Get into the Groves
It’s hard to mention George Groves without bringing James Degale into the equation.
The two were rivals in their amateur days and, when Degale was picked for the British Olympic squad ahead of Groves, it formed a genuine hatred between the pair. Despite their young age and fledgling careers, you sense they harbour genuine animosity towards one another and a prospective match-up would be a mouth-watering prospect already.
However you always get the feeling with Degale that he is one cocky move or flash act away from being properly clouted, where as Groves looks the real deal. Power, aggression, pace and accuracy; he has the makings of a great fighter, considering he is ginger as well that is really quite something.
His appearance on the undercard of the David Haye and John Ruiz fight marks the next step up for the 22-year-old super-middleweight. It is his ninth fight as a professional and his biggest challenge as he steps into the ring to face Charles Adamu for the Commonwealth belt. The Ghanian has pedigree; he once took Carl Froch the distance in 2004.
Adamu is a fighter who can be a bit hit and miss, he often throws wayward shots and fights with a lot of aggression without thinking it through. At 32 years of age he is probably past his peak but he still has a bit in the locker and his recent lucky decision victory over Carl Dilks is not a fair representation of what Adamu can do.
As for Groves he’s got a superb frame for a fighter, he has long arms with which he can get a lot of power and accuracy, he likes to go in tight against his opponents and unload combinations mostly packing a shocking amount of strength. In the future Groves will win world titles and this is the next step along for the Londoner.
As a warm-up to the bout he has been sparring with Froch and a few heavyweights, and he thinks he is in the best shape of his career. You can’t look past a Groves early KO.
Meanwhile, exciting British-Nigerian light-welterweight Ajose Olusegun meets Colin Lynes to defend his Commonwealth title. Olusegun is an exciting little fighter, still undefeated, and anyone who saw his match-up with the one-time prospect Bradley Price back in 2004 would have seen a great scrap, which Olusegun took in the fourth round with a destructive onslaught.
Olusegun is a bouncy little fighter with a strong left hand and he’s as happy to pick and choose his shots as he is to get his hands dirty, he loves fighting at pace and is a handful for any opponent. It seems a shame that it took him to the age of 30 to finally get some recognition and he should dispatch of Lynes with ease.
Elsewhere on the bill is British prospect Danny Randall who should march past journeyman Daniel Thorpe and one-time middleweight prospect Jamie Moore who has a tough task against Belarusian Sergey Khmoitski.
So it should be a great night of fighting, it’s a packed bill and worth watching just to see Groves in action as he isa definite future star, Olusegun is always worth watching as well.
If Haye does a David Tua and KO’s Ruiz within the first minute, at least there’s value for money on the undercard.
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