It was a display of unflappable steel, the patience of a Saint. Riled, heckled, provoked and antagonised. Like sitting in an interrogation room for 3 months, with the Marlborough smoking pit sweating rolled up sleeved detective trying to literally rip the response he demands out of you. Just 12 – 0, George Groves is a comparative baby of the sport taking this testing tirade from a man who has fought fewer. A recipe for a volcano erupting several times they thought, a mental game to throw their obstacle off the road as they make their way toward those ‘bigger and better things’ somewhere up over that hill toward the sunset. They doubted he would take the heat. Well if the truth be told, Groves never broke a sweat, and James Degale ultimately defeated himself.
There’s a lot of ignorance toward the sweet science, the stereotype of a womanising, beer guzzling bully can be the general observer’s pretence of a boxer’s life outside of the ropes. Having just won the prestigious ‘young Boxer of the year’ award, undefeated, topping the bill on a huge night at the O2 arena in London and winning the British super middleweight title in his 13th fight, all at just 23 years old, you’d forgive George for embracing the three-fold levels of attention he has received since his night of destiny against James Degale back in May. Well he has embraced it, but not in the negative aspect that had and nearly has cut short the most promising boxing careers of so many. Devoted to his fiancée and partner since childhood, Sophie, he speaks warmly of his Father’s influence and support, while transcending a light approach to life. In a stark contrast of personalities he spoke of his early influence, ‘The Dark Destroyer’ Nigel Benn;
“He obviously had no technical influence on me, but he was all heart with a huge will to win, like me. But as times have moved on to YouTube, you can get to see a lot more fighters other than just on videos as it was back in the day. I like to watch old clips of Gerald McClellan, who was some fighter as well. It was a shame what happened to him. It was a brilliant fight between those two. Nigel Benn was never anything other than himself. Boxing connects with people from all walks of life, they identify with it so I’m not for the shouting and the bravado. When I put myself out there I like to show people the real me, I think that’s important. I really enjoy it.”
One of Nigel Benn’s old adversaries, Chris Eubank has a certain offspring causing great waves and hot interest in the amateurs, so much so that he has recently signed professionally with Eddie Hearn’s blossoming ‘Matchroom’ Promotional team. Chris Eubank Jr, the unenviable name he has been christened with, has had the pleasure of sparring ‘The Saint’ during his preparation for Degale and is now being employed for his next outing, with a glowing report from George;
“Chris Eubank Jr has a lot of his Dad’s aspects. For one he is very, very strong. I’ve been sparring him for 6 months and he’s improved every time. I have no doubt when he starts his professional journey he’ll go a long way. With a name like his, he has a lot to live up doesn’t he? His Dad was a brilliant fighter, and Chris Jr is showing masses of talent.”
Unlike the rough and tumble child hoods a vast quantity of boxers claim to have experienced, including Chris Eubank, George is quite the opposite. It is a credit to his family and himself, how he has carried his grounded and respectable personality to the big stage. Even at this early point he is a good role model for the aspiring boxer looking at taking up this savage sport;
“When I was growing up, I was never really involved in any trouble, and I never really felt the need for confrontation. I remember watching boxing with my Dad on TV at the age of seven, telling him that’s what I want to be. That’s how it all started. Kickboxing was the first thing we could find, and I just fell in love with the sport. I was really good at it. It was the physical aspect that I enjoyed. I was doing that from age seven to thirteen, but I took up boxing at 10. Kickboxing so young definitely helped my introduction to boxing as I had competed a lot already and this had helped my nerves a great deal. It built the foundations. In those days there was no using elbows or knees, just kicking and punching, it helped develop me. My Dad supported me the whole way.”
George would enjoy a stellar amateur boxing career, winning four School titles between the ages of 14 – 16, which he describes as achieving the ‘Holy Grail’ at the time. He boxed for England from 16 onward, travelling the world, fighting in various tournaments. He won the senior ABA’s in 2006 and 2007 with a well documented victory over the Olympic gold medallist, James Degale en route. The hype machine and fanfare which surrounded their eventual pro fight was a gripping real life soap opera of revelations and false accusations, a real nail biter, for the viewer at least;
“It was becoming inevitable that the fight was going to happen. I remember Adam (Booth) suggesting we should start thinking about boxing James Degale, who after his great performance against Paul Smith, people were claiming him to be world class, including himself. We knew that this was premature and unjust. We had anticipated the attention and hype it would all bring beforehand. Subsequently, the press and media conferences we just cruised through it. Degale was always predictable during those press meetings, I enjoyed it immensely and we (Hayemaker team) had a good laugh along the way. The pure magnitude of the fight has since improved many aspects of my game. Coming out for the fight so early in my career at the O2 in front of 20,000 people, I was shocked at all those people screaming. I came through and it has since boosted my profile, people stop me in the street, recognise me a lot, it’s great it’s really nice. Only world champions top the bill on ppv events, don’t they? It was a truly great experience. There are still so many people I want to thank.”
That great victory was followed by a five month break, in which he has found a new promoter in Frank Warren leading up to his 5th November Wembley Arena British and Commonwealth title showdown with a James Degale victim; resurgent ex British champion and new stable mate Paul Smith Jnr who is coming off a first round KO defeat of Paul Samuels, a man Groves also knocked out in the first round in a previous meeting. It would seem we can expect a more aggressive fighter than last time out;
“I’ve never seen Smith look that good, though he’s definitely better than what we’ve seen of him lately. But he remains a very experienced fighter. He’s trained with a lot of different coaches and he’s now with Joe Gallagher who is a fantastic trainer and has a lot of world class operators in his stable, so I’m sure he’ll be preparing right. I’m preparing for this fight by focussing more on my positives rather than my negatives, though we always prepare the same in regards to what the opponent does best, and initiating a game plan to counter it. I know he’ll be eager to beat me as I beat the man who beat him well, plus he’ll want his old titles back. I’m expecting a good test and a tough challenge.”
There were and still are question marks over his fight against Kenny Anderson, in which he was put down by the tough Scot on his way to a 6th round stoppage, where various pundits and observers felt a fully prepared Anderson would have finished Groves off having only four days notice for that meeting. Is it feasible, then, to expect the same fighter against Smith which nearly succumbed to his first defeat against Kenny Anderson back in November of last year?
“Wherever there are defeats there are excuses. I had only four days notice too! He (Anderson) had been training for a fight and was sparring none other than Carl Froch. My original fight had been cancelled and I had to wait another two weeks for this fight. Anyone who knows boxing would know how physically draining it is to reach a peak then having to wait two weeks to get in the ring. I admit there were things I did wrong, though I can also say they have since been corrected as I showed against Degale. It’s true I didn’t box to the best of my abilities, though there will be no mistakes this time.”
George confesses he never gets much time away from boxing, but emphasises the importance to relax and recharge the batteries, with a fondness for stand up comedy! It is quite likely that if you have appeared on any comedy TV programme/channel, The British super middleweight champion has exercised his sense of humour to your sketch;
“When I’m away from boxing I’ll be channel flicking the remote looking for the latest stand up comics. Frankie Boyle is my favourite, only he could get away with what he says! I had the opportunity of meeting Michael McIntyre, who is a very funny man. Ricky Gervais is also up there with my faves. I remember him coming in to the Hayemaker gym during the summer filming a sky1 show with David Haye (David Haye Versus). I was only in the gym briefly, and I saw Ricky there, I wanted a photo with him but I couldn’t pluck up the courage to ask him! Me and the Missus got away from it all over the summer and we headed to Cuba. I did a bit of training and got a lot of sun which helps. It was all about beach jogs and coconuts. As soon as I got back I was ready to crack on with things.”
When he is at home he sticks to a basic fitness routine, running for 20 minutes as a pre training warm up, compiling carbohydrates for breakfast if there is a ‘busy day’ ahead, to leaving them out completely when he gets a day off. And there is a catchphrase the guys at his gym say to keep each other away from life’s indulgences; ‘Put your fork down fatty!’, and George states a basic principle on looking after your waistline;
“You can’t lose weight by either exercising or dieting; it’s a combination of both.”
I couldn’t help but ask about the infamous Jim McDonnell claims that he was knocked over in sparring by his aforementioned current dance partner Chris Eubank Jr;
“People can believe what they want to believe! I think he had the dustman knocking me out, every guy down the gym knocking me out, and I got knocked out by the gym owner upon leaving after a workout, according to Jim, I was getting sparked out by everyone in the build up to that fight.”
“So he never put you over then?”
(laughs) “ No.”
It just goes to show, you can’t keep a good man down.
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