George Groves vs. Chris Eubank Jr - 17 February 2018

[Oiky]

Good points

I think George has enough mettle to deal with Eubank though

[Boxerbeetle]

surprised at the amount of comments regarding a eubank pull out.

Has he pulled out of a lot of fights or are these comments more a reflection of the amount of time he's been fighting without stepping up?

He pulled out of the only other fight where his amazing chin would have been put to the test.

[Bigdogsnose]

surprised at the amount of comments regarding a eubank pull out.

Has he pulled out of a lot of fights or are these comments more a reflection of the amount of time he's been fighting without stepping up?

He pulled out of the only other fight where his amazing chin would have been put to the test.

GGG!! - Stupidly been racking my brains to think of who he pulled out against, thinking surely he's not getting grief for Tommy Langford, then the whole ggg, brook scenario came back to me. Fair One!

[Boxerbeetle]

surprised at the amount of comments regarding a eubank pull out.

Has he pulled out of a lot of fights or are these comments more a reflection of the amount of time he's been fighting without stepping up?

He pulled out of the only other fight where his amazing chin would have been put to the test.

GGG!! - Stupidly been racking my brains to think of who he pulled out against, thinking surely he's not getting grief for Tommy Langford, then the whole ggg, brook scenario came back to me. Fair One!

[mfc_se15]

surprised at the amount of comments regarding a eubank pull out.

Has he pulled out of a lot of fights or are these comments more a reflection of the amount of time he's been fighting without stepping up?

He pulled out of the only other fight where his amazing chin would have been put to the test.

Not sure it was Tommy Langfords power he was worried about....

[Datsue]

But if it does go on , Groves to win Eubank just does'nt know what its like at this level yet , Groves will time him coming in and hurt him , if you can hurt Froch , you will hurt Eubank , if you can go hard rnds with Froch , degale , and jack , your not chinny

Lot of dogshit being talked about Eubank's chin, imo; as you said, anyone hurting Froch with one shot can hurt Eubank.

The only question for me is Groves's mileage. Apart from wear & tear he's so far ahead of Eubank's opponents it's not even funny.

Also, last time I saw CEJr live (which admittedly was vs BJS), I noted from up-close just how fuckin' awful his footwork is. Like, shockingly dreadful. He might have more confidence in his engine/be stronger/yadda yadda at the higher weight, but I haven't seen a massive improvement in his technique that others bang on about since. He also still only throws in combos from either "behind his shoulders" (whaling away with slightly too much load-up on his shots & ever so slightly out of position, like when he's trying to finish someone off & knows nothing is coming back) or in that churny short-arm way from point-blank (with his head down & arms thrown out round the sides like he's a Thai boxer practising elbows—Joshua does this as well). At either point he's asking for a counter-puncher with some mustard on his shots to take his head clean off.

Jack had enough about him to smother George & work him over & Junior might be (might be) that strong, but he's nowhere near as quick on his feet as Jack & Jack has a much, much better defence & obviously eighteen times Eubank's gas tank.

I think George has enough left to do it.

[Deserter]

I think we can all agree that if it goes to the cards, it's Eubanks fight?

Why? I can easily see GG controlling this fight with his jab and counters. Everyone talking about Eubank's wprk-rate seem to be operating on the presumption that he's just going to be able to walk through a world-class jab and go to work. I've seen plenty of fighters known for a high work-rate drop their output dramatically when they're in with a better fighter who can time them, give them angles etc.

So by contrast, I think we can all agree that GG is the biggest, most experienced, hardest punching and most skilled fighter that Chris Jr has ever faced, no?

You make some good points regarding Grove's jab. And I think George is a good enough boxer to do what you say- But he does have a tendency to forget all that and go to war ( bless 'im) and that is where I think Eubanks work rate will come into play. As long as his chin holds up, that is
I also agree with you that Groves is the best by far that Eubank has faced. I had hoped Abraham would give him a good test, so we could see where he was at, but alas, 'twas not to be.

Fair play mate. Genuinely appreciate the reasoned, rational response and hear you completely re. GG's tendency to 'wander'...

[Jackson328]

surprised at the amount of comments regarding a eubank pull out.

Has he pulled out of a lot of fights or are these comments more a reflection of the amount of time he's been fighting without stepping up?

He pulled out of the only other fight where his amazing chin would have been put to the test.

I don't really class that as a pullout tbf as he never signed up for it did he? Not quite sure tbh but I doubt they ever had any serious intentions of facing GGG at that point in Jr's career. I voted for Groves UD although its one of those genuine match-ups where nothing would really surprise me either way. Going to be very interesting to see how Eubank reacts to being clouted by a proper SM with some real pop

[Twinkle Toes]

I rate junior, but I still don't think he should be up at super middle, where as Groves is huge for the weight - Add in Groves has an excellent jab, is well schooled generally and is surpsingly accurate. He also hits much harder than Eubank.

I do lean to Eubank outworking Groves, but Eubank is wide open. Groves could well have a field day.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I rate junior, but I still don't think he should be up at super middle, where as Groves is huge for the weight - Add in Groves has an excellent jab, is well schooled generally and is surpsingly accurate. He also hits much harder than Eubank.

I agree that Eubank Jr. should be at middleweight, he said he has no issues making the weight. There are some huge fights at middleweight. But, domestically the bigger fights are at SMW..

[Verdi]

If Groves doesn't KO him, I think he'll lose on points.

It's a close call, but I'm going Groves by KO win.

[Ruthless-RKO]

If Groves doesn't KO him, I think he'll lose on points.

It's a close call, but I'm going Groves by KO win.

Eubank has very good reflexes.. I think he makes Groves miss a lot of punches.

[Counter-puncher]

If Groves doesn't KO him, I think he'll lose on points.

It's a close call, but I'm going Groves by KO win.

Eubank has very good reflexes..

As shown against anyone with half a clue and/or an ounce of talent or ambition? Not really.

[Ruthless-RKO]

As shown against anyone with half a clue and/or an ounce of talent or ambition? Not really.

I guess we'll have to wait and find out what Eubank can do.

[Counter-puncher]

As shown against anyone with half a clue and/or an ounce of talent or ambition? Not really.

I guess we'll have to wait and find out what Eubank can do.

or, indeed, what he can't do.

sign me up for 'can't slip a jab to save his life', if he's facing a man with a world class jab.

[Oiky]

Yea Eubank is going to be eating that jab all night long

[Wa1nuts]

His jab looked poor in his last fight

[Counter-puncher]

His jab looked poor in his last fight

Against a southpaw

[Mimmy]

Are titles at stake in this fight too? IBO and WBA?

[jtourettes]

Going for groves via KO. Yet to be convinced by Eubank despite grove having seen better days.

[Oiky]

Hoping that groves poggers Eubank

He has all the tools to KO Jnr

[Ruthless-RKO]

Are titles at stake in this fight too? IBO and WBA?

I assume..

[jamesmcdonnell]

Hoping that groves poggers Eubank

He has all the tools to KO Jnr

I think jr has a good enough beard to last it, groves power doesnt seem to be what it was either. Doesnt seem to commit to his shots since he was outlasted then sparked by froch in the rematch. I think that first fight ruined his belief in his offence, he had froch badly hurt and couldn't put him away. Silly Really, froch always had incredible punch resistance and powers of recovery, but I guess it's tough to be in that position and lose, and then get creamed in s rematch.

[TheLeprechaun]

Two ways it could go for me.

1. Groves keeps Eubank at range and tentative to throw due to the power in Groves counters. Groves will be willing to trade leather here early and Eubank is going to be made to feel hard shots to the head and body. They may land on the shoulder or arm but the goal will be to show Eubank that he will be banged out if he takes one flush. This could make Eubank tentative and careful and reluctant to throw, en route to getting outpointed.

2. Eubank is able to land in exchanges. Eubank is going to be coming in throwing his combinations and at the same time Groves will be looking to exchange punches so it's a question of who is slick enough to land and not get hit. I think Eubank might be able to do better here because he rolls and dips up and down and has a lot more speed and variety when he's throwing combos to head and body. It LOOKS harder to hit him than it does Groves, who always seems to take clean shots in his fights. If Eubank has inherited the chin then he can do it.

I see it being more like 2. Like I said, Groves gets hit in nearly all of his fights. Paul Smith, Anderson, Froch, Cox are all inferior boxers than Eubank and landed clean a few times. I see no reason why Eubank won't be able to.

Groves has all the heart in the world but that doesn't mean you can't be sparked. No matter how tough you are you can be KO'd. I put Groves up there with the biggest hearts in boxing. Lewis is an example of someone who has no quit in him, look at him when he is hurt vs McCall and Rahman, running on instinct and all he can do is try to survive. He still lost those fights. It doesn't matter how much heart you have if you don't have the physiological toughness of a Froch or Eubank Sr. who has the ability to absorb punishment and stay functional.

In MMA you get some of the toughest guys and they refuse to tap out if they are in a choke and it doesn't matter how tough they are, they go to sleep. Saw it with Bisping last month. Look at this clip of Gamebred Masvidal, one of the toughest fighters in the game, in a choke and refusing to tap - ending up unconscious on the floor with a BLUE face from lack of oxygen.

https://giant.gfycat.com/JealousPeskyHoki.webm

[jamamb]

ppl have a really strange sense of how groves was before froch. he really wasnt much different. its lazy group think commentary really.just assuming those fights took it out of him, maybe to puff up all the 'cobraed' nonsense.. theres good reason froch was a big big favourite first time and degale was a large favourite. groves wasnt looking much better then at all. in fact he had that scare vs anderson and could look really sloppy at times.he also faded vs degale, before the froch fights.

i think hes actually tightened up his boxing.but eubank still wins