Groves wins unanimous decision in Manchester
It certainly wasn’t a fight for the ages. One in fact that may well be quickly forgotten. But one thing is certain, George Groves is on his way to the World Boxing Super Series Final in June live at London’s O2 Arena. Groves won a unanimous decision with the judges returning scores of 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113.
But this fight posed a lot of question for me. Did George Groves perform that well and expose Chris Eubank Jr? Did the spotlight get to Eubank Jr? Or is Chris Eubank Jr not the boxer that we thought he was.
For me it is a combination of all three. Much like he did in the Billy Joe Saunders fight, Eubank Jr started very slowly. Groves took the centre of the ring and constantly rammed that famed jab of his into the face of the challenger. Eubank Jr was very wild at times, in fact he looked very amateurish. Some of that was because he smothered his own work, he swang wild and at times Groves simply used his superior boxing ability to make his opponent miss. Jr could not cut the ring off and Groves at times was able to land at will.
Whenever Eubank Jr got in close as we thought he would do from the outset, Groves cleverly held, used his size and worked well. Eubank suffered a cut early in the fight from a clash of heads which he claimed post fight impaired his vision. Jr loaded up and there was no real rhyme or rhythm in his work, and for all the talk that Jr did not need a trainer or a plan b what was clear is that this tactic failed him.
As the fight wore on Jr began to put some pressure on, but this was negated by a clear advantage in skill from the champion. It appears Groves suffered a dislocated shoulder in the 12thround which may have an impact on the final, but that remains to be seen.
One thing I hope the Eubanks learn from this is it is better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt. The Final awaits for Groves. But for Jr a change needs to happen as he failed to back up his pre fight statements. From my personal opinion he is simply not as good as he thought he is.
By: Aaron Cooper
