Rematch would "eclipse" Froch fight
Wednesday 28 January 2015 15:06, UK
George Groves has opened the door to a “super fight” against James DeGale if they both win world championships.
His team are probably just looking for a big fight and his team look at me as being that big fight.
Groves is the WBC mandatory challenger for super-middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell but is regularly linked with a rematch against DeGale, who he defeated in 2011 amid personal rivalry.
DeGale seems unlikely to fight IBF champion Carl Froch despite his mandatory status so may be forced into a bout with Andre Dirrell for the vacant strap that Froch could leave behind.
“James is in a fascinating situation,” Groves explained to Sky Sports News HQ’s The Morning View.
“In theory, he did the right thing by walking away from the situation I’m in. He walked away from being the mandatory challenger for the WBC title and wanted to fight on the undercard of Froch and myself to be the IBF mandatory, hoping to fight the winner of me and Froch.
“I’m sure he was promised that, that’s why he took that fight. Froch decided he’s not worthy of his time – the frustrating thing for DeGale is that Froch did the same to me before our second fight saying ‘you’re not worthy of my time’.
“I was able to force the situation and make the fight happen. DeGale has unfortunately not been able to do that.
“His team are probably just looking for a big fight and his team look at me as being that big fight.”
Winner-takes-all
Groves insisted that a second grudge match with DeGale is dependent upon both fighters taking world championships from America’s Dirrell brothers – and Froch continuing to ignore DeGale’s challenge.
“If, for whatever reason he can’t fight Froch and keeps his mandatory status, he’ll be fighting Andre Dirrell and I’ll fight Anthony Dirrell, his brother,” Groves said.
“That makes for a fantastic night of boxing. It’s glamorous, it sells, it’s winner-takes-all, it’s the semi-finals of the super-middleweight division.
“DeGale is in a tough fight but has a good chance. At the same time, if I go out and beat the brother, it sets us up for a super-fight, something that would certainly eclipse what I delivered last year.
“At the moment DeGale’s in limbo because he’s mandatory for the world title but, the frustrating thing for him, is that he shares a promoter with the guy he should be fighting.
“Eddie Hearn isn’t pulling the strings for him so he needs to apply some pressure – if he wants to give me a call to ask how to do that, I’ll happily explain.”
Fight Night Live, featuring Kevin Mitchell's world title eliminator, is on Saturday at 8pm on Sky Sports 1 HD.
