George Groves fight off
Despite the constant insistence of Elton John it turns out that in fact Saturday night is not alright for fighting, as super-middleweight prospect George Groves first Commonwealth title defence against James Odebe Toney was called off after the challenger failed a pre-fight medical.
The bespectacled John would certainly appreciate the significance of eye-care and unfortunately the fans will have to be understanding as well because the contender’s dreams have been curtailed by a nasty cataract injury. Toney was told by doctors that he was in no state to fight as he would be risking permanent damage to his eye sight and it is just an unfortunate consequence of a tough sport.
This is a disappointing blow for Groves who is progressing his fledgling career like a Rocket Man with this set to be his 11th bout of his undefeated start to professional boxing. Instead he will look to squeeze himself on to the undercard of David Haye’s WBA heavyweight title clash with Audley Harrison, something he was already considering anyway had he eased past Toney.
On his website, “Saint George” spoke of his disappointment that his bout with Toney has been called off but he has insisted that he won’t let the sun go down on him quite yet. The Commonwealth champion said: "I'm gutted. We had put a lot of mileage into this, a lot of hard work and effort.
"It was sold out and was going to be fantastic.
"We'll now look to November 13 but I am not sure it will be a title defence. I think it's going to be against a top-ranked European."
As a last-gasp measure Hayemaker Promotions who were set to stage the event, tried to get Prizefighter winner Patrick Mendy in as a late challenger. However Mendy turned down the £30,000 offer as 48 hours is no time to prepare for a fight against a pugilist of Groves’ calibre and the inevitable defeat would have set his career back and undid all the good work he did in Prizefighter.
A fight against decent opposition is imperative to Groves as an inevitable domestic classic with arch-nemesis James DeGale looms. The two have a long standing hatred that goes back to their days as amateurs and with both fighters being supremely talented there is scope for a Nigel Benn v Chris Eubank style match-up.
DeGale is the consummate showman and has a bit of the Floyd Mayweather’s about him as he constantly disparages Groves in interviews by referring to him as “that ginger kid”. The Olympic gold medallist has also taken his game up to the next level and he is set to face Paul Smith in November for the British title. Should he come through that and Groves gets a decent opponent under his belt they will both be at about European level and speculation can properly being about a showdown encounter.
It’s over and out for Saturday night though for Saint George. He’s probably disappointed, but I guess that’s why they call it the blues.
Tags: