George Groves’ GLARING training weakness revealed ahead of Chris Eubank Jr fight

GEORGE GROVES will defend his WBA super-middleweight title against Chris Eubank Jr in the World Boxing Super Series tournament semi-finals in February.

The fight sold out Manchester Arena’s 21,000 capacity in just minutes after tickets went on sale last month as fans clamoured for their chance to witness one of British boxing’s most fascinating match-ups for years.

Groves, with vast experience in elite showdowns against the very best in the division, will provide Eubank Jr with his toughest test since losing to Billy Joe Saunders in November.

And with very little to separate the two, boxing writer Steve Bunce claimed it would be too difficult to predict the victor.

“I don’t have a clear winner in my head. I’m not 100% sure at the moment,” he told Daily Star Online.

Chris Eubank Jr and George Groves GETTY

George Groves reportedly struggles during sparring – but pulls it out of the bag in fights

“I’ll get an idea from the trainer – although George Groves, as a little insight, is a terrible trainer.

“He trains hard, don’t get me wrong, but a crap sparrer. You can never judge George from what he does in sparring.

“Before a fight, he’ll show up with a black eye, then you’ll see him the week before a fight with a bruised nose.”

But the 55-year-old was quick to reassure fight fans that Groves’ struggles in the gym put him in good company with some of greats of the sport.

Groves vs Eubank Jr GETTY

Groves will take on Eubank Jr at the Manchester Arena in February

"He’s not a great sparrer, some fighters aren’t. Carl Froch was not a good sparrer,” Bunce, who released Bunce's Big Fat Short History of British Boxing earlier this year, continued.

“They’re working and learning. Muhammad Ali wasn’t a great sparrer. He used to have real problems with hard sparring sessions – but most of that was because he was lazy.

“Other guys are brilliant in the gym. Lennox Lewis was a brilliant sparrer because he was nasty.

“All he’d wanna do is rip everyone’s heads off – even the guys that were in there for speed, Lennox would try and knock them out.

“Mike Tyson, great sparrer.

“But George is not a great sparrer and so we won’t be able to tell too much but I’d like to think that I’d like to tell from being around them you get a sense of how they are.

“Right now, I think it’s a really, really tight fight – and I think the bookies agree with me on that.”

Bunce's Big Fat Short History of British Boxing is out now. For more information click here.

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