George Groves has been winning world-title fights in front of the TV cameras since he was 11 years old.
At the fourth attempt, Groves won a world boxing title this year, stopping Fedor Chudinov at Sheffield United FC’s Bramall Lane to claim the WBA Super world super-middleweight championship.
The 29 year old makes his first defence against Jamie Cox at Wembley Arena on Saturday, October 14 – a clash that sets up a possible World Boxing Super Series semi final against Chris Eubank Jr.
That’s a massive fight – and Groves is used to them.
He twice battled Carl Froch – the rematch went ahead in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium – and further back, Eurosport viewers saw Groves win a junior world kickboxing title when he was just 11 years old!
Dennis Maycock was in his corner and said: “George was six years old when he first came to the gym.
“He was quiet – and all he wanted to do was fight.
“He won every kickboxing fight he ever had with us – including the world title. They brought this unbeaten fighter over from Italy – and George beat him in the first round. George dropped him and then he retired.
“I used to tell people when he was seven or eight years old: ‘If you like a bet, bet on George Groves becoming a world boxing champion.
“Right from the start, his dedication was second to none.
“He was the hardest trainer I have ever seen. If I asked him to run up Mount Everest, he wouldn’t ask why he would just do it.
“I would tell him to do something in the gym and he would go away, work on it and perfect it.
“He would spar all the bigger, better lads in the gym and if he came off second best, he would say: ‘Give me a few months and I will be at that level.’
“Some are naturally talented, but George had to really graft for everything he’s got and he’s still the nice kid he’s always been.
“He still has the same people around him he’s always had around him.”
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