Groves: I had to pick apart Eubank hype
Junior was stupid in the build-up, says champion ‘He needs a fresh start away from his father’
George Groves knew his lines off by heart and had done his preparation meticulously to burst Chris Eubank Jr’s bubble with a performance of superior skills against the ragged, wild attempts of the challenger on Saturday. And Groves warned yesterday that his beaten rival would now have to cope with rebuilding, ridicule and “the lack of interest” in him.
Groves knows. The World Boxing Association super middleweight champion has been through heartache three times in world-title fights, but his focus yesterday was on ensuring the fitness of his left shoulder, dislocated in the 12th round of a one-sided, yet thoroughly physical contest. He will undergo further tests today to ascertain if there is any residual damage.
The “beef” between them, admitted Groves, “was all water off a duck’s back”. Victory was sweet for the Londoner, who was sporting the bruises of battle and had an arm in a sling.
“I didn’t dislike Junior at all,” said Groves. “But I am not going to be quick to congratulate him on a ‘stellar performance’ because I thought he was very dismissive and stupid in the build-up. He’s not James Degale or Carl Froch. I think he was hoping he would be. I just felt like he was a guy who had got himself into a position of hype and I just had to pick that apart.”
Groves went to hospital in Manchester immediately after the contest and said his shoulder had been “manipulated back in straight away”. It had popped out with two minutes remaining in the fight. An X-ray revealed no apparent damage.
He also rightly reasoned that if his recovery extends beyond the scheduled June 2 date for the World Boxing Super Series final – the second semi-final takes place next weekend in Nuremberg between Liverpool’s Callum Smith and German Jurgen Brahmer – then the tournament should wait for its No 1 seed.
“I’m the only legitimate world champion in this tournament, so who wants to watch the WBSS final without me in it? If the dates need to be changed slightly, then I am sure they will do so,” Groves said. “I’m not going to box unfit obviously, but I think there’s definitely room in the summer to readjust if needs be.”
How Eubank copes with the defeat, said Groves, will determine how far the Brighton fighter can go in the sport. Some within the sport were even calling for Eubank to retire yesterday.
“Maybe he will have a change in attitude and could go on to be a better fighter. Junior is better off going to the other side of the world, away from his dad and have a fresh start. He’s going to have a tough phase now because he dreamt about all these things he was going to have.
“I’ve been there, but I think he went one or two steps further than I did. Dreaming about winning a big fight before you’ve won it, I’m guilty of. He’s had so many people jump on his bandwagon of late. People will quickly forget about you, [let us] see if he can cope with that. Even the most resilient people struggle with that.”
Asked if he thought Eubank Jr and his father are having problems, he added: “I’m not sure. I think you to be a psychologist to work out those two, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. A fraction of guys that go to the top have that father and son relationship – the Calzaghes, the Garcias.
“Senior has admitted he’s not a trainer, he’s an influencer. A trainer will get to know you and understand you, an influencer will just say ‘just go forward Chris’. I think Junior knows his dad doesn’t teach him anything. He is probably too frightened to commit to a trainer and there is nothing wrong with that. I’ve been there myself.”
On the fight itself, Groves felt it was exciting. “There was a bit of everything: Eubank was covered in claret, which always looks good for the cameras, I got a little cut at the end and the shoulder popped out, so the narrative was there.
The champion added: “I am not going to waste energy explaining to people how boxing works. In a fitness test he would beat me, but on fight night that means nothing. I am more efficient, bigger and better. I old-manned him out of it.
“I know I might have looked a bit ropey in the 12th with my arm hanging off but, up until then, I was the fresher guy. Where was his onslaught? He just didn’t start at all, because I did not let him. And when it came to s--- or bust, he knew he would have busted, because he took too many shots.
“This won’t match the James Degale win for satisfaction, I’m never going to top the Fedor Chudinov feeling of utter relief and joy at winning the world title. The truth is I wasn’t that invested in this fight. I just wanted the victory.
“I will stay out of the hype because it is not going to fuel or benefit me – because I’ve done that this achievement doesn’t have the same sort of presence.”
Privately, though, there will be the vindication that Groves did everything spot on for this contest.