Groves must stop De Gale from coming foward..........

DeGale has enough power to trouble Groves consistently IMO. History shows Groves is not too durable. With small gloves, clean and accurate punching, DeGale has plenty enough even though he's sloppy. The good punching will have the capability. Thats one of the dangers of DeGale actually, he can be unpredictable with his punching. He finds some odds angles and some are much harder than others.

On the other side of the coin I think Groves is a harder puncher, though not devastating in any way. Tighter technique. But then again, I've a feeling Degale has the much better chin and he'll prove it here. DeGale has hardly ever been down.

The power/durability equation is quite evenly matched but I'd still lean towards James.

 

DeGale gonna spar Clev to prepare him for Braehmer (just watching press conference).

 

Some excellent posts here but there is another possibilty.

All the hype, all the emotion involved & the crowd going mad might just lead to both guys getting carried away & trading early. With both guys being far from mature, seasoned pros & the deeply personal history to this there's a chance that once the 1st bell rings, all the corner instructions go out the window. There's a lot of personal pride on the line here.

 

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DeGale:

We must remember DeGale has a better reach then a guy like Anderson and work from short-mid-long range comfortably.

DeGale is very good at throwing a upwards jab from Southpaw stance and sneaking left hand in straight behind it and when he gets inside he likes to throw short compact hooks behind it. He can be eager himself and i believe Groves best chance is early i think the longer it goes the less chance he has.

DeGale at times can walk himself into corners and Groves may enjoy a crowd pleasing exchange as he wings away with hooks but i see DeGale weathering them minor storms and getting back out to centre ring and using his better footwork to create angles and holes in the poor defence of Groves as well as working Groves body.

The moments when DeGale transitions from stance to stance is critical and he mustn't do this to much when he range as it's not a smart thing to do when in with a fighter like Groves who loops shots.

Smith tried to Feint way in but DeGale kept at long range behind a pawing jab...ie. looking to walk him onto shots and boy did he!

What i noticed with DeGale in that fight was way he switched gears and once he felt enough of Smith's shots he took it to him and was brilliant when on front foot.

He does get pulled up by Howard Foster a fair bit for pulling and turning opponent. He needs to box clever and can at times allow himself to get in silly positions and bends rules to his favor.

I think the early part of fight will be Groves trying to land jab over DeGale's and DeGale pawing the jab down and looking to create angle for left hand.

I see early parts of fight being stand offish with brief bursts of excitement and around round 3 i see Groves anxious to land knowing a boxing match isn't his home being dropped when looking to land and caught by a left hand counter and seated.

He will last a bit longer and get stopped around 8 to 10 rounds on his feet.

I think DeGale's long arms and way he can work at all different ranges aligned with smarter work will be key.

 

Paup Smith :rofl F'n iPhone

 

:bart Paup Snith :good

 

:rofl

 

****in' Hell, Paup Snith

Degale and Groves better look out for this kid. Even though I claimed that Degale looked quality against him, that was not real Paup Snith that night :deal

 

:rofl:rofl Paup will always go down as legend. He went up in my estimations that night.

 

great analysis as always, i dont think Groves will put pressure on Degale early enough to come out of this fight victorious. I believe Degale will be allowed to settle into a rhythm from the offset, i feel Groves best success will come in the middle round once he settles down and starts tagging Degale with hard straight shots, the rounds will get closer and closer but Degale's early work imo will see him victorious. If Groves can settle quickly and fluster Degale with combos and pressure then he should win but i doubt his style of fighting will allow him to do that.