WBA super middleweight champion George Groves admits that he selected what he felt was the easiest opponent of the bunch on Saturday in Monaco, during the World Boxing Super Series draft.

Groves, was the top seed in the WBSS' super middleweight tournament, selected undefeated countryman Jamie Cox as his first opponent.

The quarter-finals of the event are going to take place in September/October this year, with the semis and finals heading to 2018.

Another countryman of Groves, top-rated Callum Smith, selected Erik Skoglund as his first opponent. They could be joined by another Brit in the tournament, if Chris Eubank Jr. defeats Arthur Abraham next Saturday night. If he wins, he would face Avni Yildirim in the tournament.

In the fourth bout, former world champion Jurgen Brahmer will face undefeated contender Rob Brant of the United States.

According to Groves, the tournament is going to be a long process, so as the first seed in the tourney he wanted the easiest opponent possible. 

"Me and Jamie are old buddies," said Groves. "We've known each other a long time now. I quite fancied a bit of a domestic dust-up. I've provided him a great opportunity, he's fighting for a world title. It's also a strategic move. It's a long tournament, so I picked the easy guy first."

Fourth time was the charm for Groves (26-3, 19 KOs) in May, when he stopped former champion Fedor Chudinov to capture the vacant WBA world title. Groves failed in his three previous attempts to capture world title honors. He was knocked out in back to back fights with heated rival Carl Froch. Their second contest drew a record 80,000 fans to Wembley in London - a record only broken in April of this year when Anthony Joshua and Wladimir had 90,000 fans at the same venue.

And then Groves lost a close points decision to Badou Jack in September 2015, in a Las Vegas battle that was part of the Floyd Mayweather-Andre Berto undercard.