George Groves: From Hammersmith to WBA Champion, and the Jeddah Night That Ended It

George Groves needed four attempts to become a world champion. The west Londoner beat James DeGale twice, once as an amateur and once as a professional, lost two famous nights to Carl Froch, and finally won the WBA super middleweight title at a football ground in Sheffield in 2017. He defended it through the World Boxing Super Series, finished his semi-final against Chris Eubank Jr with a dislocated shoulder, and was knocked out by Callum Smith in the tournament final in Jeddah. A few months later he retired at 30.

A Hammersmith Boy at Dale Youth

Groves was born in Hammersmith, west London, on 26 March 1988. He learned to box in the amateurs and became one of the strongest middleweights in the country. Wikipedia records his amateur record as 66 wins in 76 bouts, 40 of them inside the distance, with medals from tournaments in Russia, Estonia, Bosnia, Morocco and the United States. He won national ABA titles back to back, although sources disagree on the years: Wikipedia gives 2007 and 2008, while some other summaries give 2006 and 2007.

The amateur fight people still talk about came in 2006. According to Boxing News, Groves met James DeGale in the North West Divisions of the ABA championships at Brent Town Hall. It was the fourteenth bout of the night, a few hundred people were in the hall, and both boxers came from the same club, Dale Youth. Groves won a majority decision. DeGale went on to win Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008, and he has said for years that he won that night in Brent. Speaking to Boxing News in 2024, he said the fight was on YouTube and people could go and watch it.

Turning Professional and the DeGale Grudge Match

Groves turned professional under the Hayemaker banner, with Adam Booth as his trainer. He made his debut at the O2 Arena on 15 November 2008, outpointing Kirill Pshonko over six rounds. On 3 April 2010 he stopped Charles Adamu in the sixth round in Manchester to win the Commonwealth super middleweight title.

A professional rematch with DeGale was always likely, and it came on 21 May 2011 at the O2. Groves was 12-0 and DeGale 10-0, and the British title was on the line along with a lot of bad feeling. After twelve close rounds two judges had Groves ahead 115-114 and the third had it level at 115-115, so Groves won a majority decision. That made him 2-0 against DeGale across the amateurs and pros. The two never fought a third time, and DeGale told Boxing News in 2024 that it still felt like unfinished business.

The Froch Nights and a Las Vegas Setback

Groves parted company with Booth in September 2013, shortly before the fight that made him a household name. On 23 November 2013 in Manchester he challenged Carl Froch for the IBF and WBA super middleweight titles. He was ahead on the scorecards when referee Howard Foster stopped the fight in the ninth round, and the stoppage was widely disputed. The rematch at Wembley Stadium on 31 May 2014 drew a crowd of about 80,000. Froch knocked Groves out with a right hand in the eighth round, and The Ring named it Knockout of the Year. Both fights are covered in full in a separate RingTalk article.

His third world title attempt took him to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on 12 September 2015, against WBC champion Badou Jack. Jack won a split decision. Two judges scored it 115-112 and 116-111 for Jack, and the third had Groves ahead 114-113.

Fourth Time Lucky at Bramall Lane

Groves rebuilt with trainer Shane McGuigan, and he later said McGuigan had saved his career. On 27 May 2017 he fought Fedor Chudinov of Russia for the vacant WBA super middleweight title at Bramall Lane, home of Sheffield United. Wikipedia reports that Groves broke his jaw in the third round and kept fighting. In the sixth round he stopped Chudinov at 1:14 and became a world champion at the fourth attempt.

The World Boxing Super Series and the Eubank Jr Semi-Final

As champion, Groves entered the first season of the World Boxing Super Series, an eight-man knockout tournament with the Muhammad Ali Trophy as its prize. In the quarter-final on 14 October 2017 at the SSE Arena, Wembley, he knocked out Jamie Cox in the fourth round.

The semi-final, against Chris Eubank Jr on 17 February 2018 at Manchester Arena, was another all-British grudge match. Groves had the better of most of it and won a unanimous decision by 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113, adding Eubank's IBO belt to his WBA title. Wikipedia's punch statistics give Groves 117 landed from 398 thrown against Eubank's 92 from 421. Near the start of the twelfth round, though, Groves dislocated his left shoulder and had to get through Eubank's late attacks with one arm hurt. On 26 February ESPN reported that he would have surgery, which he described as a minor operation. The final had been scheduled for 2 June at the O2, and his team asked the organisers for a one-month extension.

The Final in Jeddah

The final against unbeaten Liverpool fighter Callum Smith eventually took place on 28 September 2018 at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The first six rounds were tight. In the seventh, ESPN reported, Smith hit Groves with a left hook to the temple, then a right to the body and a right uppercut. Groves went down on his knees and could not beat the count, and the fight was over at 2:04 of the round, according to Round By Round Boxing.

Reports disagree about the scoring. Wikipedia lists the cards at the stoppage as one even, two in Groves's favour and one in Smith's favour, while Smith told reporters he was ahead at the time. Smith left with the WBA title, the Ali Trophy and a 25-0 record. Groves fell to 28-4 and did not blame his shoulder. ESPN quoted him: "Full credit to Callum, he boxed well."

Retirement and Life After the Ring

On 28 January 2019, four months after Jeddah, Groves announced on Instagram that he was retiring. He was 30, with a record of 28 wins (20 by knockout) and four losses in 32 professional fights. Sports Mole reported that he wanted to spend time with his young family, which included a second son born the year before. He also said he wanted to leave the sport while still fit, and Wikipedia quotes his statement: "I don't want there to be a time where I'm 'too old' to box."

He has stayed in the sport. In a 2026 interview with the South West Londoner he was described as a pundit and coach, and he argued that the heavyweight boom around Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury had led British promoters and broadcasters to neglect home-grown talent in other divisions. He won his world title at the fourth attempt and never got the third DeGale fight that his old rival wanted.

Sources

• George Groves (boxer), Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
• Champs reunited as James DeGale and George Groves rekindle past glories, Boxing News, 15 August 2024
• Callum Smith beats George Groves via seventh-round knockout to win WBA world title, ESPN, 28 September 2018
• George Groves to have surgery on injured shoulder, asks to postpone WBSS final, ESPN, 26 February 2018
• Callum Smith stops George Groves in 7, Round By Round Boxing, September 2018
• Former world super-middleweight champion George Groves retires, Sports Mole, 28 January 2019
• London world champion boxer says UK talent is neglected, South West Londoner, 29 July 2026