Wikipedia

George Groves vs. Chris Eubank Jr.

George Groves vs. Chris Eubank Jr. was a professional boxing match contested on 17 February 2018, for the WBA Super Middleweight championship.[1]

George Groves vs. Chris Eubank Jr.
Date17 February 2018
VenueManchester Arena, Manchester
Title(s) on the lineWBA (Super) super middleweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer United Kingdom George Groves United Kingdom Chris Eubank Jr.
Nickname "Saint George" "Next Gen"
Hometown Hammersmith, London Brighton, East Sussex
Purse £1,500,000 £1,500,000
Pre-fight record 27–3 (20 KO) 26–1 (20 KO)
Age 29 years, 10 months 28 years, 4 months
Height 5 ft 11+1⁄2 in (182 cm) 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 166+3⁄4 lb (76 kg) 167+1⁄4 lb (76 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition WBA
Super Middleweight Champion
The Ring/TBRB
No. 2 Ranked Super Middleweight		 WBC/WBA
No. 2 Ranked Super Middleweight
TBRB
No. 3 Ranked Super Middleweight
The Ring
No. 4 Ranked Super Middleweight
IBO
Super Middleweight Champion
Result
Groves defeated Eubank Jr. by Unanimous Decision

Background

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After winning their respective quarter final bouts in October 2017, George Groves and Chris Eubank Jr. were matched against each other in the semi-final of the World Boxing Super Series. Promoter Kalle Sauerland stated he would try to book the fight for a stadium in either London or Manchester and in November 2017, ITV reported the fight was set to take place on 17 February 2018 at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, then Europe’s largest purpose-built indoor arena.[2][3][4] Tickets for the fight sold out in seven minutes.[5][6] This would be Groves' first fight at the Manchester Arena since his first fight with Carl Froch in November 2013.

Groves weighed 167 pounds, a full pound under the weight limit and Eubank came in at 167.5 pounds.[7][8] Both boxers were set to earn a base purse of £1.5 million, which could increase thanks to sponsorship and PPV sales.[9]

Eubank Jr. was a 8/13 favourite to win.[10]

The fight

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Groves, the bigger man in the ring, used his jab to control the fight after a cagey round and mostly fought on the back foot, occasionally landing the big shot. An accidental clash of heads caused Eubank to receive a cut on the side of his right eye in round 3. The big cut was dealt with by his corner after the round, but as the fight went on to the later rounds, blood was seen flowing expeditiously. Many thought Eubank's cutman was inadequate in his attempt to stop the cut, Eubank later said he struggled to see out the eye. The fight was riddled with a lot of clinches and unclean punches from both boxers. Groves would suffer a dislocated shoulder in round 12. Nevertheless at the end of the 12th round, all three judges scored the fight for Groves with scores of 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113.[11][12][13]

Aftermath

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After the fight, Groves said, “It was about who wanted it most, I think, and I obviously wanted it most. The jab was landing correctly all night. When he had success, it was because I did something wrong. He was strong, he was aggressive, but that obviously wasn’t enough tonight.” Eubank replied, “I thought it was close. I thought I did enough in the later rounds to win the fight, but it was a close fight. And all credit to George. You know, this is all part of boxing. You win some and you lose some. Hopefully we can get a rematch. It was enough of a good fight to have another one.”[14][15][16] Punch stats showed that Groves landed 117 of 398 punches thrown (29%) and Eubank landed 92 of his 421 thrown (22%).

Four days after the fight it was revealed Groves didn't fight for Eubank Jr.'s IBO title after failing to agree on sanctioning fees with the IBO's president Ed Levine, thus it became vacant.[17][18]

Undercard

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Confirmed bouts:[19]

Broadcasting

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Country Broadcaster
Baltic & Nordic countries Viasat[20]
  Belgium VOO
  Bulgaria Nova
  Canada Super Channel
  Germany SAT.1
  Russia Match! Boets[21]
  Singapore StarHub
Sub-Saharan Africa TVMS
  Turkey Tivibu Sports[22]
  United Kingdom ITV
  United States Audience[23]
  Ukraine Inter

References

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  1. ^ "George Groves vs. Chris Eubank Jr". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Groves Eubank Jr fight will take place in Manchester". ITV News. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  3. ^ "George Groves to face Chris Eubank Jr in Manchester". Sky Sports. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  4. ^ "George Groves to fight Chris Eubank Jr in Super Series in Manchester". BBC Sport. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Groves-Eubank Tickets - Fan Frenzy, Sold Out in Seven Minutes - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  6. ^ Kevin Mitchell (16 February 2018). "George Groves and Chris Eubank Jr trade verbal blows before showdown". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Weigh-in alert: George Groves 167 Chris Eubank Jr. 167.5 - The Ring". The Ring. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  8. ^ "Groves vs Eubank Jr - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  9. ^ "Revealed: Eubank vs Groves Purses and WBSS Prize Money | Boxing News and Views". Boxing News and Views. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  10. ^ "George Groves vs Chris Eubank Jr: How can I watch and stream the fight, what is the ringwalk time, latest odds". independent.co.uk. The Independent. 17 February 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  11. ^ Michael Emons (17 February 2018). "World Boxing Super Series semis: Groves retains WBA title after points win over Eubank Jr". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  12. ^ Nick Miller (17 February 2018). "George Groves beats Chris Eubank Jr: World Boxing Super Series - as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  13. ^ Kevin Mitchell (18 February 2018). "George Groves beats Chris Eubank Jr on points despite shoulder injury drama". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  14. ^ "George Groves Decisions a Bloody Chris Eubank Jr". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  15. ^ "World Boxing Super Series: George Groves retains WBA title after points win over Chris Eubank Jr". BBC Sport. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  16. ^ "Groves vs Eubank Jr: George Groves beats Chris Eubank Jr to reach World Boxing Super Series final". Sky Sports. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  17. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: President Ed Levine clears up George Groves confusion, confirms Chris Eubank Jr. eligibility for vacant IBO title". worldboxingnews.net. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  18. ^ Kevin Mitchell (18 February 2018). "George Groves sets his sights while Chris Eubank Jr runs out of options". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  19. ^ "BoxRec - event".
  20. ^ "MTG will be the exclusive home of the World Boxing Super Series in the Nordic and Baltic regions". europawire.eu. EuropaWire. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  21. ^ Andrew Karlov (14 October 2017). "Groves vs Cox. Where to watch live". ringside24.com. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  22. ^ WBN Staff (9 September 2017). "WBSS agree further European media rights deals". worldboxingnews.net. World Boxing News. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  23. ^ Dan Rafael (28 September 2017). "World Boxing Super Series finds U.S. distribution for quarterfinals". espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
Preceded by George Groves's bouts
17 February 2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chris Eubank Jr.'s bouts
17 February 2018 		Succeeded by
vs. J.J. McDonagh
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