It would seem that many of George Groves’ old foes are wishing him well in Saturday’s WBC title clash with Badou Jack in Las Vegas on Saturday.
First Carl Froch, who defeated the Hammersmith man in back-to-back world title fights, wished him luck for the sake of British boxing, and now IBF 168 lb champion James DeGale, defeated by Groves in their close 2011 encounter, has joined the chorus of well-wishers in hope of getting a big domestic unification rematch signed for the future.
Tonight at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, WBC light-heavyweight champion, Adonis Stevenson, takes on America’s Tommy Karpency in a defence many have slammed as yet more one-sided matchmaking from Premier Boxing Champion’s boss and elusive fight ‘advisor,’ Al Haymon.
Since launching the PBC brand back in March, fans have been critical of the seemingly ever-present format’s tendency to lean on the side of ‘quantity,’ rather than ‘quality,’ with only a few noted exceptions.
BADOU JACK
“I’m very excited for this fight. We had a tremendous camp. We’re ready to go. I don’t talk much. I’m all about fighting.
“Groves is absolutely not in my head. I’m focused and mentally strong on my task at hand. I won my biggest fight that I’ve had up to date, he didn’t. He has had two shots at the title and has lost them both.
“Groves got famous for getting knocked out by Carl Froch. He’s a good fighter, but I’m very comfortable that I’m going to beat him.
The fighters who will appear on the stacked, action-packed “HIGH STAKES: Mayweather vs. Berto” undercard this Saturday, September 12 live on SHOWTIME PPV (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena took part in their final press conference Thursday at MGM Grand.
In the three pay-per-view fights preceding Saturday’s main event between Floyd “Money” Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) and Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs), Roman “Rocky” Martinez (29-2-2, 17 KOs) will defend his WBO Junior Lightweight Title in a rematch against four-time world champion Orlando “Siri” Salido (42-13-2, 29 KOs), Badou Jack “The Ripper” (19-1-1, 12 KOs) will make the first defense of his WBC Super Middleweight World Title against mandatory challenger “Saint” George Groves (21-2, 16 KOs) and former three-time world champion and Mexican power-puncher Jhonny Gonzalez (58-9, 49 KOs) will be opposed by Puerto Rico’s Jonathan “Polvo” Oquendo (25-4, 16 KOs) in a 10-round 130-pound match.
ISHE SMITH
“When I fought Cornelius Bundrage for the title, I knew I had to win. I had a lot of pressure on me. There was no doubt I had to win. It’s the same thing now. Vanes is a good fighter, but I have to win. I’ve had to bring myself up from the bottom.
“All of the other promoters gave up on me, but Leonard Ellerbe and Floyd took a chance on me and I’ll always be grateful.
Initial reports published on Wednesday by SB Nation, that P4P boss Floyd Mayweather used an illlegal drip comprising saline and vitamin C on the eve of his “Fight of the Century” with Manny Pacquiao, has today led to the self professed ‘Best Ever’ speaking out via a statement to deny any wrongdoing.
The drip, which Floyd’s medical team said was administered after the weigh-in for rehydration purposes, allegedly included a 250-milliliter mix of saline and multivitamins, plus 500-mls of saline and Vitamin C.
Fight fans have grown accustomed to pre-fight brawls, scuffles at weigh-ins and even testy behaviour between two rival fighters after the fight, yet yesterday, light-welterweights Zab Judah and Hevinson Herrera took things one step further. Attempting to weigh-in ahead of today’s scheduled ten-rounder in New York – a fight that would have marked former welterweight king Judah’s first fight since December of 2013 – the New Yorker and the Colombian got into a heated exchange before having a chance to step onto the scales.
According to a piece by Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, the two fighters were stood next to each other filling out their medical forms, when the trouble started.
Britain’s London 2012 Olympic gold medalist, Anthony Joshua, (13-0, 13ko) fights Scotland’s Gary Cornish for the Commonwealth heavyweight strap on Saturday night in London, and is one of the most highly touted young prospects in the whole of boxing at the minute.
Assuming that he is victorious in that fight as most expect, it sets up a December 12th, British title showdown with old amateur foe, Dillian Whyte, and the evidently naturally talented Joshua’s winning streak and pedigree has not gone unnoticed, capturing the attention of another former Olympian and heavyweight/cruiserweight world champion , Evander Holyfield – who is predicting big things ahead.