Former WBA super middleweight world champion George Groves spoke exclusively to Action Network to discuss the current boxing landscape.
Groves previewed the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois, Jake Paul calling out Usyk for an MMA fight before comparing him to Conor McGregor, and Canelo Alvarez’s upcoming showdown with Terence Crawford.
Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois 2 – how does it go?
“I have to say Oleksandr Usyk wins again, he’s the best heavyweight of this era and is phenomenal. He’s got the boxing ability nobody else can match. He gives away a lot of reach, height and size but it doesn’t bother him. Daniel Dubois is a better fighter than the one who fought Usyk before, but I don’t think it’s enough. Ultimately, Daniel ran out of steam in the first fight because of the threatening pace Usyk can set.
“Even though he’s conquered the world and climbed Mount Everest and beat Fury twice, like Canelo, he’s old now and had some tough fights but not an awful amount of mileage on the clock, he is still performing. I saw him at the press conference with Dubois, and he is still up for it, and it is still business as usual. He’s ready to go, it’s at Wembley Stadium and is a rematch, all stuff he has dealt with before and coped with. I think he wins again."
Does the low-blow controversy even matter? He lost the fight convincingly…
“I thought Usyk was in full control and he builds into a fight. There can be times during the fight where you think, ‘Oh he’s not totally dominating this fight in the early rounds’ but he’s adding round upon round.
“The punch was low. He didn’t hit him in the belly, he hit him in the shorts, so it doesn’t matter whether it was right in his knackers or not, it was low. The referee calls it low and the fact he didn’t rush to his feet and say he is fine… he doesn’t need to do that; it is not his job. If the referee started counting and he didn’t get up and moan about a low blow, then there’s some debate. But if the referee started counting, I’m sure he would’ve got up and weather the storm.
“We always thought he may be susceptible to body shots, and it could be the one he struggles with, but I’ve seen him clipped in a few fights downstairs, and looks like he has to take a breather and rest so maybe that is where Dubois will target the body. I thought it was low, and I didn’t see any controversy to it."
Jake Paul has called out Oleksandr Usyk for a fight in MMA, what do you make of it and what are your thoughts on Jake Paul overall?
“Jake Paul to fight Oleksandr Usyk in MMA? It could be good, but I wouldn’t fight Usyk in anything, I bet he is a secret black belt in jiu-jitsu. I’ve got my own YouTube channel and will delve into it a little bit and I am friends with the Sauerlands (boxing promoters), so I understand the Misfits thing, but Jake Paul is a part-time boxer. I am happy he chose boxing as an avenue to create money and fame because he could’ve done it in anything whether that is darts, wrestling or anything else but he has decided to dedicate himself to boxing.
“Jake Paul does train really hard by all accounts and has been doing that for years. He has the ability to get all of the professional advantages whether that be nutrition, medical or coaching but he is still no good. Let’s get that straight. He is never going to be a legitimate decent professional, he doesn’t have that talent and maybe it’s because he has to juggle a lot of things being a famous influencer, but I don’t mind him too much.
“I don’t think he’s too bad for boxing and if someone called me tomorrow from his team and said he wants a fight, I would sit down and think about it. But I would never call him out. I’ve seen fighters and ex-fighters calling him out like Andre Ward, Carl Froch and Tony Bellew. I just think have some decorum and get a grip. Again, if it happens, go for it but don’t chase it because you are going about it all wrong. You don’t want to give those guys that fuel to run with because they will convince a large proportion of the population that they are legit and real contenders.
“Conor McGregor convinced a lot of people that he would beat Floyd Mayweather and if you’re in boxing and thought he stood a chance, you’re either loyal to the Irishman or don’t know a thing about boxing because you can’t do that. He is the one who came closest in convincing people because of his legitimate MMA background but boxing is boxing, and his stuff is different.
“Jake Paul is a Disney princess and they’re influencers but I’m glad they picked boxing because it opens boxing up to a lot more people and I think a lot of kids will think about taking up boxing which will encourage them to get healthy and fit. Boxing is very good for your mind, body and soul. If you’re doing it because you want to be Jake Paul or Canelo it doesn’t matter to me, so good for him."
How do you see Canelo vs Crawford going?
“I can’t see how Canelo can’t win. He’s had a lot of fights now but there doesn’t seem to be too many miles on the clock. Canelo is not a fighter who is finished and it’s a sort of catchweight fight with Terence Crawford moving up two divisions. Canelo is not the tallest or the biggest super middleweight but has comfortably been there long enough that he has filled out now in that division. Crawford has only recently moved up and fought at super welterweight and is now moving up.
“I can’t see him putting any physical dent in Canelo. He’s an amazing fighter Crawford, he’s an astute, clever boxer who has almost every shot in the book. His balance is tremendous, but I think it is a step too far. It is not like Eubank Jr vs Benn where the caveat in this is that Benn is younger and fresher while Eubank Jr is way past his best and is too tight at the weight which makes it a 50/50 fight. It should’ve been an 80/20 fight whereas it was a 50/50 fight. Canelo v Crawford, I see it as an 80/20 fight and if they fought 10 times, you’re lucky if Crawford beats him twice. He’s too big and a quality operator."
Is this the best chance to beat Canelo though due to his previous performances?
“As Canelo is getting older, like everything catches up with you but it is a hard one to gauge (on Canelo being past his peak) because the William Scull fight, he didn’t want to engage and was moving so what could Canelo do? I think the desire to put on a show like he used to, isn’t the same and why would it be when you’ve had big fight after big fight and made all of that money? You’re now there to win and at this point, if his options are Terence Crawford who is moving up two weight divisions, Jake Paul who has never really had a proper fight and Chris Eubank Jr, then there’s no real threat or jeopardy.
“He’s going to have to go up in weight and fight a Benavidez or a Bivol again to be tested. Every year that goes by is a better time to fight Canelo, but he likes to load up, knock you out and is very different to Floyd Mayweather. As he got older, he was very acute, got harder to hit and more effective and have a shutout points win. Canelo on the other hand still wants to put meat on his punches and if he can get the job early, then he will. Canelo will have to be on his A-game and won’t want to get beat by Terence Crawford as that will send shockwaves through the boxing world."
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