Thread: My take on DeGale Groves live

Ok, so I went along last minute after managing to snag a £150 ticket for £30 off a guy I know who's associated with Dale Youth. My general take is that if I'd paid that money for my ticket, I'd be seriously fucked off.

The untelevised undercard was pretty damn poor, it was basically some horrific mismatches, it says it all that Nicky Cook v Youssef Al Hamidi was about as competitive as it got. Paul Smith's fight was a particular farce.

Billy Joe Saunders wasn't bad, had a load of his supporters there, but the fella he was fighting never seemed much of a threat.

Then the Frankie Gavin fight, which against Young Mutley should have been a pisser for Gavin. I understood him being careful for the first 2 rounds because Mutley can punch, but he did it for 12. I've heard him going on about how he wants to be like DeGale headlining shows, well it won't happen like that. I'd have fancied Theophene to beat him handily on that form as well.

I was pleasantly surprised by the bloke fighting Cleverly, he gave it a go & staggered him in the 3rd & it was an absolute joke of a stoppage & hopefully he can get another good payday out of that. All that fight did was make me think that Bellew-Clev might be a more even matchup than I anticipated & hopefully that's his next step because he shouldn't even be thinking about Hopkins, Dawson or Pascal. Kuziemski got bigger cheers at the end than he did

So the main event. Unlike most I don't really dislike DeGale. He's just like loads of boxers & I think how hype he is, is what bothers people. I also like Groves, so I came into this quite neutral although that swung once I'd put a tenner on Groves at the stupid 3/1 that he was on at bodog. Anyway I've got to say it was a real disappointment of a fight, I'd argue there was more action in the 4 rounds of their amateur bout than that one. All that said, on the night I had DeGale winning 7 rounds to 4 with one even. Neither did much, but Groves spent so little of the fight doing anything that I was struggling to give him rounds. I don't know how those at home or elsewhere had it, but masses of Groves fans were starting to leave before the announcement expecting it to go to DeGale & even his hardcore supporters (as in those who've gone to every fight) thought he'd lost. I'm obviously pleased because I made back the money I spent on the ticket, but it all added in to leaving a bad taste. That said, one of my friends from my gym who was sat nearer the ring at a different angle thought Groves had just nicked it. I do feel they'll have to do it again though. I remember someone commenting that Groves had clearly picked up running tips off Dirrell in sparring

The biggest piss-take though was that fights that were scheduled to be shown weren't because the O2 can't show boxing after 11.30 (I have my doubts on that given Haye-Maccarinelli) so a guy I know from the ams who I really wanted to watch didn't get on. I know that he sells a lot of tickets himself so it's a joke that they didn't even get him on.

Anyway just relating my take on it live, and as all the threads seem to be full of DeGale schadenfreude, I'm interested in hearing what others thought of the fights & the PPV card as a whole. If I'd paid £15 for that at home I'd have been pissed off

I was offered 2 £150 tickets for £80 each at block 111 the night before but declined as I had difficulties getting down there in time so just watched on tv.

I had Degale Groves drawing at the end. Degale just got out boxed and alot of credit goes to booth for giving groves a game plan and groves for sticking to it. Degale was getting hit on the counter alot and him and jim mcdonell didnt have an answer for it, Frank Warren was right in the post fight interview because with a bit more planning Degale could have easily won the fight. Instead he was one dimentional and didnt have a plan b. I thought he looked better in the last 2 rounds when he started to attack the tiring Groves but it was a bit 2 late. Groves landed more punches in the fight but Degale landed with the more cleaner ones but not enough to win the majority of the rounds. Degale and his trainer need to learn from this, and realize hes not the boxer he thinks he is, going into the fight thinking he had it in the bag if not he should loose his trainer.

I also disagree with him saying he shouldnt of won as he was boxing on the back foot, look at mayweather and juan manuel marquez, they faught there whole careers winning like that.

I streamed it onto my tv. Fantastic stream as well. I wasn't ever going to pay for it. A horror card with horror action. Frank Warren has single handedly destroyed the status of ppv imo. They used to mean something.

Originally Posted by boxingbantz

I streamed it onto my tv. Fantastic stream as well. I wasn't ever going to pay for it. A horror card with horror action. Frank Warren has single handedly destroyed the status of ppv imo. They used to mean something.

i thought you were coming round johns

phil dint turn up till late so youd of had a seat

Total joke of a PPV....Frankie "Not So Fun" Gavin was rubbish....no fire in his belly.....another typical Warren fighter who will be let lose on the World Stage when hes rakes up 40 wins against nobodies.....Cleverley looks like a knockout waiting to happen....and the ref in that fight was D O D G Y has hell...no way should that have been stopped. Groves v Degale was like watching 2 amateurs fighting and basically thats what they are.....all in all Great result for Groves and a SMACK in the GOD for Warren.....will be interested how many paid for the PPV which should have been called "This Is shIT"


Job Biscuit (For the record I did score the win for Degale)!!!


eh eh!!!

Originally Posted by erics44

Originally Posted by boxingbantz

I streamed it onto my tv. Fantastic stream as well. I wasn't ever going to pay for it. A horror card with horror action. Frank Warren has single handedly destroyed the status of ppv imo. They used to mean something.

i thought you were coming round johns

phil dint turn up till late so youd of had a seat

Couldn't find anywhere to park mate so had to turn around and go home. Gutted.

Originally Posted by boxingbantz

Originally Posted by erics44

Originally Posted by boxingbantz

I streamed it onto my tv. Fantastic stream as well. I wasn't ever going to pay for it. A horror card with horror action. Frank Warren has single handedly destroyed the status of ppv imo. They used to mean something.

i thought you were coming round johns

phil dint turn up till late so youd of had a seat

Couldn't find anywhere to park mate so had to turn around and go home. Gutted.

ahh i forgot to warn you about that, it is a tight street

the argument for and against both fighters is there

at the end of the day it came down to a flip of a coin, groves got the nod largely due to the fact the fight ended with him still punching and de gale appearing out on his feet

very harsh lesson learnt for JDG, he paid the price for believing he was far better than his opponent and got dragged into a dog fight

where next...

george groves - sky is the limit, as previously said on another thread that "0" commands extra poundage in the bank balance department. Booth may choose to get him out there commanding respect off of big US tv companies by challenging the likes of magee/zuniga etc, they may take the option of a couple more tune up fights in britain ala:smith/dodson etc

james de gale - reputation has been somewhat tarnished. Majority expected him to win, minority even expected him to win big but he got beat by this supposed average fighter he told the whole world groves was beforehand. Keep him on undercards with the likes of gavin, saunders for the time being and let him get that winning ethos back, before sending him out again on a groves esque mission that may come too soon for him

Originally Posted by HattonTheHammer

the argument for and against both fighters is there

at the end of the day it came down to a flip of a coin, groves got the nod largely due to the fact the fight ended with him still punching and de gale appearing out on his feet

very harsh lesson learnt for JDG, he paid the price for believing he was far better than his opponent and got dragged into a dog fight

where next...

george groves - sky is the limit, as previously said on another thread that "0" commands extra poundage in the bank balance department. Booth may choose to get him out there commanding respect off of big US tv companies by challenging the likes of magee/zuniga etc, they may take the option of a couple more tune up fights in britain ala:smith/dodson etc

james de gale - reputation has been somewhat tarnished. Majority expected him to win, minority even expected him to win big but he got beat by this supposed average fighter he told the whole world groves was beforehand. Keep him on undercards with the likes of gavin, saunders for the time being and let him get that winning ethos back, before sending him out again on a groves esque mission that may come too soon for him

i like the tune up fights idea for groves

not too sure about smith and dobson tho, yep he would more than likely beat them but if he did fight them then he has had a very tough start to his career

id look a bit lower down the order

Originally Posted by erics44

Originally Posted by HattonTheHammer

the argument for and against both fighters is there

at the end of the day it came down to a flip of a coin, groves got the nod largely due to the fact the fight ended with him still punching and de gale appearing out on his feet

very harsh lesson learnt for JDG, he paid the price for believing he was far better than his opponent and got dragged into a dog fight

where next...

george groves - sky is the limit, as previously said on another thread that "0" commands extra poundage in the bank balance department. Booth may choose to get him out there commanding respect off of big US tv companies by challenging the likes of magee/zuniga etc, they may take the option of a couple more tune up fights in britain ala:smith/dodson etc

james de gale - reputation has been somewhat tarnished. Majority expected him to win, minority even expected him to win big but he got beat by this supposed average fighter he told the whole world groves was beforehand. Keep him on undercards with the likes of gavin, saunders for the time being and let him get that winning ethos back, before sending him out again on a groves esque mission that may come too soon for him

i like the tune up fights idea for groves

not too sure about smith and dobson tho, yep he would more than likely beat them but if he did fight them then he has had a very tough start to his career

id look a bit lower down the order

to be fair as i posted paul smiths name i did think to myself would booth really wanna just throw groves into an all out brawl this early on

i just hope we arent left with groves fighting messy guys just because of the fact they have goodish records and its something to add to the cv. He isnt world level by a long way yet but the potential is there

Originally Posted by erics44

Originally Posted by boxingbantz

I streamed it onto my tv. Fantastic stream as well. I wasn't ever going to pay for it. A horror card with horror action. Frank Warren has single handedly destroyed the status of ppv imo. They used to mean something.

i thought you were coming round johns

phil dint turn up till late so youd of had a seat

er, where was MY invite?

Originally Posted by Howlin Mad Missy

Originally Posted by erics44

Originally Posted by boxingbantz

I streamed it onto my tv. Fantastic stream as well. I wasn't ever going to pay for it. A horror card with horror action. Frank Warren has single handedly destroyed the status of ppv imo. They used to mean something.

i thought you were coming round johns

phil dint turn up till late so youd of had a seat

er, where was MY invite?

soz, i thought you would be watching it from your hotel room with some female company and a big bag of cocain

Jaz, I generally agree with all your points - main event was a bit disappointing and could have gone either way, Billy Joe was pretty impressive, Cleverly's opponent suffered a shit premature stoppage, especially considering he was making a fight of it, Gavin was an utter disgrace and I now officially hate him (this is in no way linked to the fact he cost me HUNDREDS!!! Cunt. Fact.)

However, forget all that gloved up shit

What really happened between Fury-Chisora!?!?

I have to say i had Groves winning by the end. He did the better boxing. Groves countered pretty well. I'll have to watch the complete fight again although im certain my scoring wont change maybe just what rounds were whose. There were occasions where Degale was trying to unload but was only hitting Groves arms.


Alot of what degale comes out with may be hype but there's a big difference between hype and complete disrespect. I dont think Groves should give him an immediate rematch he should move on now not neccessarily on to bigger and better but just different go for other British scalps then maybe head for the european. It was groves 13th fight i hope they dont rush him now let him continue the learning process because in all reality that's all this was it just happened to be surrounded by a lot of hype.

Lets see if degale has been humbled a little, i hope so. And that pose he does as his name is announced in the ring?? love to see that disappear lol

Disclaimer:

I, boxingbantz, in no way intended to watch the fight with erics44 and his fictional friend, john. The posts were purely for entertainment value and should, therefore, not be seen as truth. My lawyers are watching.