By Ian S Palmer
Super middleweight contender George Groves of England takes on Christopher Rebrasse of France at Wembley Arena in London, England on Saturday, September 20. The 12-round bout is for the European Super Middleweight Title and the vacant WBC Silver Super Middleweight Crown. Fans in Britain can catch all of the live action on Sky Sports.
Groves comes into this fight on a two-bout losing streak, but both the losses came in wars against IBF world champion Carl Froch of England. Those stoppage defeats actually saw Groves become a household name to boxing fans and his stock rose since he fought so well. Froch stopped Groves in the ninth round of their November, 2013 fight after Groves had dropped him in the first round. Froch then stopped him in the eighth round in the rematch back in May for the only defeats on Groves’ pro record.
The 26-year-old Groves will be climbing through the ring ropes with a record of 19-2 along with 15 Kos while the 28-year-old Rebrasse is 22-2-3 with just 6 Kos to his name. Groves has fought 112 rounds as a professional while Rebrasse has gone 181 rounds. Groves has fought the tougher opposition as he’s been in the ring against the likes of Froch, Glen Johnson and James DeGale. Rebrasse has fought all of his bouts in France and Italy and it’s hard t find a recognizable name on his list of opponents.
As we can see by the Frenchman’s record, he doesn’t have much in the way of power and this isn’t going to bode well for him in a bout against an aggressive boxer like Groves. It’s going to be hard to keep the Englishman off of him if Groves is simply able to walk through his pitty-pat punches to land his power shots. Groves is a fine boxer and has good power and a solid jab, but Rebrasse does have a pretty solid chin.
Rebrasse is tall and rangy and also possesses a good jab and a good defence. Groves still has a good chin even though he was stopped twice by Froch and his problems could be more mental than physical if he’s worried about getting hit. Groves needs to initiate the action and make sure he digs in to his opponent’s body instead of just head hunting. Rebrasse will need to land his own jab to make sure Groves can’t get into a good rhythm. But he’s also going to have to let his hands go rather than just try to defend himself for 12 rounds.
Prediction
Groves seems to have the edge in all major departments here such as the hometown fans, experience, age, and power. Rebrasse might be a better defensive fighter and could have the stronger chin. He’s probably going to need it though as Groves will definitely test him. Look for Groves to rebound from his pair of losses to Froch with a good performance here. Groves should have his hand raised in victory via a unanimous decision or knockout in the second half of the fight.
