Super Middleweight contender George Groves returns to the ring this Friday at Wembley’s SSE Arena to take on Eduard Gutknecht live on terrestrial TV. The bout is officially sanctioned for the WBA International Title, with the winner likely to earn a shot at the vacant ‘super’ world belt against Fedor Chudinov.
Groves’s career is well publicised. An elite amateur from Dale Youth ABC, his early professional years ran parallel to bitter rival James DeGale. An upset victory against the Olympic Gold medallist in the paid ranks made Groves a household name amongst UK fight fans overnight. However, back to back defeats to Carl Froch and a point’s decision loss to Badou Jack has meant three failures at world championship level.
The man from Hammersmith is rebuilding his career under the watchful eye of Shane McGuigan. Asides from confidence, McGuigan has got Groves back to a style of fighting which brought him success early in his career. In the three victories they’ve had together there is a distinct shift away from the pot shot style which was deployed in Groves’s losses to Froch at the national stadium and Jack in Las Vegas. Groves is now sitting down on his punches again, varying the jab to both head and body and setting up the big right hand in a more aggressive and educated fashion. Both fighter and trainer will be looking to make a big statement on Friday night.
Gutknecht will provide a solid test for Groves. Even though the German has mainly fought out of his homeland, he is coming down in weight having campaigned at light heavyweight and has shared the ring with Jürgen Braehmer twice. He also holds an amateur win over Gennady Golovkin.
Whilst the visitor is likely to take Groves some rounds, the ‘Saint’ should have far too much in his final hurdle before embarking on the world crown again.
Article courtesy of Neel Khagram
@BehindTheFight
www.behindthefight.com
Groves’s career is well publicised. An elite amateur from Dale Youth ABC, his early professional years ran parallel to bitter rival James DeGale. An upset victory against the Olympic Gold medallist in the paid ranks made Groves a household name amongst UK fight fans overnight. However, back to back defeats to Carl Froch and a point’s decision loss to Badou Jack has meant three failures at world championship level.
The man from Hammersmith is rebuilding his career under the watchful eye of Shane McGuigan. Asides from confidence, McGuigan has got Groves back to a style of fighting which brought him success early in his career. In the three victories they’ve had together there is a distinct shift away from the pot shot style which was deployed in Groves’s losses to Froch at the national stadium and Jack in Las Vegas. Groves is now sitting down on his punches again, varying the jab to both head and body and setting up the big right hand in a more aggressive and educated fashion. Both fighter and trainer will be looking to make a big statement on Friday night.
Gutknecht will provide a solid test for Groves. Even though the German has mainly fought out of his homeland, he is coming down in weight having campaigned at light heavyweight and has shared the ring with Jürgen Braehmer twice. He also holds an amateur win over Gennady Golovkin.
Whilst the visitor is likely to take Groves some rounds, the ‘Saint’ should have far too much in his final hurdle before embarking on the world crown again.
Article courtesy of Neel Khagram
@BehindTheFight
www.behindthefight.com
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