George Groves Wins First World Title
A fighter’s journey to a world title is never an easy one, but George Groves finally got his world championship after three failed attempts.
Groves captured the WBA super middleweight title after stopping Fedor Chudinov in the sixth round of their fight as the co-feature of the Kell Brook vs. Errol Spence Jr. card from Sheffield, England. Groves unleashed a series of power punches that hurt Chudinov early in the sixth round, prompting the referee to stop the fight 74 seconds into the round.
The new champion was very emotional in his post-fight interview. Groves said he is willing to fight anybody, but also said one fighter he would love to fight is IBF super middleweight champion James DeGale.
“I’m usually a character who likes to be well rehearsed, but this time I’ve got no words,” Groves said. “This is the end of a lifetime’s work. Shane McGuigan has resurrected my career. Now I’m mature enough to admit that. I feel like I’m the best in the division – I’m willing and ready to fight anyone.”
As previously stated, this was Groves’ fourth attempt at a world title. Groves’ first two attempts came in 2013 and 2014, when he got knocked out by Carl Froch with the IBF and WBA super middleweight titles on the line. His next attempt came in 2015 when he lost to Badou Jack via split decision for the WBC super middleweight championship.
Since losing to Jack, Groves spent all of 2016 getting back to championship form, winning all four of his fights and winning the WBA International super middleweight title, setting up Groves’ fourth world title attempt.
