TODAY George Groves returned to Wembley Stadium, the scene of his knockout loss to Carl Froch, to weigh in for his return against France’s Christopher Rebrasse.
The weigh-in itself may have been a step down from Groves’ last one when thousands turned out at the neighbouring SSE Arena (where tomorrow’s fight will take place) to see him and Carl Froch hit the scales in May. But this was still a lively occasion. A troop of trumpeters and drummers made some noise for the fighters, Michael Buffer added a touch of American big-fight glamour and Groves’ Gingerbread Man mascot gamboled happily about the stage. The fighter himself looked calm as he weighed in at 11st 13lbs 6oz.
Rebrasse, the long-armed European super-middleweight champion, is the taller man but didn’t strike the assembled onlookers as an intimidating presence. With clear eyes wide open, he faced Groves after scaling 11st 13 1/2lbs.
A vacant WBC Silver title is also on offer for this fight, which serves as an eliminator for the WBC super-middleweight crown held by Anthony Dirrell. Judges will be Massimo Barrovecchio, Bela Florian and Robert Verwijis. Adrio Zannoni is set to be the referee.
For the full preview don’t miss this week’s issue of Boxing News
