An apology to George Groves.

To quote a BoxRec article: "I did it. In fact 29 out of 31 'expert' trainers did it in Boxing Monthly. Editor of Boxing News, Tris Dixon did it. So did Barry and Johnny, and Glen and Jim and Ian did it as well. More importantly Frank and James were guilty of it as well. We all got it wrong. We all seriously underestimated George Groves. More fool us all it would seem. In what can be described as a minor upset, Groves did what he said he would do all along and that’s beat his nemesis James DeGale, and fair play to him for doing so. Groves’ win is all the more creditworthy when you consider it was a tight points decision on the other man’s promotion, a feat in this day and age which should not be taken lightly. So what about the fight? Well for me, it was a bit of an anti-climax; the styles did not gel and Groves’ effort, albeit admirable in its dedication to a game plan, was for the most part largely on the back foot. That’s not a criticism at all as he did what he needed to do to win the fight, however as a spectacle it made for an average contest. I suppose if you’re playing Man United away from home you don’t go out all guns blazing, especially if you’re likely to then concede goals. Groves and Adam Booth deserve massive credit here – Booth for coming up (yet again it would seem) with a structured fight plan for his fighter and Groves for diligently sticking to that plan. Booth is fast becoming a mini-legend in the boxing world and more importantly is doing it his way which seems to be rubbing various people’s noses in it as he goes. It was noticeable how he completely outsmarted Jim McDonnell in this fight, a fact that McDonnell will be royally cheesed off about. So what of Degale? Well, for me he fought a poor fight, obviously nothing rocket science in that statement but for a man who promised so much this was really a poor effort. The fight in a way reminded me of a watered down version of Hamed v Barrera (a fight both Booth and Groves studied as preparation - Ed.), where DeGale like Naz, had little idea of how to solve the puzzle in front of him and as a result didn’t throw anywhere near enough punches. Out-thought in a big way. Yes, he hurt Groves on occasions but showed little nous or indeed willing to be able to capitalise on his minor successes. It’s easy to forget sometimes he is still essentially a novice pro and I like many others have been guilty of 'bigging him up' a little too much. DeGale I think could and should have won this fight, the fact he didn’t though says as much about him as a fighter right now as it does about Groves. Where DeGale goes from here will be interesting. I still think he will win a world title and like Khan and Haye who suffered bumps in the road, this could be the making of him. We would be wise, bearing in mind we underestimated Groves before the fight to not make the same error with DeGale after the fight. Rematch? That’s for another conversation and another day. Talking about this so soon is almost disrespectful to Groves. As for Groves, he will undoubtedly feel on top of the world right now and who knows he may get there as a fighter. I hope he does. He has emerged from this episode with a massive amount of credit and respect and more importantly the ‘W’ on his record. Mr Groves – we all owe you a massive apology." By Kevin Roberts, BoxRec.