Hearn Eyes Callum Smith-George Groves Clash In 2016

By Shaun Brown

After Callum Smith’s one-round demolition job of Rocky Fielding last Saturday night, his promoter Eddie Hearn has one eye on a potentially lucrative fight for the Liverpudlian in 2016.

Smith, who became the fourth brother from his family to win a British title at the weekend, now has his sights firmly on the WBC super middleweight title currently held by Badou Jack. Before that, however, there will likely be one more hurdle for the unbeaten 6ft 3ins 25-year-old to overcome.

“He’s had some great wins,” Hearn said of Smith. “He’s done everything that’s been asked of him and now he’s in a position where he’s number one with the WBC. We’ll be pushing them to make him mandatory (for Badou Jack) or put him forward for a final eliminator.

“Looking at the rankings number one is Callum Smith, number two is Gilberto Ramirez who is the mandatory for the winner of [Arthur] Abraham against [Martin] Murray (for the WBO title) and number three is George Groves. So what about a final eliminator between Callum Smith and George Groves? That’s a massive fight.”

Groves is without a trainer and a fight to look forward to after unsuccessfully challenging Badou Jack for the WBC title back in September, soon after the Londoner then split with trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick.

With rumours going round that Groves, 27, will return at the end of January 2016 a fight and a victory over Smith would go some way to rebuilding his stock and in turn help him towards gaining a fourth world title opportunity.

After last Saturday’s sell-out at Liverpool’s Echo Arena for Smith vs. Fielding, ‘Scene asked Hearn if a fight of the Smith-Groves magnitude would have to go outside of Liverpool.

“Maybe. Maybe it’s an O2 (Arena, London) fight or maybe it’s an outdoor fight. I think a final eliminator for the WBC title between Callum Smith and George Groves is a huge fight in the UK.”

“I think there is a lot of money in Callum Smith and George Groves,” he continued. “It’s not a world title fight and obviously unlocks the key to Badou Jack.

“I think Callum’s in a position where he earned great money on Saturday night and he’s going to earn great money for the rest of his career. The kind of money he can make for the George Groves fight I know he’d be very happy with. And I think Groves, although he maintains a strong profile in the UK, has still got some rebuilding to do to get back to the levels where he was. I think that financially that’s a very realistic fight and it’s a fight where both fighters can be paid very well.”