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

Groves must stop De Gale from coming foward imo, as De Gale seems to be more effective when he's being more assertive/aggressive, than when he's being defensive, and Groves is more open on the backfoot when near the ropes.

If you watch De Gale, he doesn't really have a consistent jab to dictate and control distance to keep you out, infact he seems to prefer to paw with it, to invite you into his range in an effort to walk you into counters, either with his straight left, or his left uppercut, but what can neutralize that somewhat, is when the opponent feints his way in to offset your timing when your waiting for those counter punching opportunities, then beats you to the punch before you can react with the counter, and when they do beat you to the punch, they have obviously land themselves in range because you have invited them in, which means they are ready to fire off punches. De Gale seems to get hit with punches when he goes defensive to, as he doesn't seem to have much transition from defense to offense when he goes into his defensive shell, which invites the opponent to keep throwing, to follow up when they miss, all this might be one of the reasons he appeared to get out-hustled against Groves in the amateurs, that said, you would have to question whether Groves could maintain that intensity and sharpness into the mid rounds, cause its one thing being busier than someone, particularly a Boxer, who tend to take time to establish their rhythm, but an amateur fight is only for 3 rounds, a pro fight has middle to late rounds, so sustaining is obviously more difficult, as when the pace drops, and you cant utilize as much speed, movement to offset them before you shoot in with your attacks, and they get more time and space, their skills can shine through more.


Groves seems pretty effective at feinting his way in, trying to find an angle to step off the line to attack to, not saying I think he's going to win, but he deffo has the potential to cause De Gale issues by getting off first, putting his punches together, however he needs to make sure he can keep from getting backed up, that he's able to sustain that kind of intensity.


Groves defense against De Gale might need to be his offense. Whilst De Gale is playing defense, he cant get off himself, and because his defense tends to leak punches anyway, Groves could break through occasionally if he keeps throwing. Even if Groves isn't always landing, it might still look like he's dictating the tempo, outhustling De Gale, who might be perceived to being too negative.

 

Thanks Flea Man :thumbsup

 

Smith comes in on the line though.


De Gale seems more effective as a counter puncher if you come in on the line, and dont throw him any feints before you close the distance down, that way he can time you easier as your coming in the front door. Smith actually did a good job of feinting his way, and looked to have more success when he was backing De Gale up, and even landed with a few right hands, and left hooks over the shoulder when he went into his shell defense, it was when De Gale was more assertive, when he put Smith on the backfoot that he was more effective, as he managed to trap Smith on the ropes, then was able to put his girl flurry slaps together.

 

Yeah let me just make it clear, I do think De Gale will still win.

Groves wont be able to sustain what he's doing imo, and a slower pace suits De Gale, he has a greater ability to dictate than Groves, plus Groves does have a poor defense, particularly when going backward.

 

I guess we should not underestimate how Anderson had sparred numerous times with Groves either?