Groves fears cold shoulder
GEORGE GROVES thinks the World Boxing Super Series will delay the final of the lucrative event if his shoulder injury rules him out of the June 2 date.
Groves was last night seeing a specialist to find out the extent of the damage after he dislocated his left shoulder in the 12th and final round of his exciting win over Chris Eubank Jnr.
Groves went to hospital straight after the unanimous decision at Manchester Arena to get it put back into its socket, but needed further examinations last night back home in London.
It means his place in the decider for the Muhammad Ali Trophy at the O2 is in doubt. And promoter Kalle Sauerland said there would be “not a chance” of rearranging the date if Groves was out for months.
But Groves said: “Who wants to watch the final without me in it? If the dates need to be changed slightly, I’m sure they will.
“I’m the No1 seed in the tournament and I’m the only legitimate world champion in this tournament. If I was them, I wouldn’t want to replace me. If they do, that’s fine. I’m not going to box unfit.
“I’m going to have more MRI scans and I’ll have a full idea by Tuesday.”
Sauerland, who is chief boxing officer for tournament organisers Camosa, said: “Wimbledon moves on without Federer and that’s just the way it is.
“If it’s a case of a few weeks, then of course we’d look at moving the final. But if it’s months, there’s not a chance.
“We’d look for a substitute and whether that comes out from someone who has lost in the tournament or someone who is now available, another champion for example, we’d have to look at it.”
Sauerland did not rule out Eubank Jnr returning to the competition, but he is likely to return to middleweight. Groves will go to Germany this weekend to watch the other semi-final between Callum Smith and Jurgen Braehmer.
He hopes Smith wins to set up another all-British world super-middleweight title fight, but before that he will go on a road trip with his family.
“I’m going to throw them all in the car, get the dog in the boot, tie some luggage to the roof and drive,” said Groves. “We’re going to find some place quiet where there are no fight fans, no boxing talk.”
Groves said Eubank would be better off without his famous father in his corner.
“Junior knows his dad doesn’t teach him anything,” said Groves. “Maybe he’ll have a change in attitude and go on to be a better fighter. He’s going to have a tough phase now because he dreamt about all these things he was going to have.
“They did a documentary and he was looking around houses he can’t afford now.
“He spent the whole week trying to develop his new clothing range. I just felt he was a guy who had got himself into a position of hype.”