BoxRec

Apologies if this has been done before, I was away from the forum for a while.

Personally I don't see this being anything other than a Groves win, and I expect a KO as well. One of Groves best shots is the overhand right, and I expect this to play a key role in the fight. Jack leaves himself open to that shot, this showed best when being KO's by Derek Edwards. Dirrell wasn't good enough to expose it, but Groves will be.

My bet will be going on Groves to win in the first half of the fight.

Groves win by UD, but i don't exclude a KO.

Jack will win by KO.
Probably in an early round.

Groves is going to get his whiskers tested again I think.

I think it will all come down to if Groves can avoid getting hit clean and/or what happens if and when he does get rocked.

There's is no question who is more skilled here and if this stays in the center of the ring, it should be Groves quite comfortably.

But Jack should test that chin more than once...

I haven't watched any of Jack but I think Groves has always been a vulnerable fighter. I've followed his career and everyone seems to base his brilliance on the first Froch fight, whereas people seem to write Jack off on a couple of crap performances. Isn't this closer than people think? I'd be interested to hear from somebody who has followed Jack's career. Is he that bad?

clopixolacuphase wrote:I haven't watched any of Jack but I think Groves has always been a vulnerable fighter. I've followed his career and everyone seems to base his brilliance on the first Froch fight, whereas people seem to write Jack off on a couple of crap performances. Isn't this closer than people think? I'd be interested to hear from somebody who has followed Jack's career. Is he that bad?

Similar thoughts here.

Money moved toward Jack when word came down he hired Memo Heredia. This is also a TMT promotion. And something seems off with Groves lately. He doesnt look right since the Froch debacle(s). I was leaning Groves for sure initially but I'm having a weird feeling as fight night approaches and wont be betting this.

I knew it.

Groves seems to be stuck in an unfortunate chasm whereby by he's too good for domestic level & probably too good for European level, but not quite good enough for world level.

It's hard for fighters in that position because they can't really earn serious money or achieve their ultimate aim.

He's fortunate in that his nemesis Degale holds a trinket & would likely want a rematch, but Degale has improved & their first fight could have gone either way, so I'm not so sure that Groves could win now.

Groves head has gone.

He has all the talent but seems unwiling to use it. Fitzpatrick obviously isnt right for him either. He basically screwed his career by leaving Adam Booth.

Its a shame. Groves is better than this, or was, but now it looks like Froch has taken away too much of him mentally and hes resigned to mediocrity now.

Loftgroov wrote:Groves head has gone.

He has all the talent but seems unwiling to use it. Fitzpatrick obviously isnt right for him either. He basically screwed his career by leaving Adam Booth.

Its a shame. Groves is better than this, or was, but now it looks like Froch has taken away too much of him mentally and hes resigned to mediocrity now.

I think you maybe right.

When a fighter is destroyed mentally, it can take them a long time to recover, if ever.

It's similar to when Muhammad Ali destroyed George Foreman's head.

Big George was not the same when he eventually resumed & then he took 10 years off!

diddy wrote:Money moved toward Jack when word came down he hired Memo Heredia. This is also a TMT promotion. And something seems off with Groves lately. He doesnt look right since the Froch debacle(s). I was leaning Groves for sure initially but I'm having a weird feeling as fight night approaches and wont be betting this.

Damn, I was going to place a big bet on Jack but forgot. I've always thought Groves was very suspect at the top level while Jack was a bit underrated after his fluky loss to Edwards. Do you know what the odds were on this fight?

Got a feeling he might not get a chance for a world title again.
FairPlay to Jack. Been underdog against Dirrell and Groves. He seems to be improving with the extra pressure of being champion.

With his mandatory out of the way be interesting to see who he fights next.Dirrell rematch looks probable.

I was pretty impressed with Groves. He seemed like a first class punk in those two Froch fights so i thought he was another overrated Brit but I thought he fought a heck of a fight Saturday night and showed a ton of heart. I had the fight a draw but could see it going either way. I don't think that he should have been that surprised to not get the decision though.

caldo2025 wrote:I was pretty impressed with Groves. He seemed like a first class punk in those two Froch fights so i thought he was another overrated Brit but I thought he fought a heck of a fight Saturday night and showed a ton of heart. I had the fight a draw but could see it going either way. I don't think that he should have been that surprised to not get the decision though.

But he was way better in the Froch fights than he was against Jack. Jack was underrated because of his KO defeat and struggle with Periban but he was the one who impressed as underdog despite being champ.

Groves has gone backwards. He does have a lot of heart, but his chin, stamina and being incapable of stepping up a gear when he needs it most lets him down.

I was impressed with Jack, I had him winning by a close but clear margin. Left a bad taste in my mouth Groves storming out of the ring, thought it was childish and disrespectful and I'm less of a fan of his after that

johnswan1 wrote:

caldo2025 wrote:I was pretty impressed with Groves. He seemed like a first class punk in those two Froch fights so i thought he was another overrated Brit but I thought he fought a heck of a fight Saturday night and showed a ton of heart. I had the fight a draw but could see it going either way. I don't think that he should have been that surprised to not get the decision though.

But he was way better in the Froch fights than he was against Jack. Jack was underrated because of his KO defeat and struggle with Periban but he was the one who impressed as underdog despite being champ.

Groves has gone backwards. He does have a lot of heart, but his chin, stamina and being incapable of stepping up a gear when he needs it most lets him down.

Completely agree, in the first Froch fight Groves was superb. Fast hands, great reactions.....I thought this was going to be the guy who could challenge Andre Ward after about 6 rounds of that fight. He was ok against Rebrasse, but then struggled against Douglin. I started the thread saying that I expected Groves to be too good for Jack, and I think him in Froch V1 would have been far too much, but he looks a shadow of that. Groves is 27, plenty of time to pick himself up, get a new trainer, get some confidence, and be back fighting for a title in 2017.

johnswan1 wrote:

caldo2025 wrote:I was pretty impressed with Groves. He seemed like a first class punk in those two Froch fights so i thought he was another overrated Brit but I thought he fought a heck of a fight Saturday night and showed a ton of heart. I had the fight a draw but could see it going either way. I don't think that he should have been that surprised to not get the decision though.

But he was way better in the Froch fights than he was against Jack. Jack was underrated because of his KO defeat and struggle with Periban but he was the one who impressed as underdog despite being champ.

Groves has gone backwards. He does have a lot of heart, but his chin, stamina and being incapable of stepping up a gear when he needs it most lets him down.

I wouldn't call this fight going "backwards" though. Jack is a darn good fighter that aside from a stunning KO to a journeyman, he would be within the finest class of the division. It was one of those fights where we learned a lot about both guys and both guys answered the critics i feel. I'd rather have my stocks in BJ but I look forward to watching Groves fight again.

caldo2025 wrote:

johnswan1 wrote:

caldo2025 wrote:I was pretty impressed with Groves. He seemed like a first class punk in those two Froch fights so i thought he was another overrated Brit but I thought he fought a heck of a fight Saturday night and showed a ton of heart. I had the fight a draw but could see it going either way. I don't think that he should have been that surprised to not get the decision though.

But he was way better in the Froch fights than he was against Jack. Jack was underrated because of his KO defeat and struggle with Periban but he was the one who impressed as underdog despite being champ.

Groves has gone backwards. He does have a lot of heart, but his chin, stamina and being incapable of stepping up a gear when he needs it most lets him down.

I wouldn't call this fight going "backwards" though. Jack is a darn good fighter that aside from a stunning KO to a journeyman, he would be within the finest class of the division. It was one of those fights where we learned a lot about both guys and both guys answered the critics i feel. I'd rather have my stocks in BJ but I look forward to watching Groves fight again.

Yes, I think Jack is a little underrated, and he may become one of those fighters who becomes better as a champ.