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Source : Sky Sports: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...418283,00.html
George Groves will defend his Commonwealth title against James Obede Toney.
The London super-middleweight will put his belt on the line for the first time at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, on October 30 - live on Saturday Fight Night.
He was scheduled to take on Carl Dilks before he opted to take on James DeGale on the recent Magnificent Seven card, but Hayemaker have now confirmed the tough Ghanian as Groves' new opponent.
"Toney is the fight I wanted in the first place, the only reason we looked to get a UK-based fighter was for publicity reasons and also to force my way into this British title mix," he told skysports.com.
"Toney has an impressive record, he has been in with good company and only come unstuck when facing opponents of the highest level.
"He is the sort of opponent who will bring the best out of me, and serve me well in the long run. I'm looking forward to a tough challenge."
Toney was a known puncher at middleweight and has stopped 21 of his 24 victims early. He has only lost three times in 28 fights and 10 years as a pro.
Two of those came back-to-back; against current IBF world champion Lucien Bute in eight rounds in September 2006 and Roman Karmazin - who has just held IBF middleweight boss Sebastian Sylvester to a draw - four months later.
But he has only boxed three times since in low-key affairs in Ghana and this will be his first fight in Britain.
For ticket information go to www.georgegroves.com
The London super-middleweight will put his belt on the line for the first time at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, on October 30 - live on Saturday Fight Night.
He was scheduled to take on Carl Dilks before he opted to take on James DeGale on the recent Magnificent Seven card, but Hayemaker have now confirmed the tough Ghanian as Groves' new opponent.
"Toney is the fight I wanted in the first place, the only reason we looked to get a UK-based fighter was for publicity reasons and also to force my way into this British title mix," he told skysports.com.
"Toney has an impressive record, he has been in with good company and only come unstuck when facing opponents of the highest level.
"He is the sort of opponent who will bring the best out of me, and serve me well in the long run. I'm looking forward to a tough challenge."
Toney was a known puncher at middleweight and has stopped 21 of his 24 victims early. He has only lost three times in 28 fights and 10 years as a pro.
Two of those came back-to-back; against current IBF world champion Lucien Bute in eight rounds in September 2006 and Roman Karmazin - who has just held IBF middleweight boss Sebastian Sylvester to a draw - four months later.
But he has only boxed three times since in low-key affairs in Ghana and this will be his first fight in Britain.
For ticket information go to www.georgegroves.com
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