In October 2017 I wrote an article about the Groves v Eubank Jr fight, clearly full of excitement about their impending semi final bout in the super six tournament.
Not once did I anticipate such an anti-climatic fight that was served up in Manchester last night.
Lets be honest and say the fight didn’t remotely live up to its expectations. The most alarming thing was the lack of real quality in the fight.
From very early on in the fight, you could see it was not going to materialise like the war everyone was expecting. Both fighters seemed tentative and were waiting for the exchanges as opposed to forcing the exchanges.
Groves was clearly the bigger man on the night and I believe Eubank Jr felt this very early, which effected him, on top of sustaining a nasty cut in the third round.
Throughout the fight there were some good exchanges, but on the whole, Eubank Jr looked out of sorts and devoid in any real ideas.
He was swinging wildly and made to miss far too often, which made his look very amateurish. Groves moved well, boxed behind his jab and made Eubank Jr pay when he tried to close the distance.
Much of the fight was very scrappy. There were a lot of holding up close and no real quality was displayed.
Groves showed his intelligence, knowing he was the bigger man, used his superior jab to keep Eubank Jr at arm’s length. I kept saying something is up with Eubank Jr.
He wasn’t trying to jab his way in and it seemed to be relying or banking on a solitary big punch.
Although he has demonstrated power previously, I wouldn’t say he is a concussive one punch fighter or knockout artist and especially not at the heavier weight.
So I thought this tactic was very weird. I even went as far as saying he looked like he either over trained or was injured going into the fight. But it just might be down to experience.
I know many may raise their eyebrows at that and think “oh here comes the excuses” but that’s exactly what I thought. The question now is, was it just a bridge too far for Eubank Jr and has he been exposed as just all hype, riding off his fathers coattails?
In his 28 fight career he hasn’t fought many real top fighters and his first loss came against the best fighter he had on his record in Billy Joe Saunders.
However, he does have quality, has demonstrated some skill and boxing ability and gave BJS a lot of trouble in the later part of their fight.
A big factor is Eubank Jr moved up from middleweight to super middleweight.
This was his fourth fight at the weight, fighting clearly the bigger man who is established at the weight, with vastly more experience in big fight scenarios.
Groves has fought the likes of James Degale, Glen Johnson, Paul Smith, Carl Froch, Badou Jack, Martin Murray and Fedor Chudinov and never been overawed in any of those fights.
That’s experience you just cant buy. Although you can’t deny that Eubank Jr looked terribly out of sorts in the fight, and it was cringeworthy the way he was crudely swinging away, being made to miss, not showing much technical ability or intelligence.
There have been many occasions where, for one reason or another, a fighter has had an “off night” and looked terrible or a shadow of their usual self.
I feel he is still young enough to learn from that and a humbling defeat could and should really wake him up to improve his situation.
I disagree with many people saying he’s rubbish and not a good boxer/fighter. Although the over hyped statement could be true for now and you are only as good as your last fight. But one bad fight does not determine your boxing ability, just as one good fight doesn’t either.
Hopefully Eubank Jr can learn from this.
Though I liked the fact that his dad is part of his career and a lot of the things he does takes the pressure off his son.
At times, it does work both ways. I feel Eubank Jr needs to break away from his dad for a while and do certain things his own way. Maybe go train with Mayweather Sr permanently for a while.
The issue of not having a proper trainer is ludicrous and he must know this. He can’t be that arrogant and naive. Especially if he wants to improve or hit the heights he has continued to promise. You just cant play boxing, it’s a serious business with fine margins.
I disagree with a lot of the fans who is basing his whole skill set and abilities off this one performance.
I also disagree with the likes of Naseem Hamed who absolutely crucified Eubank Jr after the fight, saying Eubank Jr was finished and should retire.
Many a fighter has come off a bad performance and come back stronger. The point is, can Eubank Jr be mature and honest enough to acknowledge just how poor he was, put his ego aside, recognise the obvious issues he has and make the necessary changes?
If the answer is yes then, even after this crushing defeat, I am not writing him off.
I feel he still has enough to come back stronger and even fight for a world title in the future.
However, if the answer is no, then I would agree with Prince Naseem and say he’s finished and should retire. It is what it is.
