George Groves vs Callum Smith this friday

Groves should retire after this though, hes had a tough career and is showing signs of wear and tear/injuries...His hands are seriously ****ed too

 

Yes..... he physically peaked for Froch 1. You're right, in terms of ring craft he's improved with experience. Not sure the latter quite compensates for the former though.

Still think it's enough to deal with Smith, who I've never been high on anyway. Typical Gallagher fighter: Plan B is more of Plan A....

 

I personally think Smith

 

I personally think Eubank gave Groves a proper test too, I think Groves will have to be at his best but he should still beat Smith mainly off the jab.

 

I wonder if he's declined too far, however ... I'm tempted to pick the upset due to this and the shoulder. Peak Groves would be an easy pick but I'm not sure about the current version. He won't keep Smith off as easily as he did Eubank Jr.

I'm not particularly high on Callum Smith (or any of the brothers fwiw), but if he's half as good as advertised he's got a real chance at the upset.

 

If his shoulder is fully fit then I agree.

However I am very sure his shoulder is not 100%. If that is the case we might have to see a Cardle v Ritson approach from Groves where he has to just immediately try to knock out Smith before his shoulder pops again.

 

I wouldn't mind watching him KO Degale who after running his mouth for years off of the back of two losses would now love the payday.

 

And the tournament was even weaker. But Smith and Groves deserved to be there(unlike the rest), so it's good to see them in the finals.
It was still a fun ride. Tournaments are always fun, no matter the quality of participants.
The winner is rightfully the NR 1 guy in the division.

 

That would be a beautiful ending.
But Groves is only 30, so i doubt it will be his final fight.

 

I think Groves retires him even if his shoulders gone.

 

GG sparks him out of nowhere for me too. If Truax is stunning this version of Degale then GG has a fair chance of the KO

 

Still young but I feel he's older career wise, like worn a bit

 

To fair I agree with Frank Warren and Jim Watt both who thought Degale should of won by 2 points.

 

As someone said above, I reckon Groves' jab is the key. Smith tends to just walk into range with a high guard (Gallagher DNA) and if GG can keep popping him with his jab, I'm not sure how Smith can work effectively enough, often enough to win this. Groves can pretty much win this fight with the jab alone, so even if the shoulder is weakened, that might not matter if it pans out the way I think it will.

On the flip side, will this be the first time Groves has fought a SMW who will outweigh him in the ring? It might be (maybe Badou Jack was) and that is the unknown factor. Skill-wise, I just think Groves is better in all departments...

 

Absolutely! He is always in though fights. When was the last time he had it easy? Even Cox made a brawl out of it. Not saying he always goes to war, but he takes clean punches every time he walks into that ring.

But Groves being at the top of his career and looking at his own age, might persuade him to continue. Which is unfortunate.