Fighter Of The Week - Robert Stieglitz

This week we have chosen Robert Steiglitz as our 

fighters of the week...

There wasn't much mainstream action in boxing this weekend, and the show we were all looking forward to (Abraham-Stieglitz II in Germany) was a slow-burner for the fans and the fighters in the first few bouts of the night. But thankfully a man named Robert Steiglitz saved the day with a career-best performance on the way to winning back his WBO super-middleweight title in a rematch with Arthur Abraham, the man that took the title from him in the Summer of last year.

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Ndiaye: Groves hasn't impressed me, I will KO him!

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Mohamed Ali Ndiaye meets highly-rated British middleweight George Groves for the vacant EBU title next month and the tough Senagali believes he will cause a major upset and become the first man to stop the unbeaten Londoner.

"I want to be world champion so I have to beat George Groves to do that," said Ndiaye. "I hear that Groves is looking past me at a world title next against Abraham and Stieglitz. He is wrong and this is being disrespectful to me, but he will find out on March 16th."

"I've never been stopped and he says he can knock me out, but it will be the opposite, I will knock him out."

Burns, Cleverly, Groves, Chisora & 'The Queen' at Rule Brittania Press Conference

@iFILMLONDON

Exclusive footage from Frank Warren's 'Rule Brittania' press conference. Four of Britain's biggest stars pose for the camera with a Her Majesty lookalike and Mr. Warren's dog. 

George Groves faces Glen Johnson on December 15th!

Undefeated prospect George Groves.

 During a press conference on Wednesday 17th October it was confirmed that British super-middleweight contender George Groves will face former light-heavyweight world champ Glen Johnson at the Excel Arena on December 15th.

Johnson will actually be coming out of retirement to take this fight. The 43-year old announced his retirement in the summer after a points loss to Andzrej Fonfara. He has also lost five of his last seven contests. Although he will only be in the ring with a man who is a shadow of the fighter he used to be, Groves still claims that he will be preparing for the most dangerous opponent possible.

"It will be my toughest opponent. No one has an easy fight with Glen Johnson," said Groves. "I'm buzzing for the fight and am preparing for twelve hard rounds because he will give anyone a hard night's work. I'll be ready."

The bout will only be Groves' second of this year due to numerous injury setbacks. He was twice scheduled to fight fellow Brit Kenny Anderson in a rematch but was forced to pull out both times due to injury. This also caused him to be stripped of his regional title.
However, Groves shook off the ring rust in July when he stopped Francisco Sierra in seven rounds in the United States.

If Groves can get back to tip-top physical and mental condition for this fight, I have no doubt in my mind that he will retain his undefeated record on December 15th. Johnson is still a little higher in class than the fighters Groves has faced so far, maybe barring James DeGale, and it is a great name to have on your record when you're working your way up.

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

'The Ghost' returns!

Californian fan favourite Robert Guerrero returned to the ring last night (July 28th) for the first time ever at welterweight. He was actually moving up two-weight divisions going into the fight leading many people to believe that this could potentially be a risk that is not worth taking. The 29-year old may have been out of the ring for over a year and may have been moving up to a weight limit that was around 14lb heavier than what he was used to fighting at but he was jumping straight into the deep end and facing a very tough boxer. That's right... He wasn't taking the easy option. He had Selcuk Aydin in front of him. A hard-punching, strong and natural welterweight.

The first thing that most people noticed when the fight started was how big Guerrero looked. He was bigger than Guerrero and didn't look like a man that had moved up two weight divisions.

Guerrero started very well and dominated the first few rounds. But it was easy to see that if Aydin landed his right hand at any point, the momentum of the fight would change... And that's exactly what happened. Guerrero started to allow Aydin to get into range and the Turk started to power forward and land some solid shots. Around the mid-way stage of the fight, Guerrero looked very tired and Aydin looked stronger than ever. But, just a few rounds later, the momentum switched once again and Guerrero went back to his boxing; working well off of the jab and keeping Aydin at range. The same pattern followed up until the last round. Both fighters finished very energetically in what was probably the best round of the fight. Guerrero was announced as the winner on all three judges scorecards (117-111, 116-112, 116-112).

After the fight, Guerrero was very upbeat and happy with his performance. He also took the opportunity to call-out the pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather. 

Shawn Porter.

"You want this belt? Come and get it!" were the words that came from the Californian's mouth. Now don't get me wrong, this was a very good performance from Guerrero but he is nowhere near ready for Mayweather. However, it is a fight that realistically looks like it could happen. There's nobody else for Mayweather to fight and Guerrero is a southpaw, so if a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao does happen, this would be a good warm-up fight for Mayweather.

On the undercard, Shawn Porter defeated Alfonso Gomez in one of the most exciting fights of the year. Porter was very impressive and looked like he had improved massively from his last fight in April. The undefeated American took advantage of Gomez's weaknesses and took the opportunity to prove the world that he is a fighter that is destined for big things. His record now reads 20-0, 14 KO's.

Groves shakes off ring rust!

British and Commonwealth super-middleweight champion George Groves returned to the ring last night (July 28th) after just over 8 months out of the ring and just one and a half rounds of action in just 14 months. The 24-year old shook off his ring rust and defeated Francisco Sierra by 6th round KO.

It was a decent performance from Groves but Sierra, who I think was underestimated by a lot of people made it very tough for the Brit. Many people expected it to be an easy comeback fight for Groves but Sierra had different ideas. He took every shot that Groves threw at him and at one point it just looked as though he was never going to be hurt. He even had Groves hurt with a body-shot at one point. It took Groves a few rounds to shake off the rust and then as Sierra started to tire, he took advantage and finished in fantastic style. He landed a left-hook, right hand combo that sent Sierra crashing from the canvas. It was clear at this point that Groves, who is known as a devastating finisher, was going to end this fight right then and there. Sierra got up and came powering forward yet again but Groves landing a solid right hand that was followed by a barrage of punches and Sierra's corner were forced to throw in the towel.

The only negative thing to say about Groves at the moment is that sometimes he gets dragged into a brawl and lets his heart rule his head. This is okay if you're a Carl Froch or Juan Manuel Marquez type of fighter but I don't think Groves is cut out to fight in that type of way. Especially as he is only 24-years old and if he continues to fight on in that type of way, it could potentially affect him in the future.

DeGale set to defend title against Ndiaye!

DeGale with EBU title.

British super-middleweight James Degale is looking likely to make his second defence of his EBU title against Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye.

Ndiaye.

Not many people have heard of Ndiaye but the Italy-based, Senegal-born boxer will provide a good test for DeGale. He is the EBU-EU super-middleweight champion and boasts a almost perfect record of 22-1, (13 KO's). He hasn't fought anybody of much note but you still have to be half decent to build up a record like that.

DeGale (12-1, 9 KO's) last defended his belt on April 21st, when he stopped Cristian Sanavia in the fourth round. 'Chunky' is looking to prove to a lot of people that he is more than just a domestic and European level fighter. His only loss came to local rival George Groves last year. Since then he has re-grouped well and looked very good in his last couple of fights.

Some people were hoping for a rematch between DeGale and Groves but this looks very unlikely at this moment in time as Groves is looking to defend his British and Commonwealth title against Kenny Anderson. However, this is a decent fight and it will show us if DeGale really is ready to step up in class.

George Groves ready to step up and fight Froch!



Groves with Commonwealth title.



British and Commonwealth super-middleweight champion has already expressed his interest in a domestic world title clash between himself and new IBF world champion Carl Froch.

'St George' has just about beaten every half decent fighter at domestic level, including James DeGale and Paul Smith Jr, and he now feels that is time for him to step onto the world stage. Earlier in the year, he was set to fight the WBO champion Robert Stieglitz but had to withdraw from the bout due to injury. This is why he feels he deserves another shot at a world title.

"I'd love to fight him [Froch]" Groves told Alan Brazil of talkSPORT. "I'm on the verge of world title level."

"I had a chance to fight for the WBO title but it fell through. I'm trying to squeeze my way into the world title arena and obviously a fight against Carl would be absolutely huge."

The undefeated 24-year old was ringside for Froch's fight against Lucian Bute so he was clearly able to see how easy Froch made his win look against the previously undefeated IBF champ who was attempting to make the 10th defence of his title.

"As a fighter you have to think you can beat anyone. Carl's performance was great but you have to look at every fighter and think you can beat them."

Groves is currently pencilled in for a rematch against Kenny Anderson, who he stopped in just six rounds back in 2010, but he believes that after this fight he will be doing anything he can to get a world title shot.

Another great fight scheduled for May 5th!

The night of boxing on May 5th has just got even better. First they 
gave us Mayweather-Cotto, then they gave us Alvarez-Mosely and now they've given us George Groves Vs Robert Stieglitz and Marco Huck Vs 
Ola Afolabi on a different show. 

British and commonwealth super-middleweight champion George Groves will challenge WBO world champion Stieglitz in a long awaited fight that is 
set to take place in Germany. 

The main event of the card will see WBO cruiserweight champion Marco 
Huck defend his titles in a rematch against Ola Afolabi. 

Huck gets hand raised in 1st fight
with Afolabi.

Stieglitz was originally meant to face Mikel Kessler in April (the 
fight had been pushed back from November) but the bout was called off 
after Kessler pulled out and instead chose to fight light-heavyweight Allan Green. Groves was also scheduled to fight a different opponent. 
On May 16th he was going to clash with Kenny Anderson but pulled due to 
a 'back injury'. The same day he was announced the mandatory challenger 
for the WBO title. 

'St George' Groves has done just about everything possible at domestic 
level and is now attempting to make a statement at world level. It is 
sometimes easy to forget that he is only 24 years old when you think of 
everything has done already in his career. But, Stieglitz is a very 
experienced pro that may make Groves look like an un-experienced 
prospect on May 5th. If he doesn't, then Groves may well be a very 
special fighter indeed. 

The first fight between Huck and Afolabi was a very close fight. The 
scorecards read 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112, all in favour of Marco 
Huck. Afolabi is Britain's No.1 ranked cruiserweight and has said many 
times that he will give the fight of his life on May 5th. 

All four of the big fights will be shown live on BoxNation (SKY 456) so 
it is shaping up to be a fantastic day for fight fans all around the 
world.

George Groves receives death threats!

Super-middleweight George Groves.

British super-middleweight champion George Groves has been warned by the police that gangsters have threatened to shoot him during a live boxing match.

The 23 year old pulled out of his scheduled fight with Kenny Anderson earlier this week because of a back injury which meant he was unable to train properly. Himself and his team have insisted that the withdrawal from the bout had nothing to do with the alleged threats but police have tried to contact Groves after a 'tip-off.'

George with fiancee Sophie.

A police spokesman told the Sun: ''The intelligence said if he wasn't shot before the fight, it would happen in the ring.''

George and his fiancee Sophie are not believed to be under police protection but most likely will be soon if the threats continue.The police cannot not yet say whether the threats were made to shoot George Groves but a spokesman did say: '' We can confirm a threat to the welfare of a man was made to police in Hounslow (Groves' hometown).'

It is not likely that the threats were anything to do with Glaswegian Kenny Anderson although he was accused of assaulting a drug dealer with a hammer in 2010 but was later cleared of all charges.

George Groves hopes to return in the next few weeks!

@IFILMLONDON