13/09/2015
- Badou Jack (19-1-1, 12KOs) takes on his mandatory challenger George Groves (21-2, 16KOs) for the WBC Super Middelweight Title. First and foremost the fact Groves even has a title shot so soon off the back of two stoppage loses to Carl Froch is ridiculous, but he won his his mandatory challenger bouts and paid his sanctioning fees so he gets his shot.
- Jack won the WBC title against a top level opponent in Anthony Dirrell, Jack looked incredible in this bout and his stamina was amazing, he looked as fresh in the final minute of round twelve as he did in the opening round. Jack's consistent pressure broke Anthony Dirrell physically and mentally.
- George Groves is a notoriously slow finisher in his fights. He dominated Froch in their first fight for the first half of the bout then showed serious fatigue and got stopped.
- He also slowed dramatically against James DeGale in the second half of their fight, he squeaked a close decision victory against what was a very poor DeGale on the night. Jack's fantastic conditioning, I believe, will be the key to victory for him against Groves.
- At his best Groves was a confident, hard hitting machine but ever since his two crushing loses to Froch he looks a shell of his former self, he seems gun shy and very cautious as if he is protecting his chin in fear of getting caught. He hasn't had his chin retested yet as he has fought two mediocre opponents with very little power or skill since his second loss to Froch.
- Jack too has been stopped in his career, he was caught cold in the first round of his bout against Derek Edwards, but unlike Groves he has shown he has recovered form this defeat and his chin looked good against the hard hitting Anthony Dirrell.
- Groves will also be giving up home advantage when he takes on Jack, Sauerland Promotions (Groves' promoters) fought very hard to get this bout in England which may highlight the fact they don't fancy Groves getting a close decision in Vegas. Considering Jack is a Mayweather Promotions fighter and this being a Mayweather under card if the bout is close it will more than likely be given to Jack.
- Jack does not have one punch knockout power but he can certainly hit hard and he can hit hard in every minute of every round. I can't see Groves keeping Jack's unrelenting style at bay for the full twelve rounds so it will be interesting to see how he holds up to getting hit hard on that dodgey chin.
- Many people attributed Jack's fantastic stamina to working with Memo Heredia who is a PED/conditioning expert, I don't think Jack was on PEDs but what ever Memo did with Jack it certainly paid dividends. Jack is working with Heredia again for this upcoming fight which is a real benefit for this bet.
- Groves hasn't shown anything in his last two fights to even suggest he could come close to beating the Jack that beat Anthony Dirrell, I'm not even sure why Groves is the favourite, Jack's style doesn't suit him, Jack is coming off a career best performance and Jack is the hometown fighter (even though he's Swedish), at these odds it looks a real steal.