George Groves and Chris Eubank Jr. went face-to-face one last time Friday before their high-stakes showdown.
Groves and Eubank stared long and hard at one another during the face-off following their weigh-in at a hotel at Manchester, England. The British super middleweights had to be separated by promoter Kalle Sauerland before they headed in different directions. Watch here:
London’s Groves weighed in at 167.1 pounds for their 12-round fight Saturday night at sold-out Manchester Arena. Brighton’s Eubank got on the British Boxing Board of Control’s scale at 167.5 pounds.
The 28-year-old Eubank (26-1, 20 KOs), who owns the IBO super middleweight title, is listed by most Internet sports books as nearly a 2-1 favorite over Groves. The 29-year-old Groves (27-3, 20 KOs) will defend his WBA super middleweight title in the semifinals of the World Boxing Super Series’ 168-pound tournament.
Groves advanced to the semifinals by knocking out England’s Jamie Cox (24-1, 13 KOs) in the quarterfinals October 14 in London. Eubank beat Turkey’s Avni Yildirim (17-1, 11 KOs) by third-round knockout in the quarterfinals October 7 in Stuttgart, Germany.
The Groves-Eubank winner will advance the WBSS super middleweight final, scheduled for June 2 at O2 Arena in London. Whoever emerges from the Groves-Eubank bout will face the winner between the second semifinal between Juergen Braehmer and Callum Smith.
Germany’s Braehmer (49-3, 25 KOs) and England’s Smith (23-0, 17 KOs) are set to fight February 24 in Nuremberg, Germany.
Groves-Eubank will be streamed live on the World Boxing Super Series’ Facebook and YouTube pages Saturday.
–BoxingScene.com
