By Lee Collier
‘Saint’ George Groves is rated as one of the most highly touted prospects in Britain and is trained by Adam Booth, the man who has guided David Haye to both cruiserweight and heavyweight titles. Groves has been a busy man with three fights in five weeks before the Christmas break.
Groves’s first bout of 2010 takes place this Friday in Brentwood on the undercard of Ian Napa versus Jamie McDonnell; Frank Maloney promotes this British bantamweight clash. However, George is still waiting to find out who he is matched against. “It would be lovely to have an opponent,” joked Groves.
“We had a Ghanaian opponent but he pulled out so I’m leaving it in the capable hands of [trainer] Adam [Booth] to sort out another fighter. He has a name but he hasn’t told me so I just have to wait to find out his weight and how good he is but hopefully I’ll have a name by the weekend.”
No matter who Groves faces, the top prospect is feeling confident and in good condition and is happy with the training camp he has had, which has included sparring with Paul David who was due to fight a British eliminator with Kenny Anderson before illness caused him to pull out at the last minute.
“Training has gone brilliant,” claimed Groves. “I have been over in Vegas which started as an holiday but when I found out I had a fight in January it became a holiday/training camp. I ended up getting food poisoning out there but since I have been back I have had some good sparring with Paul David. I am fit and healthy and did some sparring last night.”
Groves was also down to fight just eight days later on the Shane Mosley-Andre Berto card out in Las Vegas, which was a dream come true for the Londoner. However, the fight card was cancelled due to Andre Berto’s withdrawal after the tragic occurrence in Haiti.
“I was gutted, fighting in Las Vegas was my dream, but I always say everything happens for a reason. I was gutted that I never went to the Olympics and I then turned pro and I feel I am doing just as good as all the other Olympians. It was the same with this fight; it was in Vegas just after Christmas and only eight days after my last fight. It may work out better as if Mayweather-Mosley fight I may get the chance to fight on that,” enthused Groves.
Groves is confident that he will impress if he gets the chance to fight in the States and believes the experience of fighting in America is just what he needs. “It’s always difficult travelling, not only fighting but you have to deal with the distance, long haul flights but they also have different culture of boxing,” stated Groves.
“In America their fighters box differently and they are pretty good. Some of their journeymen could give our champions a tough fight so you can’t go out there and think you’ll just blast them out. You have to be switched on so I need to keep myself in tune, focused and healthy.”
One man who expects Groves to impress this year and possibly get a title shot is Groves’s trainer Adam Booth. The astute trainer is keen for his fighter to gain as much experience in a push for a title tilt in 2010.
“Adam is 100% behind me fighting in America. When we went out to watch the Cotto fight, David was getting his belt presented by Golden Boy and Adam said we need me out in America as soon as we can,” revealed Groves.
“Adam feels I need the experience and that I can get to where David is and he has faith in me. Many British fighters lack the belief you need to get to the top and I have that already. If I work hard I believe I’ll be topping bills in Vegas someday.”
Follow BoxingScene.com on Facebook by clicking the following link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/BoxingScene/249127002405?ref=ts
