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01st Jun 2017

George Groves’ victory just became even more impressive after injury revelation

Tough as old boots

Darragh Murphy

George Groves has previously admitted that he is aware of his reputation as a “chinny” fighter.

Well he’s done a pretty good job of ridding himself of that suggestion with his TKO victory over Fedor Chudinov on Saturday night in Sheffield.

Groves became a world champion at the fourth time of asking when he stopped his Russian opponent midway through their clash, with the WBA super-middleweight title on the line.

While the furious flurry which ended the fight was impressive enough on its own, Groves’ victory suddenly looks an awful lot better with his revelation that he broke his jaw early on in the fight.

A Chudinov shot in the third round ended up injuring Groves quite badly but the Londoner dug deep and used every ounce of adrenaline in his system to boost his legacy by securing a world title.

https://twitter.com/StGeorgeGroves/status/870165120479088642?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boxingnewsonline.net%2Fgeorge-groves-broke-his-jaw-during-world-title-win%2F

“It turns out I only went and broke my jaw in the third round on Saturday,” Groves wrote on Twitter.

The 29-year-old is set to undergo surgery on his jaw on Thursday and is only too aware of the dangers that accompany each and every trip that fighters take to the ring.

In the wake of last weekend’s fight, Groves dedicated the win to former opponent Eduard Gutknecht, who was left in a coma after suffering a bleed on the brain following his defeat to Groves last November.

“I’m dedicating this fight to my previous opponent Eddie who is still not well after our fight,” Groves said.

“When I was landing those big shots I wanted to turn to the ref and ask how many more do I need to hit him with.

“I’d like to dedicate this to him, he’s on my mind all the time. I hope he makes a recovery, me and my family pray for him everyday.”