.