CLASSY GROVES WINS DESPITE DISLOCATED SHOULDER
Groves proves he’s world class with boxing lesson but it’s a wake-up call for Eubank Jnr
THE one-armed man beat his pursuer to a bloodied pulp but the shoulder he dislocated in the process may prevent him from reaping the full reward for his labours.
George Groves took Chris Eubank Jnr to school but had to stop off at the hospital on his way home and, if he is still an outpatient come the final of the tournament for which he qualified in style on Saturday night, he will miss out on a few more millions.
Boxing is a cruel taskmaster and even after a fight which lived up to its exciting promise, the future is unclear for both combatants.
Groves is left holding his world super-middleweight title but hoping that the joint which popped out in a dramatic final round incurred no long-lasting damage.
Eubank goes away wondering if he might be the lucky-loser replacement for the climax to the inaugural World Super Series. When what he should really be focusing on is moving back down to his natural habitat at middleweight.
Given the muted reaction of the organisers, the notion that Eubank could be recalled to face the winner of next Saturday’s second semi-final between Callum Smith and Jurgen Brahmer seems remote.
Promoter Kalle Sauerland, having seen Kid Eubank out of his depth and weight against Saint George, went into diplomacy mode when put to the question of a final scheduled for June 2: ‘We will give George a few extra weeks if he needs it and we would hate to lose him after this performance but we can’t wait for ever. If he cannot recover, Chris would be on the list, but we have several options including present and past world champions.’
It would be a wicked irony for Groves if his prize were to fall forfeit to his arch- rival James DeGale, who is back in full training following the injury-hampered loss of his IBF title and would be a big local attraction at London’s O2 Arena.
But no more so than Groves, who won over a legion of fans in the Manchester Arena after being under- valued for so long. He looked every inch the best supermiddleweight in the world — and not only because he was significantly the larger man.
As well as using his size advantage — at times tossing Eubank around like a rag doll — he gave the challenger for his WBA belt a masterclass in the fistic arts for most of the fight. The first ramrod left jab gave Eubank pause for serious thought and by the time he got going he was irretrievably behind on the scorecards.
It is the instinct of all boxers to believe they might have won a bout that goes the distance and Eubank thought he ‘ might have nicked it in the closing rounds’.
Chris Snr, however, passed this disarmingly honest judgment: ‘Junior didn’t perform tonight. He is a great fighter but he didn’t show it. George fought the perfect tactical fight and was clearly the winner. All credit to him.’
Groves not only controlled Chris the younger at distance but mostly tied him up at close quarters whenever he did manage to get inside. Eubank came away from one of those mauls, at the end of the third round, with blood streaming from a gash over his right eye and reported himself partially unsighted thereafter.
‘I’ve never been cut before,’ he said. Well, in the ring the first one is the deepest. That made the courage with which he mounted his Light Brigade charge in the last third of the bout all the more commendable. In that he was very much his father’s son. Whether he is ready yet to assume Senior’s mantle as an authentic world champion — he lost his fringe IBO belt into Saturday night’s bloodstained bargain — is another matter altogether. The technical as well as tactical supremacy of Groves has to be a wake-up call.
Where Groves executed the battle plan conceived with Shane McGuigan, Eubank looked lost without a full- on trainer. That is not to say that sagely advice from Chris Snr and some supervision from his father’s old handler Ronnie Davies should be thrown out with the spit bucket.
What this team needs is the addition of a bright modern mentor with whom Junior can relate and who commands his respect.
Without that he is likely to remain on the receiving end of skilled craftsmen such as Billy Joe Saunders, who inflicted his other defeat, and Groves. That also invites the mockery of crowds when, as on this occasion, his increasingly desperate swings miss by the length of the Manchester Ship Canal.
The fans did rally behind him as he kept lunging away into the final round, when his attempt to take knockout advantage of Groves’s loss of the use of his left arm brought them to their feet.
He won that round but not many others. The judges brought down a unanimous decision in favour of Groves by scores of 117- 112, 116-112 and 115-113.
Those cards were generous to Eubank, as on reflection was my own 116-112. The reality was to be seen in the cut eye — which he claimed was caused by a headbutt — and his bruised and swollen features. Eubank did treat us to a helluva fight at the end but only in mythology does David slay Goliath.