After facing each other during their amateur days, a meeting in the paid ranks between James DeGale and George Groves had been considered inevitable, even more so after both men began their professional careers without suffering defeat. DeGale, on the back of his gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games, had won the British super-middleweight title in his ninth fight, while Groves had picked up the Commonwealth belt, which also came in his ninth outing.
With the duo both on the brink of moving up from domestic level, a deal was reached for a showdown at London's O2 Arena to take place on this day four years ago. Due to the two belts that were being put on the line and the animosity that had increased between the two since 2006, tickets soon sold out while the encounter did huge numbers on Sky Box Office after several hostile confrontations during the build-up.
DeGale was deemed to have taken a number of cheap shots at Groves during their verbal tussles, and that resulted in Groves entering the match as the crowd favourite. He received a mixed reception on his arrival to the ring, but DeGale was greeted with a chorus of boos, despite emanating from the same part of London as his opponent.
The fight started tentatively as both men looked to find a way to steal an early advantage, and it was DeGale who nicked the opener courtesy of a sharp jab and strong left hand. Groves had rallied momentarily during the final few seconds, and he took that momentum into the second by moving in on several occasions to land combinations on DeGale.
The third round passed by without incident, but the bout sparked to life in the fourth when DeGale disrupted the rhythm that Groves was beginning to find. 'The Saint' boxed beautifully during the opening two minutes of the round, but towards the bell, DeGale landed big with left hands on two separate occasions, which staggered Groves without ever putting him in any danger.
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The result of an energy-absorbing fourth was a quieter three minutes in the fifth, but it was Groves who produced the better work without connecting with any clean shots. DeGale responded during the sixth though, taking advantage of a brief lull in the action before rocking Groves with a left hook, a shot that Groves took relatively well. The Olympic gold medallist repeated the feat towards the end of the round and there was a belief that he was building momentum heading into the second half of the contest.
The seventh and eighth rounds followed a similar path, but Groves had retreated onto the back foot leaving DeGale with the chance to continue as the aggressor. He wasn't producing anything eye-catching to win the rounds, but Groves's lack of work-rate was giving the judges more reason to side with DeGale.
However, the ninth undoubtedly went to DeGale, who stormed out of his corner to try to force home the advantage. His eagerness resulted in a clash of heads between the two fighters, both of whom were left with cuts above the eye. Groves responded well, despite appearing to suffer the worst nick of the two, but near the end of the round, DeGale buckled Groves's legs and although there wasn't any significant damage, the underdog was on the defensive for the final seconds of the session.
Groves may have felt that he was trailing on the scorecards, which perhaps played its part in a much improved three minutes in the 10th. He moved in and out of range superbly, putting together a number of combinations before making DeGale miss. DeGale wasn't hurt, but he appeared rattled and there was a suggestion that Groves was working his way back into the encounter.
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The start of the 11th saw Groves continue to build a head of steam, although referee Howard Foster was forced to assess a nasty-looking cut on the top of his forehead. The brief interruption played into the hands of DeGale, who looked the stronger of the two men ahead of what was looking like being a hugely-important final round.
DeGale controlled the opening part of the stanza, but Groves slowly worked his way back into it with a couple of combinations and a left to the body. They were scoring shots but they didn't trouble DeGale and as the final bell rang, both men lifted their arms, but neither could be entirely convinced that they had done enough to earn the decision from the three judges.
As the scores were added up, DeGale and trainer Jim McDonnell were confident that they had secured victory, but it soon became apparent that the officials had barely been able to separate the two as a majority-decision verdict was announced. The first official's score of 115-115 included two shared rounds, before it was revealed that Groves had been awarded the win courtesy of a 115-114 scoreline by the remaining two judges to secure the biggest win of his career.
Victory for Groves allowed him to move on to successfully defend his British and Commonwealth straps in a two-round blowout of Paul Smith, before two years later, he would begin a rivalry with Carl Froch that would result in the two fighting in front of 80,000 people at Wembley Stadium.
Despite the setback, DeGale would win the European title in his next fight, but it would take another seven wins before his IBF final eliminator against Brandon Gonzales, which took place in the shadow of the second instalment of Froch and Groves. However, a punch-perfect performance was completed with a fourth-round stoppage and the triumph earned DeGale his opportunity to fight for the world title against Andre Dirrell in Boston on Saturday night.
Darren Plant
