George Groves made a statement to arch rival James DeGale of ‘anything you can do, I can do better’ after he retained his British and Commonwealth super-middleweight crowns with an explosive second round stoppage over Paul Smith on the Burns-Katsidis bill. Former British champion Smith, who was halted in nine rounds by DeGale in December, was tipped by many respected pundits to give Groves all the trouble he could handle but the Liverpool man was unable to take Groves’ underrated power after making an encouraging start.
It might have been different though had the bell not come to Groves’ rescue at the end of the first. Smith, who had been largely frustrated by George’s jab, unleashed a fast left hook-right hand combination which wobbled Groves. Smith moved in to follow-up only for the bell to curtail a potentially pivotal moment in the fight.
We will never know just how big a crisis this could have become for Groves had there been longer left on the clock. But just as he demonstrated when getting off the floor against Kenny Anderson, a hurt Groves is a very dangerous fighter and Smith was emphatically made to pay in round two. A crashing right hand sent Smith sprawling to the canvas, and as the Liverpool man drunkenly stumbled to his feet, it was clear that this was no flash knockdown. Upon the resumption of referee Victor Loughlin’s count, another socking right which landed on Smith’s temple sent him sprawling to the mat prompting Loughlin to immediately halt the action at the 1.18 mark.
A bitterly frustrated Smith briefly remonstrated but as he was led back to his corner his jellified legs betrayed him, highlighting that the man in the middle’s intervention was perfectly timed. Groves (11st 13lbs 12oz), now 14-0 (11), is heading for a triple title showdown with recently crowned European champion DeGale in 2012 whilst Smith (11st 13lbs 12oz), now 31-3 (17), must ponder where he goes from here.
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