Groves Eubank post fight thoughts

Just found some time to read a bit more and think that the thread should have ended after this post.

I personally am not interested in any further discussions.

Only one thing - what a farce, if junior was going to go to the final. I wouldn't watch it out of pure disgust.

 

If weight wasn't the issue....why does groves come to weigh ins looking like hes a prisoner of war. Why not join the light heavyweight division. If hes technically a master boxer. Why kill himself to get down to 12 stone. Mainly because the guys up their will treat groves the same as he treated eubank last night even with his very good technical ability. People said as much as that the other day on here about groves. The weight was too much. There's a reason guys are coming in severely drained. It really is drastic action coming in as drained as they are. No ones doing that unless theirs a massive advantage in doing it.

The son told people the problem in one of his post fight interviews. He felt the extra weight too much. It was a mismatch. It worries me that few people see it...especially when his dad and Ronny shields cant see it. Their still left wondering why junior didn't perform.

I know why people think it was all down to groves technical ability...because groves got the job done using his technical ability. But why is billy Joe not taking on the super middles if its just a technical problem with eubank being the problem. Very few boxers go up in weight unless they need to for a very good reason. A lot fight too long at the weight....to avoid it mainly because its too big a gap to bridge. Eubank found that out last night. More worrying than anything I ve seen or heard is Ronny and the dad don't know that was the biggest problem.

The biggest change I,d make in eubanks regime far more than his training...is checking if I had a nutritionist that knew about weight cutting in boxing. Because the dad and shields dont seem to comprehend how massive it is in the sport today. Get him back down to middleweight asap he,ll never be a serious fighter at supermiddle very very few have the ability to not need to cheat the scales. Do people think eubank junior was the same size as his dad when he was fighting in their last night. Why then is he fighting in the same division as he did.

 

Poor fight.
Eubank overrated.
Groves , big for the weight/ awkward/ but stands with a wide stance, moderate jab, jabs and instantly moves back, low power.Doesnt set himself for a big attack.
Both poor compared to my old fashioned view of world class.
Eubank snr,Benn etc would've beat junior easy and stopped Groves ,who is wide open for a left or right hook.
Brave guy but if Groves is top man, it shows the decline of boxing.

 

Jr was the bookies odds on favourite, 20 out of 30 boxing journalists in one publication picked Jr, I'd say the majority on here picked Jr.

In your first sentences Jr is "clueless" and "overmatched", while I do agree with you that wasn't the feeling by the majority going in to the fight.

Jr's cut, side of the eye, running down the side of his cheek, it wasn't running directly in to the eye, while I admit it was a problem it wasn't game changing, good, very good or great fighters cope, they find a way to overcome such problems.

The weight I'm not having, Jr, Sr and no Jr fan/backer was having any of it before the fight so now that's just another excuse.

Groves did tie him up, lean on him, he tired Jr out, took away the uppercuts and inside work, it was impressive in my opinion.

I'm not remotely comparing Groves to any of these but fighters like Ward, Hopkins, Mayweather are all called "genius" for nullifying opponets with similar tactics.

Calzaghes best win was against an "overmatched" and "clueless" Lacy, it's not looked back upon with people saying "Calzaghe wasn't impressive because he didn't stop him".

I believe the tactical side of Groves game Saturday, the discipline, the maturity was very impressive, it was very clever and shouldn't be ignored or down played.

 

Eubank was a 2-1 favorite, most said that Groves did not have a chance, but Eubanks lost the fight, did not think Groves would win so easily...............

 

I think it was a sensible performance from groves, he did enough to win convincingly and save some for the final. Just unlucky with the shoulder injury.

 

Groves fought exactly how I thought he would, superior jab was always going to better jrs so he knew he could keep it long, and when jr went on the usual wild swinging attack just tie him up or get out the way which he did.

what groves and team didn’t know was whether or not jr had a plan b,c,d, to go to? He did not!

The post fight interview with naseem and duke were more entertaining than the fight though

 

Totally agree Groves used correct game plan but I hate his wide stance , his jab was good enough to frustrate CEJ but far from World class

 

Lads, this one felt really bloody good, didn't it?

It isn't often I'm right so please allow some self-indulgence. I said for ages that Jr isn't nuanced enough to negate a good jab and a little bit of movement. And the thing is, Groves only ever moved one way and tied him up - which Jr allowed by smothering his own work up close. Even when he did get in, Groves countered to the body well and made Jr miss plenty. I think had Groves been more aggressive at times he would have been able to stop Jr; one of the criticisms we gave Groves pre-fight was that he gets into fights when he doesn't need to, so the fact he stuck to the plan is great.

As stated, there should have been 2 KD's counted there. As soon as he went down from walking into a jab in the 2nd I knew how the fight was going. Too easily timed and no game plan. That's what you get when you train yourself. If he starts listening to a trainer properly then something cane be made of Jr for sure - he's still above domestic level after all. But I fear it's too late and he isn't adaptable to change.

Glad some myths have been debunked now. The BJS wasn't because "he started late", which most sensible people already knew. His work rate isn't out of this world - he looked more tired than Groves at times. His chin isn't his father's. He did show a set of stones to still be going for it in the 12th though, so fair play in that regard.

A good performance by Groves built from a good but predictable game plan. I don't think this is Groves' best win or anything though, so I'm not going to gush over him too much.

 

I've so far managed to read a few lines of the original post and my heads already in my hands. Groves' win counts as a failure? Eubank almost won? What are you smoking dude?

 

Honestly, based on the OP and some of the comments on here I think so many people like the idea of boxing, as opposed to the reality of what boxing is. Groves made Eubank look amateurish on Saturday, before the fight people were asking what was meant by 'levels' - now you know.
We all love a good KO victory don;t get me wrong, but if you can't appreciate what George did on Saturday night I'd suggest you might want to make your way over to a UFC forum and focus your energy on that sport. Actually I think Eubank Jr should consider transitioning into MMA, he doesn't have the skills for top level boxing but he can fight and he's super aggresive with a solid chin, he could do well there.

 

The kid needed this defeat. Needs to humble himself and install a proper trainer.

 

Hypothetical question as I don't know the answer;

If the shoulder went in the 11th and groves survived the round like he did in the 12th. Would the ref/doctor have called it off in the corner? Or would Groves be let out for the 12th?

If it was called off, is it an injury which would have forced it to go to score cards or will it have been a Eubanks win?

Not useful for this fight but if I see something similar in a future fight I will know
Thanks

 

I feel people have already formed an opinion on Groves (right or wrong).

He's beaten this supposed machine who has so much speed and stamina and gets very little credit.

He stuck to his plan and won pretty comfortably. He controlled the fight from start to finish (even when he had 1 arm) he made JR miss all the time.
He could of tried to put it on JR but why when you can make it an easy nights work.

He didn't gass (maybe due to it being at his pace), he used his boxing IQ and Jab.

JR needs to go back down to MW and chase Saunders rematch.