Groves vs Eubanks.. Official pick em!

Groves the far better boxer. But how many good rounds does he have fighting at a pace before it becomes a fight. I m not sure with the weight he can be slick enough to keep it a boxing fight for twelve. Hence the reason he's become an accumulation puncher in recent years. His styles definitely changed. I think its because he's naturally heavier now. He slows down more. It then becomes a fight. Punch for punch groves hits harder. But eubank can get them punches off quicker in numbers. That's when it could get dangerous for groves. I think they should stick to the game plan they,ve been using. Take it out of the opponent from the start. Try to deplete him without getting into a hook off etc. Be smart...but get them shots in. Working at a pace. I think it,ll be a mistake for George to box him. Taking rounds. Eubank will have enough left in the tank to take over the fight if you don't deplete him enough.

I think George will do that tbh. Fight as he has been in recent fights. Pushing the pace. Eubank should actually be the defensive one because regardless George will tyre as the fight goes on. The billy Joe tactics will work for eubank in this one. Billy Joe tires but his boxing remains composed. But Georges boxing gets sloppy as he tires. Needs to deplete eubank enough before he can come on too strong later on.

 

Head says CEJ but I have this sneaky feeling that we have all been fed a smoke screen.

CEJ has faced 1 world class opponent and lost.....hes never faced a puncher outside of 321 years old Abraham.

Sure he looks great facing British level opposition but GG, whilst extremely flawed is a massive step up for him.

GG mid rounds stoppage

 

Great post, I agree with everything you said.


I just can't see where this confidence in Jr is actually coming from when you actually break it all down and take a close look at his style and his flaws.

I'm not saying he hasn't got a chance, far from it but I don't see how he has been made favourite and so many people are all over him.

Jr is very game, tough and no doubt has stamina to burn but I believe you just need more at this level, those attributes are fine if you are a big Middleweight fighting other middleweights but if you're a small Super Middleweight fighting a very big Super Middleweight then those attributes are not ideal.

I agree with you about the first few rounds, I think Jr will try to jab a little bit with Groves, move around, pose, mess around and try and past those first few rounds without getting hit with anything big, he will try and draw the sting and sharpness out of Groves.

Only problem with that is if Groves wins those first few rounds and is still comfortable then Jr is playing catch up again, similar to BJS fight and then he will have to start coming forward and when he does that he looks wild, reckless and leaves huge gaps because his footwork isn't great and he could easily walk on to something.

It's going to be a great fight just for the tactics side of things alone, I can't wait to see how both are going to approach it, how they both start and assuming it goes past a round how the corners work.

Corners could play a huge part in this fight, advice and the timing of advice might be crucial and again I believe Groves has an advantage, Jr's corner looks like a freak show, Sr walking around, posing, playing to the crowd and Ronnie Davies being ignored. On the flip side Shane is a calm figure, always seems to give solid advice and is actually a clever man.

I can't wait now, weigh in tomorrow, Groves will look very poor on the scales and we will have the normal threads/posts saying Groves was "dry" and looked "drained" or "drawn" but people have to remember Groves is ginger with very pale skin, he never looks good on the scales and standing next to Jr who always looks in fantastic shape will make it look even worse.

 

Great post. Only thing Ill say is eubank can afford to play catch up more with groves than bjs. Groves boxing does start getting ragged as a fight goes on. Bjs,s tired but his boxing stayed much the same. His output went down but hes more able to keep his composure. Groves gets a bit sloppy. Was his downfall against froch. Pretty sure he threw a lazy hook as froch was going in with a one two for the knockout. It was a basic mistake but George still makes them. Pretty much why this is an intriguing fight. Groves the better boxer...we all pretty much agree on that...but eubank will come on strong if hes not been depleted in them early rounds. I think' George,s method to victory is to take it out of eubank in the early rounds. If he doesnt eubank will get him when he gets ragged.

I think Georges tactics will be much the same as they,ve been for recent fights. Get in and deplete opponents. Its eubank that will change his. I think he,ll not exert himself too much in them early rounds not far off his tactics against bjs. He,ll start moving earlier this time tho and try to come on stronger as the fight goes on.

I m not 100 percent sold on mcguigan tbh. I think he's guessing his way at times. Great fitness guy etc and is learning...but it doesn't
come naturally to him. Whereas I think shields and eubank senior are a bit smarter than giving credit for. The old man just likes playing the fool. But they,ll have eubank with a decent game plan for it. Shields will also give him the right advice when needed. Like he did against bjs.

 

Jr has terrific defense with great head movement.

Even when he disregards his defense he rarely gets hit and never with big shots.

He has probably only taken 4 hard shots in his career ffs Floyd Mayweather would be proud of that defensive record.

Sure I have seen him take a few jabs and it is mostly when he is moving inside before he begins an assault and the majority of the times I reckon he probably could have defended the shot if he gave a ****.

Jr has never really been counter punched in his entire career. People act is if he is a counter punchers dream but it is only when he is moving in to range or when he stops punching that he gets caught.

Ffs how can Jr be a counter punchers dream he has absolutely amazing hand speed, you would be foolish to try.

 

The theory that Jr might be over trained could be correct, I am not saying it isn't but being in shape and staying in the gym IMO is a career lengthener it won't burn fighters out.

Look at Bhop and Floyd who were always in shape they stayed in the gym and fought to a high level in their 40s.

Blokes that enjoyed life between fights and ballooned up seem to have shorter careers like IMO.

Groves thinks it advantages himself but I don't think his theory is all it's cracked up to be tbh

 

Jr's defence is not "terrific", it's just he hasn't fought anybody who has the ability or taken advantage of what he offers up.

Jr was hit and hit often against BJS, BJS counter punched for most of the first 6 rounds and made Jr look ridiculous at times, yes a long time ago but still happened.

Jr has been guided carefully, his opponents have been very very carefully selected, admitted by Sr in a recent interview where he claimed the be the greatest match maker, how many quality, competent counter punchers has Jr fought?.. just the one and he lost.

They normally choose fighters for Jr who stand right in front of him, the style where they have their head leaning forward almost level with their front foot, Jr needs that type of fighter to look great against because Jr doesn't really jab and can't throw a straight right hand (apparently because of his elbow).

When is the last time you saw Jr sling a straight right with power? It's all hooks and uppercuts, you have to be close to land those shots and that means in range to be countered/hit.

You can keep mentioning handspeed, firstly Jr has to get in range to let his hands go, he has to be set, plant his feet and I don't believe Groves will allow him to, they will have studied Jr, looked for tells, there will be triggers for Groves take a quick half step backwards and throw a stiff jab or throw a straight right hand or the uppercut to the body like he did against Cox.

Also timing can beat speed, Groves has very solid timing.

 

All depends on the individual, some fighters benefit from time off, some don't, also depends on if you have trainer who knows what he is doing and a trainer you actually respect and listen to.

According to Sr, Jr isn't trained, he is "influenced", so I have no idea why Ronnie Davies is there, Sr said Jr is a natural talent who trains himself, that has to be a concern.

I believe Jr would be a far far better fighter if he was trained correctly earlier on in his career, if he allowed a trainer to actually train him and iron out all those wrinkles.

I genuinely believe Sr has done his son a disservice by overshadowing him and not allowing him to be trained correctly and professionally.

I would not be surprised if Jr gets tanked Saturday if we don't see much of Sr in the future, Sr is already starting to be less involved at pressers and is starting to say himself Jr is starting to do his own thing.

I personally see this all ending in some sort of court case.

Interesting interview with Seb Eubank on IFL today, said himself he was "the black sheep of the family" and the way I heard it that was because he hadn't signed with Sr because he didn't want the same stuff that gets levelled at Jr about his Father.

 

Watch the Saunders fight again
Saunders was only doing good work leading, it is a shocking myth that Saunders was doing all this great counter punching.

Jr did absolutely nothing in the 1st 2 rounds, Saunders just did a little more. Saunders was barely nicking rounds ffs why does anyone consider it a schooling they are delusional. The fight ended in a split decision!!! Jr mucked around at the start and still nearly won. Tbh they both deserved an L if you ask me and Saunders isn't any fitter now he just fought a bloke with even worse cardio then he had in Lemieux.

There are many ways of winning a boxing bout, straight punches aren't worth double ffs, hooks and uppercuts do the job just as well

 

What kind of potential do you think Jr has because he is already the real deal now training himself.

Ffs blokes would be in even more danger if Jr had one of your world class trainers.

 

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Billy Joe lands next to no counter punches and Jr lands all the bigger eye catching shots.

Saunders is bloody hard to hit but that is his style he doesn't have the offensive capabilities of Jr. Jr is just as defensively capable as Saunders when he wants to be and the fact that nobody has tested his chin counts for a lot.

 

Froch is giving Groves a good chance because of his size, jab and punching power.................I hope he wins, I can't stand Eubank, Jr. and esp. not Sr.

 

I really can't see how Jnr wins this. The bookies have got it all wrong in my opinion. Groves is bigger with a much better jab so if he stays on the outside then he wins. Groves is also stronger and more powerful so if it turns into a trade off then Jnr will be risking getting knocked out.
The only attributes Jnr has over Groves is stamina and speed and without the power then this will only get him so far.
Groves wins inside the distance with a body shot.

 

I have no idea who will win this fight and i believe it's a genuine 50/50 I am however leaning toward Eubank.

What I don't understand is the levels that exist between Groves and Eubank according to Groves and his supporters , what levels ? Groves has been definitively beaten when he's stepped up and can anyone honestly say Groves W's are much better if any than Eubanks ? Groves had a goid win against Degale but Degale was a 10 fight novice , imo if Groves wins tomorrow then it will easily be the best win on his CV and Eubank is his level. I also don't go much on Groves being a world champion the guy he beat Chudinov was Euroean level at best and Groves was getting handily beaten by him before he forced the stoppage , Groves was lucky to get the shot and i consider him almost as much of a paper champion as Eubank. I also question Groves chin and heart and gas tank and am surprised more people don't, he gets sloppy when he's tired and doesn't seem to fancy it when the going gets tough.

May seem like I'm hating on Groves but I'm not , I think he's a good fighter but I also think he's flawed or at least has as many question marks over him as Eubank, Eubanks flaws or questin marks have been well highlighted and they are justified because he hasn't stepped up and proved it at a higher level , Groves has failed at a higher level and there is little between the two to chose from in reality.

 

The closer its gotten to this fight the more I'm seeing groves via ko

I really think groves will time and counter eubank jr time and time again

they have a game plan and hearing what groves and shane have said in the pre fight build up they know what they're doing

eubank is getting stopped and I'm putting some money on it