Eubank has some chin & Heart and Stamina

Can't say I can return the pleasantries, I'm afraid. I think Froch was George's kryptonite. A faded Froch twice stopped a prime Groves despite getting outboxed; I don't think that's a coincidence even if the first result was dubious. Prime Froch beats Groves (and any of today's SMWs for that matter) every time for my money. For all of Carl's athletic and defensive limitations, he always did one thing well; he was great at using feints to close the distance. That meant he could invest into the later rounds of the fight by consistently chipping away at the body. He actually had the skills and tactical awareness to make his excellent stamina and punch resistance genuinely count for something. Junior, like Carl, also has an excellent chin and engine, but he is entirely lacking the tactical wherewithal to bring those impressive attributes to the fore.

For all the talk of Eubank's superior stamina in the build up, it was Groves that looked fresher in the 12th round tonight because Eubank didn't work the body at all and was constantly wasting energy by loading up on wild shots. Really, really disappointing display from Eubank, hopefully now he'll realise he desperately needs a trainer.

 

There was no lack of effort and heart, but zero practical preparation. Instead of standing off with that low lead hand, intermittently lunging into George's chest and smothering his own work or allowing it to be smothered, he needed to be walking into medium range responsibly (i.e. behind a high guard), initiating exchanges, making Groves work and picking his moments to rip hard shots off. I would've expected them to have prepped to fight that way, given that the stated intention was to grind Groves down to a late stoppage. The level of tactical inteptitude beggars belief. He was a very poor version of Froch, trying to fight in a cagey ambush style, which only ended up offering further evidence that Froch's fight game was a lot more nuanced and refined than many like to give him credit for.

I didn't have Eubank winning the tourney, figured he'd struggle in the final against Smith, but I expected he'd have enough to get past Groves, whom I still believe is there for the taking (he didn't look particularly good in victory, had him winning around 116-112). This was his big opportunity, a tangible chance to make some real noise against a credible name in a big fight, and I don't think he'll get another like it. This one was winnable, and he blew it.

 

JR has heart and a chin.Is engine wasn't as good as I thought it would be.Levels

 

Plenty energy as usual from Jr but a bit lacking in other areas. He will be back though.

 

Chin, heart and desire!! Not one mention of any skill? You could say the exact same thing about a pissed up homeless yob on the street.

 

his stamina isn't like froch's. overrated tbh. even in his previous fights there's been stretches where he had to switch off.

he gassed in the closing rounds and got to save face a little from groves' shoulder going. there was a good chance he would have got knocked out in the 12th otherwise (based on r 11). I think because he was taking shots back, it emptied the tank, plus the fact he had to stay on for the whole 3 minutes of each round.