DESERT STORM
British duo braced for final dust-up in Jeddah
George groves and Callum Smith have flown 3,000 miles to expand the boom in British boxing to the most oil-rich region of the world.
They will slug it out for the World Super Series final here, with the winner reportedly earning $5million (£3.8m) and half that amount for the loser.
eyebrows are still raised at the concept of two UK boxers being shipped out to fight each other in a zone which is even more different culturally than it is in time.
Not that the contestants mind, despite the majority of their fans being left at home, as they go to it in an air-conditioned 10,000-seat arena which shimmers like an oasis in the Saudi desert some 25 miles from Jeddah.
Smith said: ‘ When it comes down to the fight, we will simply be in a boxing ring as usual.’
Callum, the youngest and most naturally gifted of Liverpool’s four fighting Smith brothers, has been waiting more than two years for his first super-middleweight world championship shot, with groves’ WBA title and The Ring magazine belt on the line tonight.
Yet, at 28, he believes he has benefited from the delays, saying: ‘I am a more mature boxer now. I am in a better place to deal with george, who is seen as the best super-middleweight in the world.
‘I think I’m the best but it is up to me to prove it now. george says this will be an easy win for him but that is how his mind works, believing he is a superior boxer and more intelligent.
‘He is probably the best he’s been right now. If I bring anything less than my A-game there is a massive chance I will lose. But I entered this tournament not for the money but because george enables me to win my world title. I believe I will do that.’
groves countered: ‘ Callum doesn’t have my experience of dealing with big fights like this. It is a long walk to the ring here and we don’t even know how he will react to that pressure.’
groves, 30, was given extra time for rehab to restore the left shoulder wrenched from its socket in his semi- final against Chris eubank Jnr who, as a well-paid reserve in case groves or Smith fall sick before the first bell, boxes JJ McDonagh on the undercard.
groves’ fabled left jab certainly looked to be in mighty working order as he pounded the pads in a public workout here this week.
His trainer, Shane Mcguigan is credited with easing groves back into his pure, mid-range boxing style, which is the key to negating the long reach of Smith who, at 6ft 3in, is unusually tall for a super-middleweight.
Yet Smith looks a little drawn at 12 stone and could be drained at the weight. He weighed in at 11st 13lbs 4oz yesterday. groves was 11st 13lbs 10oz.
Both men have knockout power, though groves is the more nuclear. Unless that shoulder feels the strain, groves should jab Smith to distraction, leading to either a unanimous points victory or a late stoppage.