Groves - Smith

Thought it was great watching - both deserve credit. Was impressed by smiths composure/patience after wobbling groves earlier in fight.
And won on bet for a change smith rounds 7-9 - 10-1
I like groves and think the degale rematch will still sell for for a cash out fight.

 

its worrying when the shots start loosing their pop, that's a concern !

Perhaps a swansong vs Degale might be the best option if he looks to continue , I think Groves is quite a smart guy and id imagine his money is well invested for the future , you never hear outrageous stories of him blowing money so I think he has a good future ahead of him if he hangs them up soon.

 

Absolutely.

Certainly easier to hit now and his punch power looks in serious decline as well - the result is any top fighter walking through him like Smith done tonight.

 

I had it even. Smith did well keeping a safe game plan and not over reaching and falling into Groves’ right hand but let’s be honest he was starting to get pushed back and he was allowing a much smaller man with 6 inch less reach start to take centre ring. This is the reason Groves started letting his hands go, went for too much and got caught. Would have been very interesting if Groves had been more patient and waited one or two more rounds would have gone.

I like Smith and am a fan but without his physical advantages he wouldn’t have won that. No way! He will dominate at 168 for the same reason though.

 

Wow, rewatched it again, and Smith reminded me of Errol Spence. He threw some real mean shots in there, and it's not often that you see George Groves having a lesser IMPACT on a fight with regards to power. It was so Spence-like. He's really patient and he let Groves tire himself out with the high pace early on and then pounced.

I hadn't seen much of Callum Smith in the build-up to this, but my goodness he is impressive. Eddie better build upon this and make him a star. Getting some wins against Degale and Eubank for starters would be great for his resume, then go after the belt holders, clean up the division, go to Light-Heavyweight....He could be the next big P4P star, no doubt about it.

 

Really weird feeling tonight...gutted for Groves but happy for Smith.

Smith beat a champion in there, I don’t believe he beat a shot version of Groves...however, that stoppage will have taken a lot of shelf life off Groves’s career. Hope he takes a good long break now.

 

I know always easier if your a big fan of one fighter and not the other m8. Groves is a very good fighter. Was lucky he is in division when he has been as its been weak in recent years but will kick on now their is a new guard. Smith is just a much better fighter and will go up a level having fought Groves. I thought Groves would have had Callum hurt at some point, but never did. George should be comforted by the fact Smith would beat everyone else in the division too.

 

I think Smith would beat everyone too, mate. Ramirez might give him a tough night as he’s another big lad but Callum’s fundamentals are quality. There are a few flaws (head movement and moving back in straight lines) but his size makes it difficult for other fighters to expose them.

What happened in round 7 before the knockout...Groves appeared to throw a right hook that didn’t land clean, it almost sweeped over top but Callum went down? The commentators didn’t even reference it which I thought was strange. Did he slip? It doesn’t really matter cos he got brutally stopped after that but just wondered.

 

Great fight and great finish from Smith. He was very impressive and proved himself tonight. Proved me wrong as well, he's moved up to a new level after that and is now the #1 in the division.

Thought the fight was very close but you could see Smith was hurting Groves when he was landing clean, his power is the real deal. That was a clinical finish. He rocked Groves with that left hook then went in for the kill and just battered him to the floor. That body shot was sickening.

I thought Groves would win this pretty comfortably If the shoulder was fine (which it was) but massive credit to Smith for the victory. The better man won.

 

Yeah Smith's fundamentals whilst closing the show really jumped out at me too

he didn't get wild but still was fast and explosive, after every single punch, back to his ear

 

I remember Nigel Benn saying years ago that C. Smith would be the top British super middle of them all. People laughed.

 

Finally could there be a realistic possibility for us to watch eubank jnr getting taken apart in clinical fashion and stopped clean. Smith is surely the man to rid us of this fake bully for good

 

It was a good fight and pretty even until the stoppage but in the end Smith was too big and too powerful, will be a handful for anybody at 168.

 

He touched down twice in fight one was a slip the other was a fly kick by Groves. Agree with Ramirez, always felt he would be Smiths hardest opponent in division.

 

This knock out did not take as much shelf life of groves as the two froch fights
Froch beat the prime out of groves any one saying other wise dksab
Said at the time George needs to be careful what he wished for
Simthbaint and I mean aint no p4p fight good but not great
Georgie boy just ain't as world class as he likes to think I'm afraid

Hang em up saint your done