Is George Groves being overrated?

Time will tell.

I don't think so though, I think he's v.good.

 

not sure he would beat ward but he can box very well and does have the old equiliser ko power

 

Decent movement, a very nice jab and a very nice right hand... aswell as seeming to have a decent ring IQ... the fight would be very close imo, and I would tentatively pick Groves, but the fact the fight would not be considered a mismatch by any stretch shows how far he has come. He is a young fighter who will get better, Great career ahead of him... Could he spring the upset against Ward? I think he has a better chance than anyone else in the SMW division.

 

For me i wasn't shocked by Groves willingness to stand centre ring and exploit already exposed weaknesses in Froch's game.

Groves has always had the ability since a amateur to box centre ring and has the athletic ability to couple speed, power and precision into his boxing.

But i always felt as well as he would do early his skin would swell badly, his legs would become leaden, his upperbody would unravel and he'd open himself up to being hit and hurt.

Groves downfall not only come from that but also his mentality which is a macho one and it's commendable but also naive in those deep waters. He didn't need to do what he did, He put himself in those positions. I think his Ring IQ in those deep waters let him down.

I think the reaction has gone a tad overboard. He should of won the fight after round one's KD Froch was just trying to navigate his way through the rounds until he found his feet and Groves IMO allowed this by not forcing the issue a little more. Deep down he knows this..

I see a lot of comments about Froch being ''s***'' ''terrible boxer'' ''embarrassingly bad'' (paraphrasing somewhat). Well if this be the case and you honestly deep down believe Froch is that bad then Groves shouldn't be getting wobbled and allowing a simply awful fighter to last 9 rounds and causing swelling on your face.

Fact is it was a massive fight, massive stage but Groves performed but we must remember he was groomed for it and even headlined a PPV albeit a lot smaller against DeGale. I as a Froch fan had more reservations about the fight and wasn't keen on Carl taking it after the win over Kessler it should had that air of banana skin written all over it. It probably was the best time to face Froch who came off a war and had shipped as much punishment as he gave out. I'm a firm believer in timing and Groves i felt had the best chance to beat Froch. Even better then what Bute had the night he fought Froch..

Groves showed a lot of qualities but his decision making (ring IQ) in those latter stages let him down.

As a boxer Groves is very talented by British standards but he does have vulnerabilities and within those we must be wary of these expectation that he can beat everyone and anyone.

He's shown he can outbox Froch but we've seen that many times before. Froch we knew beforehand was at a disadvantage in terms of speed and athleticism. He's a more versatile boxer then Froch and many other British fighters but styles and attributes in all fights different and i do worry for him if he faced likes of Ward.

All in all Groves has world class boxing ability(Jab,Long range boxing), World class vulnerabilities (some can be ironed out) and should at least win a world title especially with the disjointed nature of the SMW landscape but be careful of overrating the display from November. It was good but i do feel he didn't answer some of the questions that were asked within the fight.

 

Always liked Groves style. His punching technique is a pleasure to watch. His foot work can be astounding too

But he is a bit flash and think that could be his undoing at times. You can't do everything perfect all of the time and he is very suceptsble

Like when he was against the ropes in 7 . Hands down showboating. He actually didn't get caught and countered well but it could have been a lot different.

Needs to master the inside game if he has a chance with Ward. Ward is a beast inside

 

It is a tough one for me, against Degale he pulled off the gameplan very well, didn't stand toe to toe even though he obviously would of liked too, I think in the froch fight he just got over confident, obviously could see he was hurting froch so went mano o mano which obviously suits froch down to the ground.

 

Aye i think he went into the DeGale fight asking himself questions and wanting to prove himself. I think he knew he had to be sharper and smarter and protect his chin which was questioned before the fight. Booth has a way of being honest with his fighters and getting them to know their weaknesses but i think Groves started to have his own opinions to Booth's words of wisdom.

I think the Froch fight he had full faith in his ability to take a punch and felt he could bully Froch in all ranges like Ward did.

If you watch the fight back and i noticed it live and to Watt's credit he sensed it to. Watch the head of Groves he tries to put it on Froch a few times when they're in the clinch and this was when Froch himself wasn't doing his dirtywork. Now if Froch was doing it you could understand it but it seemed like Groves knew this was going to happen and wanted to meet fire with fire.

He wasn't worrying about the important things, He lost his focus, lost what he was doing well. Indulged in a macho battle and lead to his down fall.

He's always swung for the fences when hurt, It's what shocked me on the night i thought he learned to not do that anymore.

Lessons to be learned for sure.

 

No doubt he would beat Groves on the inside, but you mention him taking away the right hand like it is a formality... do not get me wrong I rate Ward very highly p4p, but Rodriguez who looked drained and very out of sorts is a different problem than Groves. Ward would be favorite for a reason but Groves ability to both move and possibly even frustrate Ward, and the fact he can take the center of the ring means he would have a pretty decent chance imo.

 

Perhaps he missed the influence of booth in the corner. Obviously because of how well he did the fact that booth was not in the corner has been forgotten, but would Booth have helped keep him focused and to the Game plan?

Hopefully lesson learnt now

 

It's hard to say. I think he's good. Really good. But I have my doubts about how he copes over the distance in a fight which has a high tempo. He looked to be tiring and getting sloppy against Froch although he put so much into the first half of the fight so maybe understandable. I need to see more of him against world class opposition, Froch might have just been the ideal style for him.

 

I would need to hear the cornerwork of Fitzpatrick before commenting on his control of Groves but i do believe Booth would of been aware that Groves was coming away from the controlled aggression.

Even Fitzpatrick's face when Groves is hurt and on ropes with Froch unloading he didn't seem to sense danger judging by his facial expression.

Could be a lack of top fight experience in the corner. Different angles show us different things but i think other trainers would of sensed danger and shouted or motioned to stay calm and not trade before Froch went back in.

But that's nitpicking because in reality he prepared Groves well. It was clear Groves had his own plan and he did it his way and what happened,happened.

 

He prepared Groves very well, they had a very good camp from all accounts, but like you said, I think Fitzpatrick was a complacent and did not recognise that the momentum had started to turn, Partly down to Groves losing focus and partly because of Frochs heart.

Any idea if booth and groves have sorted their differences out now??