Boxing

Exclusive: George Groves Q&A On Usyk vs Dubois, Canelo vs Crawford & Next Steps For Chris Eubank Jr & Conor Benn

Former super middleweight champion George Groves did a Q&A with KO on SI on boxing's top upcoming fights, Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn and where he'd fit in during this era at super middleweight.
Nathaniel Marrero|
George Groves
George Groves | IMAGO/PA Images

George Groves was one of the top super middleweights of his time, reaching the mountain top when he won the WBA super middleweight title with a 7th-round stoppage of Fedor Chudinov in 2017.

Groves was also involved in a pair of huge fights vs Carl Froch, defeated Chris Eubank Jr en route to reaching the World Boxing Super Series final before losing to current WBO interim light heavyweight champion Callum Smith and retiring in 2019.

The former champion has since put down the gloves and begun doing analyst work for Sky Sports and was at the epic grudge match between Eubank Jr and Conor Benn, which is currently one of the frontrunners for Fight of the Year in 2025. That was among many topics discussed, including Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs Terence Crawford and where he'd fit in during this era of super middleweights, including how he'd fare vs Canelo.

What was it like being at Chris Eubank Jr. vs Conor Benn?

George Groves: Yeah, it was brilliant. Tottenham, hard for me to say that as a Chelsea fan, but it’s a great stadium for boxing. It’s not the easiest place to get home from, but the atmosphere was amazing.

It was definitely a casual crowd, but more educated than most. A lot of the people I bumped into actually knew a fair bit about boxing, unlike some of the Joshua fights, where it sometimes feels like the crowd only knows him and no one else.

The ring walks, the production, the drama of having the dads there - it was all top class and the fight itself was a war. Skill went out the window pretty quickly; it became all about will. In the end, Eubank's power and sheer grit won him the fight. He had to grind it out, and he did. As an event, it was brilliant.

Chris Eubank Jr. lands a jab against Conor Benn
Chris Eubank Jr. lands a jab against Conor Benn | Matchroom Boxing/Mark Robinson

Do you feel that you and Carl Froch were trailblazers for big UK stadium events? It seems like you two really helped kick off that trend.

George Groves: I’d say we were the catalyst for it. If it wasn’t us, maybe someone else would’ve come along later, but we did it first.

It was the perfect storm - the build-up to the first fight, two personalities clashing, the controversy with the ending, and the drama around it all. I tried to make it compelling. I wanted people fully invested in it, and because of that, we ended up doing something historic by going to Wembley Stadium.

After that, you have to give credit to Anthony Joshua and his whole team - Sky Sports, Eddie Hearn [and] Matchroom. They took it to the next level. Joshua vs Klitschko was massive, and while it was as much about marketing as anything else, it delivered in the ring too.

Me and Froch laid the groundwork. Stadium fights had happened before, like Haye vs Chisora at West Ham, but it didn’t really feel like a stadium fight. Ours did. It felt massive. We set the bar.

If you were advising Eubank Jr. or Conor Benn, what would you suggest they do next? There’s obviously a lot of talk about a rematch, but is that the right move?

George Groves: It depends on what they want most. If it’s about making money and staying relevant, then yeah, do the rematch. Nothing else on the table is as big financially. That said, I don’t find the rematch particularly exciting. We saw what we needed to see. They had a proper dust-up. I’m not clamouring for the same again.

If I’m advising Eubank, I’d say you’ve got a few options:

Fight Conor Benn again. You probably win, assuming the first fight hasn’t taken too much out of you.

Push for a fight with Canelo. Less money, tougher fight. You’ll lose, but there’s no shame in losing to Canelo.

Or... retire.

Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn will likely rematch later in 2025
Chris Eubank Jr. vs Conor Benn | Ian Walton/Matchroom Boxing

And don’t rule retirement out. He’s had the biggest win of his career, not against his toughest opponent, but in terms of significance. He beat a rival in a stadium under huge pressure. It was like a Hollywood script, and he came out on top.

He dropped to his knees at the end, praising the Lord, like he wasn’t sure he was going to win, like everything was against him.

If I were him, I’d seriously consider walking away now. Make that payday last and leave on your terms. But he won’t.

People will think I’m mad for saying that, but there’s more to life than boxing. I retired at 30. Took me four attempts to win a world title. I won one. Nearly killed someone in the process. Fought in a tournament. Had big fights, big wins. Lost in the end, and said, “Right, that’s me done.”

It’s hard to walk away when there’s still something being served at the table, but sometimes you have to.

As for Benn, he’s chasing big fights. I don’t think he’s good enough to win a world title. He won’t beat the best in the division. But commercially, he’s a big name. He could walk into a big fight, maybe Ryan Garcia, or something similar.

His best option is the Eubank rematch. Try to avenge the loss. Another big payday. And if he loses again, well, he got beaten by the bigger man. He’s got a safety net.

What about Callum Smith - Should he face Anthony Yarde or David Benavidez? What would you recommend?

George Groves: Callum Smith had one of the best wins of his career recently against Joshua Buatsi. He’s said he’s in it now just to become a two-weight world champion.

But unless one of the belts becomes vacant, that’s going to be hard. He got stopped by Beterbiev and won’t beat Bivol, so he’s stuck unless a title opens up. Last time I saw him, he mentioned possibly moving up to cruiserweight. He’s so tall, so big, making light heavyweight must be tough.

A fight with Yarde would be great. Smith probably thinks he wins that one, but it’s not a pay-per-view-level fight. It’s just a good, solid matchup. Same goes for Benavidez. Big, strong, dangerous, but if there’s no belt, is it worth it? Probably not.

For now, he’s keeping busy and hoping to be in the right spot when a title becomes available. He’s in a good place after that last win.

Looking ahead to Usyk vs Dubois in July - does Dubois have a chance? What is Dubois’ best path to an upset vs Usyk? 

George Groves: Yeah, he’s got a chance. He’s boxing well, he’s confident, he’s in form.

But Usyk is the best heavyweight of this era by some distance.

The question is, who’s going to be the one to get to him? Maybe we’ve already started to see Usyk decline a bit. He climbed Everest by beating Fury - something many didn’t think he could do.

Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois
Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois | IMAGO / Newspix

Fury was out of shape for the rematch, but Usyk still did the job. Maybe time is catching up with him. Maybe his desire is fading. Still, he looked sharp at the press conference. Same for Dubois, and this time, Dubois has home advantage, but Usyk travels well.

Dubois has to jump on him early. Usyk likes to settle into a fight and build round by round. Last time, Usyk stopped him with a jab. Dubois ran out of gas and ideas. He can’t do that again.

He needs to start fast, land something big to the body, and hope for the best. I’d say he’s got a better shot now than he did in their first fight, and a better shot than Fury did.

What’s your prediction for Canelo vs Crawford?

George Groves:
Honestly, I can’t see Canelo getting beat. Crawford is a phenomenal fighter, but he’s giving away too much natural size. Canelo’s not the biggest super middleweight, but he’s a solid unit.

He’s been at that weight for a long time and been very effective. When he lands on Crawford, Crawford’s going to feel it. It’ll be a great fight, but I can’t see anything other than a Canelo win.

How do you think you would’ve matched up against today’s super middleweights?

George Groves: I’d beat them all.

When I was at my best, fit and healthy, I was very hard to beat. I believe I would have beaten Canelo. I’d have kept him at range, popped the jab in his face, kept busy.

Too big, too active. I genuinely believe I’d have had the measure of him. But we’ll never know.

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Nathaniel Marrero
NATHANIEL MARRERO

Nathaniel Marrero is a writer for the Boxing, Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Ravens On SI sites. He's also written for the Orlando Sentinel and MLB.com, and was a part of UCF's sports show, Hitting The Field. He attended UCF and graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 2023. Twitter/X: Nate_Marrero

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