George Groves's physical condition

[stujones]

Watching IFL's interview with Groves yesterday or the day before when asked about his training camp instead of the usual 'yeah, it's been great' it was a slightly hesitant 'yeah, good, a good camp.' I am sure I am looking into this too much but a fairly comfortable nights work could be quite hard if Groves isn't near top fitness.

It could be interesting. I am now also probably looking too much into it - but is it only me that doesn't like Shane McG's body language in the weight in clip.

[THEBUTCH]

It's true, that picture isn't the most flattering.

I still see him winning, but if Groves is some way short of fighting fit condition (given this is a quality match up i.e. a few levels up from Brophy for example) it may be more of a struggle grinding out a win.

[samwbr]

Watching IFL's interview with Groves yesterday or the day before when asked about his training camp instead of the usual 'yeah, it's been great' it was a slightly hesitant 'yeah, good, a good camp.' I am sure I am looking into this too much but a fairly comfortable nights work could be quite hard if Groves isn't near top fitness.

It could be interesting. I am now also probably looking too much into it - but is it only me that doesn't like Shane McG's body language in the weight in clip.

If his record of never losing a pro fight as a trainer goes I'd expect groves to follow it.

[stujones]

I think Groves should win.... the Groves of the Froch era would have been expected to be pretty dominant against Gutnecht. I would say he is only slightly up on Rebrasse - and Groves handled Rebrasse easily enough without it being considered a good performance.... anything less than a wide points decision is a sign of regression if you ask me.

Gutnecht must be a bit tight at Super Middle also.

[rd350lc]

I think Groves should win.... the Groves of the Froch era would have been expected to be pretty dominant against Gutnecht. I would say he is only slightly up on Rebrasse - and Groves handled Rebrasse easily enough without it being considered a good performance.... anything less than a wide points decision is a sign of regression if you ask me.

Gutnecht must be a bit tight at Super Middle also.

agree he might be tight but looked in good nick and not gaunt and drained .

[Fitzy901]

I am a Groves fan but I have a real bad feeling about tonight.

To be honest if he loses its over for him.

[Fitzy901]

Watching IFL's interview with Groves yesterday or the day before when asked about his training camp instead of the usual 'yeah, it's been great' it was a slightly hesitant 'yeah, good, a good camp.' I am sure I am looking into this too much but a fairly comfortable nights work could be quite hard if Groves isn't near top fitness.

It could be interesting. I am now also probably looking too much into it - but is it only me that doesn't like Shane McG's body language in the weight in clip.

If his record of never losing a pro fight as a trainer goes I'd expect groves to follow it.

I noticed that aswell.

[jameswilson]

Groves looked very soft against Brophy I thought. But then looked in decent nick against Murray.

[emallini]

As long as he can do the 12 at a decent pace the way he looks means nothing.

[Boxing Prospect]

Has Groves ever done 12 rounds at a good pace?

[Grilling Machine]

Steve Robinson's a brilliant athlete to this day.

I saw a vid of stevo recently doing Some highly impressive crossfit kind of poo. He looked in better nick than when he was fighting!

Jim McDonnell's another who took up marathons and ran sub-3s.

He''s a stiff hitter, but his biggest wins have been driven by boxing ability rather than power, which is where I felt the original post was a little bit misleading.

You could be right, but big punchers tend to lose their power faster through increased energy expenditure. And because power plays to his strengths, I get the feeling he's never learnt the art of conservation. When he paws his jab it feels like an open confession of power-reliance to get the job done; it's not like he's setting you up à la Hopkins and co.

Calzaghe burned loads of energy, but his flurries kept him from taking too much in return. And while Froch often shipped a fair bit, his output was measured in a way that Groves' never has been. Eubank was a master of feints and ‘offensive posturing’; best circling-lion impression ever! But only a few guys were willing to risk it when his chin was so good, so it worked for him.

I imagine Groves has a ton of power at the start, but he seems to rely on plyometric punching to assert himself, and that's no good for a tough 12-rounder.

[Deserter]

Steve Robinson's a brilliant athlete to this day.

I saw a vid of stevo recently doing Some highly impressive crossfit kind of poo. He looked in better nick than when he was fighting!

Jim McDonnell's another who took up marathons and ran sub-3s.

He''s a stiff hitter, but his biggest wins have been driven by boxing ability rather than power, which is where I felt the original post was a little bit misleading.

You could be right, but big punchers tend to lose their power faster through increased energy expenditure. And because power plays to his strengths, I get the feeling he's never learnt the art of conservation. When he paws his jab it feels like an open confession of power-reliance to get the job done; it's not like he's setting you up à la Hopkins and co.

Calzaghe burned loads of energy, but his flurries kept him from taking too much in return. And while Froch often shipped a fair bit, his output was measured in a way that Groves' never has been. Eubank was a master of feints and ‘offensive posturing’; best circling-lion impression ever! But only a few guys were willing to risk it when his chin was so good, so it worked for him.

I imagine Groves has a ton of power at the start, but he seems to rely on plyometric punching to assert himself, and that's no good for a tough 12-rounder.[/quoteg]
Good post fella

[Counter-puncher]

Steve Robinson's a brilliant athlete to this day.

I saw a vid of stevo recently doing Some highly impressive crossfit kind of poo. He looked in better nick than when he was fighting!

Jim McDonnell's another who took up marathons and ran sub-3s.

He''s a stiff hitter, but his biggest wins have been driven by boxing ability rather than power, which is where I felt the original post was a little bit misleading.

You could be right, but big punchers tend to lose their power faster through increased energy expenditure. And because power plays to his strengths, I get the feeling he's never learnt the art of conservation. When he paws his jab it feels like an open confession of power-reliance to get the job done; it's not like he's setting you up à la Hopkins and co.

Calzaghe burned loads of energy, but his flurries kept him from taking too much in return. And while Froch often shipped a fair bit, his output was measured in a way that Groves' never has been. Eubank was a master of feints and ‘offensive posturing’; best circling-lion impression ever! But only a few guys were willing to risk it when his chin was so good, so it worked for him.

I imagine Groves has a ton of power at the start, but he seems to rely on plyometric punching to assert himself, and that's no good for a tough 12-rounder.

last night he wasn't pawing the jab too much, it was snapping out pretty much all night, especially in the last 3-4 rounds when he started finding the angle to get through Gutknecht's guard.

[Grilling Machine]

Haven't watched it yet, CP. I was thinking about the times I've seen Groves dealing with defensive fighters, and how he seems to run out of ideas when the other guy won't play into his counter-punching hands. He'll let his hands go when he's confident, sure. I never thought I'd say this, but I think he might benefit from fighting a Matthew Barney.

Barney's the guy who showed Froch that his wild uppercuts weren't gonna catch everyone.

[Counter-puncher]

Groves did a.good job with his jab, especially later.on, ans switching from head to body and back

LikE BP noted though he didn't use it as much when Gut was.coming forward

What I noticed mate, was he was great with the jab when gut gave him the tactical initiative and stood off, Groves would do the same thing over and over, side to side head movement and maybe a level change/dip in the knees, then throw the jab when Gut reacted very slightly and an opening through the guard came up

But it was very evident that he was only able to play that little 'wheres my head, where's my head, here's the jab' game when he did have the tactical initiative, not at all when pushed back (when he seems to almost entirely be looking for a rather panicky instinctive counter right hand)

[ElJefe]

My 'theory' on Groves' stamina is that he tenses a bit too much when he throws more than one punch if that makes sense. He doesn't seem to have that loose, flowy style that some boxers have that allows them to bend at the waist and throw their punches with varied speed and power. Again, not entirely sure if that makes sense but it almost looks like once he sets his feet and exchanges, particularly when he gets backed up, that he's forcing every punch out. I think he could with learning to take time off in rounds behind his jab as well, sounds strange because he has a great jab but it's as though he's constantly on edge, stalking and looking to follow up his jab with his right hand rather than breathing easier, relaxing and reducing the intensity whilst he flicks the jab out a few times.

Sort of goes with what someone else said about him being a strong puncher that's learned to box rather than a natural athlete, might be why he seems overly intense (if that's possible in a fight where someone is trying to knock you out) and on edge compared to the relaxed stance and movements you see from some of the more gifted athletes in the sport.

[Counter-puncher]

^^ really good post. I also thought last night that his balance looked a bit off when throwing combinations up close, and I think his lack of looseness was probably a cause of that too. Like you say he wasn't 'recovering' well after the first orsecond punches.