After the intense war of words in the build-up to Saturday’s fight at the Manchester Arena, victory over Chris Eubank Jr must have tasted so sweet for George Groves.
The 29-year-old outclassed Eubank Jr over 12 rounds in the semi-finals of the World Boxing Super Series, with the judges scoring the fight 117-112 116-112 115-113 in his favour.
Groves had entered the fight as the underdog, based on the bookies’ odds, but proved his doubters wrong by recording a convincing victory. He will now face either England's Callum Smith or Jurgen Brahmer of Germany in the final.
Eubank Jr, to his credit, praised Groves’ performance in his post-fight interview.
Groves, meanwhile, was not prepared to be friendly with his opponent in the aftermath of the bout.
“I didn’t dislike Junior at all,” Groves was quoted as saying by the Telegraph. “But I am not going to be quick to congratulate him on a ‘stellar performance’ because I thought he was very dismissive and stupid in the build-up. He’s not James DeGale or Carl Froch. I think he was hoping he would be. I just felt like he was a guy who had got himself into a position of hype and I just had to pick that apart.”
Groves drops brutal truth bomb on Eubank Jr
Groves has now given another interview in which he’s dropped a rather brutal truth bomb on Eubank Jr.
“He’s going to have a tough phase now, because he dreamt about all these things he was going to have,” Groves is quoted as saying by The Sun. “Dreaming about winning a big fight before you’ve won it, I’m also guilty of.
“But there was a documentary and he was looking around houses he can’t afford. He had to win the tournament to afford them.
“He spent the whole week trying to develop his new clothing range.
“People buy your T-shirt because you’re winning, they don’t care if it’s a Fruit of the Loom T-shirt or if it has come straight out of the Burberry warehouse.
“They just want your logo on their shirt.
“He’s had so many people jump on his bandwagon of late. But people will quickly forget about you, let’s see if he can cope with that.”
Ouch.
He didn't stop there, though.
“Even the most resilient people struggle with it,” Groves added.
“Jr is better off going to the other side of the world, away from his dad to have a fresh start.
“He doesn’t have a wife and kids, so maybe it could work for him.”
Groves' comments will hurt Eubank Jr
Okay, so not quite Prince Naseem Hamed levels of savageness, but pretty damn close.
Eubank Jr has taken a verbal battering from boxing fans and boxers (current and former) alike over the past 48 hours - and Groves’ comments, in particular, will hurt.
Is Groves right about Eubank Jr? Have your say by leaving a comment below.