GEORGE GROVES has been linked unexpectedly with Chris Eubank Jr, even though the idea never solidified into serious talks.
โI like Chris Eubank but at the end of day heโs a middleweight who rightly or wrongly is notorious for pulling out of fights with middleweights. So I certainly I wasnโt ready or prepared to sign up to fight,โ Groves said. โSo there was a lot of gaping holes in the offer that was made to us. It wasnโt from Eubank, it was from a separate promoter.
โItโs a fight that Iโd love to take, I think it would be good for both of us. I think itโs a fight Iโd win but it wasnโt right for us right now. But itโs certainly a fight that could happen down the line. People already seem pretty excited about it and nothingโs close to being signed. So itโs an option for the future.โ
Eubank would have to come up to Grovesโ division thought. โIโm a super-middleweight, I wouldnโt sacrifice anything to get any lower than 168lbs. I donโt need to. My division is good enough as it is, there are big fights out there for me, domestically and internationally and thereโs big fights for me if I want to go up a weight. Iโd much rather go up than down,โ George continued.
He is fighting next on November 18 against Eduard Gutknecht at Wembley Arena, a bout that will be screen on Channel Five.
โBoxing on Channel 5 I think is just the right thing,โ Groves said. โWhen the time comes for me to win a world title and defend it, Iโll make some waves. Fighting on terrestrial TV now, weโre going to put on a good show. It wonโt be all razzmatazz and no boxing, it wonโt be just boxing and no glitz and glamour to go with it. Weโll deliver the full package to get people excited about boxing again.โ
His path to a world title has not run smooth but he has an International strap from the WBA and is highly placed in their super-middleweight rankings, although that body currently has both a โregularโ world title and a Super world title. โThe WBA theyโve got two world champions and theyโre looking to make that one world champion, doing that across all weight divisions. [Giovanni] Di Carolis versus [Tyron] Zeuge is happening again [for the regular strap] because the first fight was a draw. They want to make me versus Chudinov and then the winner of us two fights the winner of them two. Thatโs the logical way to create a little tournament and it will create excitement as well.โ