Groves fears wife faces Saudi ban

George Groves fears his wife Sophie, who he describes as his No 1 fan, will be prevented from attending his next fight, the first ever to be staged in Saudi Arabia.

Groves will earn £7million from the World Boxing Super Series if he defeats undefeated challenger Callum Smith, from Liverpool, in the super-middleweight final to lift the inaugural Ali Trophy at the King Abdullah Stadium, Jeddah, on Sept 28.

The fighters, teams and their families all require visas to travel to Saudi Arabia.

When the WWE professional wrestling show went to Jeddah in May, female athletes were not permitted to compete, nor were there women in the 60,000 audience. The Saudi authorities even had to apologise for showing female stars such as Sasha Banks, in their costumes, during an advert on a big screen in the stadium.

Groves explained yesterday that he had been consulting promoter Kalle Sauerland, the chief boxing officer for the series, over whether Sophie, who has been at all but one of his 31 fights, would be permitted to attend.

“I asked Kalle and he said ‘yeah, yeah of course’ but Kalle says that about everything,” explained Groves. “Look, she’s coming if she wants, but I’m not 100 per cent sure really [if she is allowed]. If it’s about how you dress then that’s obviously no problem but I think for this sort of boxing event they wouldn’t allow women to come. We’ve applied for her visa, though, and there is a lot of misinformation out there.

“She’s only ever missed one fight – that was in Brentwood, Essex – she got stuck in traffic. That’s the only one she’s ever missed – she’s the best fan I’ve ever had.”

Groves, who like Smith, says that fighting in Saudi Arabia at the behest of event owners Comosa AG is not an issue, will not allow the situation around his wife to derail him from a huge fight which will see the victor claim the Ali Trophy, the World Boxing Association Super 12st world title, and the prestigious The Ring Magazine belt.