Groves beats Eubank Jr to retain his WBA super-middleweight title despite dislocated shoulder

George Groves outclassed bloodied rival Chris Eubank Jr to retain his WBA super-middleweight title with a unanimous decision victory and book a place in the final of the World Boxing Super Series.

Groves prevailed by margins of 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 on the judges’ scorecards at the Manchester Arena, despite suffering a suspected dislocated shoulder during the final round as Eubank launched a desperate onslaught.

By that stage, Groves – now with a professional record of 28 wins and three defeats – had built up a handy lead over Eubank (26-2), whose pre-fight promises to outlast his fellow Englishman were undermined by a brawling approach almost entirely devoid of nuance against a skill technician.

Eubank – the son of former two-weight world champions Chris Eubank – certainly appears to have inherited his father’s granite chin as he stood up to clean shots from throughout against Groves, having been hindered by a cut eye caused in a third-round clash of heads.

Groves collected the WBA title with a victory over Fedor Chudinov in Sheffield last year but there was a true sense of validation surrounding this triumph on Saturday, at the same venue where Carl Froch inflicted a heartbreaking first career loss in November 2013.

We have our first Super-Middleweight finalist: @StGeorgeGroves!!!

He wins by UD: 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113#GrovesEubank #AliTrophy pic.twitter.com/b8Zspw6QCv

— #GrovesEubank (@WBSuperSeries) February 17, 2018
The 29-year-old Londoner will face the winner of next weekend’s bout in Germany between his undefeated countryman Callum Smith and Jurgen Brahmer in the final, which is scheduled for June.

That date may be complicated by the shoulder injury that gave a rampaging Eubank belated encouragement – hope his rudimentary and one-dimensional efforts for the majority of the bout scarcely merited.

“I’m very, very happy with the performance,” an elated Groves told ITV Box Office. “[My shoulder is] very sore, but I wasn’t going to let anything beat me.

“I’d already hurt him before the cut. He wasn’t dabbing at it so I don’t think it was obscuring his vision. The better man won, but credit to Junior for getting through the match because I hurt him a lot. He dug it out.”

Kalle Sauerland on the potential consequences of George Groves’ injury…#GrovesEubank #AliTrophy pic.twitter.com/eVkjUiUl0C

— #GrovesEubank (@WBSuperSeries) February 17, 2018
Reflecting on his previous outing in Manchester, Groves added: “It’s been a long time since I won in front of a big crowd. Obviously, against Carl Froch I didn’t win. It’s nice to get that justification.”