George Groves Vs James Degale

I would fancy DeGale to stop Groves late, properly on his feet after being down at some stage. Ref would stop it to spare him imo. Think DeGale won first fight, has his knee sorted so is punching harder as power travelling up from his boots much better, Groves is on slide. His jab is falling short, looks slower, DeGale improved alot and i think is too good for Groves

 

I just think that George might have James' number, there is hate from the Degale side that doesn't seem to really be there with Groves and imo that will always make Degale fight differently against Groves. I also thing that James Degale will always struggle when people stand off him and try to counter him, James id a very good counterpuncher but struggles when coming forward.

I understand when people thing that George groves has looked different against his last 2 opponents but imo this is probably down to motivation, he was coming off of 2 fights against the bets Super Middle at the time (Ward was inactive) and the second fight was in front of 80k fans at wembley. Surely even his haters could see that getting up for lesser fights might be a problem? There would be no such motivational problems against James Degale.

I will always worry for James Degale in fights where he requires technical input when the fights aren't going his way, Jim McDonnell is a great fitness coach but I remember hearing him inbetween rounds during the first Groves fight saying 'Your fitter than him'. Not exactly the kind of advice that will turn the fight around!! I personally think that James Degale would be better served bringing in someone to help with the technical side of the game to help Jim because staying loyal to just Jim could stop him reaching his full potential!!

George Groves on the other hand really needs to ensure that he has a conditioner that will push him to a different level because he too could end up not reaching the heights that his ability deserves

 

I drunkenly made a thread ages ago (pre-Froch) saying Groves would stop Degale in a second fight so i'll stand by that.

I think Groves is now being underrated and Degale overrated

 

This is how I see it. I really hope it happens. If I did have to bet on either I would probably just have Degale to win at this moment in time.

 

Very good post. I will always wonder why James DeGale, when turning pro, turned to Jim McD.
BUT that said, I think recently James DeGale has looked like the fighter i always thought he'd become, and I think DeGale beats Groves, and I think he'd beat Froch too.

Groves needs to get MUCH fitter, and however highly he personally rates Paddy, I aint sure its working for him.

 

I think the dark lord had a big effect on the first fight.

He kept Groves calm and surprisingly on the back foot.

This threw Degale off until about round 9 when he let his hands go and hurt George.

I think Degale is improving while Groves weakneses (cant maintain a fast pace fight, defence that gets weaker as the fight progresses etc) means that right now id make Degale favourite

 

Groves needs to stick to Euro level. He's always going to come up short against world class opponents

 

Unfortuantely the big fights with Froch have made Groves thinks he is some kind of superstar, demanding the big stadium fights! lol

Get beating a few world level opponents first George, I like groves up until the Froch fights, Ive grown to like DeGale more now and there's no step backwards for Groves to fight DeGale.

 

Quoting from a recent Boxing Scene piece:


[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Groves intends to stick to the WBC route, telling ESPN that he will wait for his WBC shot unless Hearn and DeGale acquiesce to his demands for more than a 50-50 share of the purse. "They will have to pay good money to get Andre over here and a fight against me will sell more and Sky Sports know that," said Groves when speaking to ESPN. 
[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]"April 25 is the date that [promoter] Eddie Hearn pitched to my promoters Kalle and Nisse Sauerland. I'm not going to be held to ransom though. I'm not prepared to walk away from the WBC shot after putting in all that hard work to get it for an offer I'm not happy about, I would rather wait for the WBC fight.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]"I will box James any day of the week but right now they are talking about a 50-50 split. They can only get away with that because of Eddie Hearn's popularity and his position at Sky Sports. James has no commercial marketability unless he fights me. I boxed in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium last year but James has been fighting at leisure centres and shopping centres. They need to be sensible with me for an offer and at this moment in time I'm not in a rush to sell myself short."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]



Being a bit of a twit with that one. He is lucky to get any sort of payday out of a rematch, when the first fight was so boring.[/FONT]

 

That's exactly what I mean, he thinks he deserves something better!

Why should he demand more for fighting DeGale? he isnt in a better position? They are both mandatories for different organisations so in exactly the same position. How can Groves say he deserves more after having 2 world title shots and losing both of them? :-(

If he gets the WBC shot he certainly wont be getting anywhere near 50/50 and more likely less purse to work with.

 

Best thing for boxing would be Degale to beat him

so Groves and his ego can fight at european level for a while

 

Smart move by Groves to wait it out.
If Degale gets over Dirrell then a Groves fight will gain a lot of momentum.
Degale will always want to rematch Groves, and Groves knows this. He holds all the cards.

 

Groves v Degale will always be big as long as they both keep winning

therefore Hearn will always want it

Hearn would much prefer Groves v Degale now, it would sell well and be another ppv for fastcar

Degale v Dirrell wont be, and Hearn probably very worried that Dirrell will beat Degale

 

Yes but "deserves" has nothing to do with it. Groves is the draw and would never make ten pence for Degale if he didn't have to.