By Keith Idec
George Groves and Chris Eubank Jr. have a date and a site.
London’s Daily Mail reported on its website Tuesday that the British super middleweights will meet in the World Boxing Super Series semifinals February 17 at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. World Boxing Super Series officials confirmed through its Twitter account Tuesday that an official announcement will be made Thursday, but didn’t mention the exact date or site.
The winner of the highly anticipated domestic showdown between London’s Groves (27-3, 20 KOs) and Eubank (26-1, 20 KOs), of Brighton, England, will advance to the World Boxing Super Series 168-pound championship match against the winner between another Brit, Callum Smith (23-0, 17 KOs), and Germany’s Juergen Braehmer (49-3, 35 KOs).
The date and site for the Braehmer-Smith semifinal have not yet been confirmed.
Sites in London and Brighton had been mentioned for the Groves-Eubank bout, but ultimately promoter Kalle Sauerland decided to bring the fight to a neutral site in England.
The 29-year-old Groves, who will make the second defense of his WBA super middleweight title against Eubank, reached the semifinals by knocking out England’s Jamie Cox (24-1, 13 KOs) in the fourth round of the WBSS quarterfinal October 14 at Wembley Arena in London. The 28-year-old Eubank, who holds the IBO's version of the world title, won his quarterfinal fight by knocking out Turkey’s Avni Yildirim (16-1, 10 KOs) in the third round October 7 in Stuttgart, Germany.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.