Entering the ring at the Copper Box Arena, at the Olympic Park in Stratford, London, last night, George Groves knew that anything other than a win against the Italian fighter, Andrea Di Luisa, would see questions asked about whether he should continue in the sport.
In his last fight, a third attempt to win a world title, Groves came up short against Badou Jack, an opponent many thought he should have beaten.
After that defeat, Groves parted company with his trainer and joined up with Shane McGuigan, in an attempt to kick-start a career that has somewhat stalled since the second loss to Carl Froch, at Wembley.
Last night Groves was a different class to Di Luisa, beating him to the punch and systematically breaking him down. The Italian was there for the taking with his lack of head movement enabling Groves to pick him off, almost at will.
The end came in the fifth round when, under pressure, the Italian’s corner threw the towel in just before it looked as if the referee was going to stop the fight.
The win takes Groves record to 22-3 and puts him back on course for another crack at a version of the super-middleweight world title somewhere down the line.
After the fight Groves had this to say to the ringside reporters,
‘I’m gonna make a couple of mistakes,’
‘It’s my first fight in a little while, but I felt really sharp.’
With Groves back to winning ways, could a re-match with James DeGale, who Groves has beaten before, be on the cards?
Groves Stops Di Luisa in Five
