Super Middleweight

Four-time super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler has announced his retirement from boxing on social media.

The Dane posted simultaneous messages on Twitter and Facebook on Sunday, claiming to be in a “state of retirement,” citing a lack of motivation for proposed fights as his reasoning.

Thank you for supporting me through out my career. It has been an absolute pleasure stepping into the ring, home as well as abroad.

— Mikkel Kessler (@MikkelKessler) February 1, 2015

Kessler, who turns 36 in March, has not fought since losing his WBA super middleweight title to Carl Froch at the O2 Arena in London in May 2013.

He went into greater detail about his retirement on his official Facebook page, suggesting that either a rematch with Froch or Andre Ward would have been enough to get him back in the ring but neither fighter was prepared to face him again.

Kessler rounded off the Facebook post by saying: "I would like to thank all of my fans for supporting me through out [sic] my career. It has been an absolute pleasure stepping into the ring, home as well as abroad."

The Viking Warrior, as he is affectionately known to his supporters, will be remembered most for his thrilling contests with Froch, having beaten the Englishman via unanimous decision in Denmark in 2010 before losing by the same method in London three years later.

Kessler also troubled super middleweight legend Joe Calzaghe before losing a decision in Cardiff in 2007, leaving behind a record of 46-3-0.

Of his 46 career wins, 35 came via knockout, giving him a KO percentage of 71.43%. He turned professional in 1998 after a successful amateur record of 43-3-0, according to Boxrec.

WBC silver super middleweight champion "Saint" George Groves (20-2, 15 KO) is picking up the pieces after successive losses to IBF and WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch. In what will be his second bout since the last defeat to Froch, Groves will defend his secondary title against Denis "Momma's Boy" Douglin (17-3, 10 KO) on Saturday at Echo Arena in Liverpool.

The 26-year-old Groves most recently won a unanimous decision over Christopher Rebrasse in September. He'll face the Momma's Boy, who is also 26, in a bout that could set up future opportunities for the winner. Douglin has won three straight fights since a two-fight losing streak from 2012 to 2013.

Both men are hoping to keep their momentum going. This bout is part of a stellar card that is headlined by the rematch between Tony Bellew and Nathan Cleverly. Here's the viewing information needed to watch the event.

When: Saturday, Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. ET

Where: Echo Arena in Liverpool

TV: Sky Box Office

Live Stream: BoxNation (subscription required and region restricted)

The Book on Groves

After being humbled by Froch in their rematch, the Londoner took a more low-key approach to his return to the ring against Rebrasse. Much of the bravado that helped to make the rivalry with Froch such a big deal was seemingly replaced by a more business-like approach.

At some point, Groves will have to find the happy medium. When he is in top form as an agitator, he's compelling and thus a major draw. That said, he can't allow his self-created hype to become bigger than the bout itself. The emotion he stirred up in himself seemed to zap his energy in both fights with Froch.

Moving forward, he must be able to control the monster he creates.

While Saturday's bout takes center stage in Groves' universe, the next big rivalry in his career is already on standby. James "Chunky" DeGale—who will also be in action on Saturday's card—is pining for another shot at Groves. DeGale lost a majority decision to Groves in May 2011.

That's the only blemish on the powerful DeGale's record, and he wants to even the score. Per Nick Parkinson of ESPN UK, DeGale says he wants Groves but understands the politics that affect the situation.

Groves has shown interest in a third fight with Froch, but he also candidly explained DeGale's predicament to Sky Sports. Groves said:

He boxes in leisure centers in Bristol and places like that, when he headlines. His last fight, of course, there were a few people there, but that was because it was on my undercard (at Wembley in May). The only time he has headlined and there has been a few people in the place, was because it was against me. He knows, for him to make any money, he has got to fight me.

Here we go again.

The Book on Dougiln

Some fighters are true to their nickname, but Douglin takes his moniker to the next level. The self-proclaimed "Momma's Boy" was trained by his mother. Recently, Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad have taken over some of the heavy lifting in Douglin's training.

However, as you can see from the interview below, Saphya Douglin is still very prominent in her son's training.

The southpaw from Marlboro, New Jersey, hasn't had many fights against notable fighters, but he was stopped in the fifth round by undefeated light middleweight contender Jermell Charlo in 2012.

He has won three fights in a row heading into this scrap, and he seems intent on not being Groves' stepping stone to bigger opportunities.

Who will be the others' springboard?

Prediction

Douglin has some solid skills. He possesses good power in his left hand and fights with good balance. His problem comes in against long, skilled fighters who don't stand right in front of him.

At 5'11" with fast hands, Groves is that type of fighter. He won't stand stationary to allow Douglin to load up with his left hand, and Groves packs a solid shot himself. Froch is known for his chin and toughness, and Groves nearly knocked him out in their first fight.

Based on his experience in big fights, the home-field advantage and length, Groves will win a unanimous decision on Saturday night.

Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter. I dig boxing and MMA.

Two months ago, George Groves rebounded from his heavy KO loss to Carl Froch in good fashion by outpointing Christopher Rebrasse over 12 rounds to win the European super-middleweight title.

That win shored up Groves's position in the rankings and the talk after the fight was about when he would again challenge for a world title, given his good standing with the WBC and that he shares a promoter with WBO belt-holder Arthur Abraham.

But instead of returning to the top level, Groves is taking a major step backwards on Saturday when he fights the American club fighter Denis Douglin, who has fought most of his career a weight below at middleweight, with a padded record of 17-3.

Bleacher Report's Briggs Seekins previously wrote that 2014 "has started to look a little bit like 'The Year of the Mismatch'," but that has largely been an American phenomenon with the Showtime network broadcasting a series of sub-par contests involving fighters signed with power-broker extraordinaire Al Haymon.

Now Britain has its own leading candidate for that hall of shame. While George Groves is universally ranked in the top 10, generally around fifth or sixth, Douglin is not ranked by any governing body and is down at 45th on BoxRec's computerised rankings.

If anything 45th is generous given that Douglin's best win at super-middleweight came against Charles Whittaker, a 40-year-old from that boxing capital of the Cayman Islands. He had already lost 15 times, including three of his previous five, and he weighed in at 158.5 pounds i.e. inside the middleweight limit.

And although Whittaker had previously been stopped seven times, Douglin could only beat him on points after 10 rounds, despite outweighing him by more than half a stone (seven pounds) on the scales.

Douglin himself has fought his biggest fights at 154, light-middleweight, two classes below Groves. That was where he met the only big-name opponent of his career—Jermell Charlo in 2012—who knocked him out in five. He has also lost to the virtually unknown Jose Angel Rodriguez and Doel Carrasquillo, the latter of whom had lost more fights than he'd won, and yet stopped Douglin in Round 3.

A guy with that kind of record simply should not be sharing a ring with Groves. Revisiting the mismatch of the year—Danny Garcia vs. Rod Salka—shows exactly why.

Salka, like Douglin, an overmatched and undersized opponent, could do little to stop the hard-hitting Garcia teeing off at will. He was dropped twice early in the second round before the champion connected with a wide left hand that knocked Salka out, his head bouncing off the canvas in concerning fashion.

The referee stopped the fight without a count and called for the doctors. Perhaps he could have stopped the fight after the second knock down, but the reality is that the fight should never have been held in the first place.

Salka thankfully returned this weekend with a win in his real weight division, lightweight, but the way he was ruthlessly dispatched by Garcia in a totally one-sided contest could easily have had serious consequences and cut short his career.

That night was particularly grim viewing and although Groves-Douglin is not quite on that level, given that Groves is a top-5 guy rather than the top guy, it's not far off.

Groves, like Garcia, is a serious hitter himself, having knocked down and repeatedly hurt Carl Froch, one of the sport's toughest men, as well as ending future world-title challenger Paul Smith inside two rounds.

As in the Salka case, there is simply no way one can imagine Douglin winning this fight. He doesn't even have a puncher's chance, having never stopped a competent opponent. The bookmakers know it with no sportsbook offering better than an astonishing 80/1 on against Groves, per Odds Shark.

This raises the very good question of why this fight is happening, given it will do nothing to further the Londoner's career.

Go back to a news snippet from Charles Sale in The Daily Mail on October 15:

The word within boxing is that Sky Sports overlord Barney Francis has been personally ringing fighters George Groves and David Haye, encouraging them to be part of the Sky pay-per-view bill at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on November 22. 

The main attraction that night is the rematch between Nathan Cleverly and Tony Bellew, a non-major title fight. It is unusual for Sky to demand extra money from subscribers for such a bout — hence the alleged involvement of Francis in beefing up the undercard.

Eight days later on October 23, news broke that Groves-Douglin had been added to the show. In an interview with IFL TV on October 25, promoter Eddie Hearn admitted that "when we made the announcement [that Cleverly-Bellew II would be pay-per-view], I was getting loads and loads of flak, probably only 20-30 percent positive, if that."

This was hardly surprising given that only last year both Cleverly and Bellew were easily knocked out at world level (by Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson, respectively), when their first fight was hardly a classic and when neither man is even the best British fighter at the weight—step forward Ola Afolabi. It is very difficult to see what makes this a pay-per-view fight.

As Hearn himself said, though, "With the Groves announcement last week, it [fan reaction to the Cleverly-Bellew PPV] switched completely to 80 percent positive." You can factor in an element of promoter's hyperbole there but there's no doubt that among people who know very little about boxing, the addition of Groves-Douglin to the show is seen as a boost.

Hearn is able to advertise the show as featuring Groves and James DeGale, which would be one hell of an undercard bout—were they fighting each other. People who have never heard of Douglin because they have never heard of lots of fighters, rather than because Douglin is a non-entity, will believe they are getting a fight worth watching.

The reality is that Sky Sports and Hearn's Matchroom Sport are using George Groves' name to prop up a substandard pay-per-view, not least at the premium price of £16.95, with Denis Douglin crossing the Atlantic to be the unfortunate sacrifice at their temple of Mammon.

Thus the conclusion can only be that Groves vs. Douglin is a dangerous and cynical mismatch. It is a shame that the British Board of Boxing Control saw fit to sanction it because it will do nothing to enhance the sport's reputation.

All fighter records from BoxRec.

Felix "The Fighter" Sturm and Robert Stieglitz battled to a draw in Stuttgart on Saturday, as Germany's most anticipated boxing match in years delivered on its promise. The duo came out swinging in the first round and kept up the pace until the final bell, leaving the ring to a standing ovation from the German crowd.

Boxing Asylum's Andy Paterson shared the final scorecard:

Boxing promoters Kalle and Nisse Sauerland confirmed Arthur Abraham would be present at the fight, via Twitter:

The 34-year-old defeated Stieglitz in their last bout and was seen as the perfect next opponent for Sturm if the latter could get past Stieglitz on Saturday.

Stieglitz came into the fight as a slight favourite, and he opened the first round with solid work to the body and several good shots to his opponent's head. Sturm answered with his patented left jab and landed two strong combinations toward the end of the round, as fans got on their feet to show their appreciation for both fighters.

The 33-year-old Stieglitz came out swinging in the second, driving The Fighter into the ropes. Sturm seemed to be in trouble after a solid shot to the body, but similar to the first round, he answered in the latter part of the second with clean punches.

Boxing Revolution was very impressed with the display:

The pace dropped slightly in the third, allowing Sturm's superior technical skills to shine. Using the peek-a-boo style, he started implementing his left hook to devastating effect, but Stieglitz responded with a strong flurry, determined to do his damage with power.

The fourth round clearly went to Stieglitz, who landed several significant punches including one massive left hook. Sturm's technical ability was still visible, but with Stieglitz pushing the pace, the question became whether the veteran could keep up until the end of the fight.

Paterson agreed Stieglitz looked the better man in the fourth:

Stieglitz appeared to tire in the fifth, getting twice caught by big right overhands and not moving his feet the way he had before. The Stuttgart crowd, who clearly favoured Sturm, started urging the 35-year-old forward.

He came back in the sixth but once again allowed Sturm to connect with some clean shots late in the round. The pattern remained the same, with Stieglitz swinging at arms and shoulders and Sturm landing clean punches to the body and head.

Stieglitz showed his character in the eighth, winning the round with aggressive, attacking boxing. The fight still appeared close on the cards, and he did some damage with his right hand for the first time in the bout.

A cut opened up near Sturm's right eye, although it appeared to be the result of a headbutt, not a punch. Stieglitz still took the round with some serious haymakers, via Paterson:

The cut worsened in the 10th, which allowed Stieglitz to increase the tempo even more going into the championship rounds.

Sturm looked completely gassed in the 11th; he was content to simply cover up and clinch as soon as he had the opportunity. The duo came out for the 12th to a standing ovation and produced one final dramatic round, swinging wild punches until the final bell.

The fight went to the cards, with the judges eventually settling for a draw. Wildpunch Boxing praised the bout:

Sturm looked much sharper and in far better shape than he did against Sam Soliman, and Abraham later told Sat 1, the German broadcaster of the event, he believed the 35-year-old won the fight.

As reported by Ring TV's Anson Wainwright, Sturm is open to a bout against Abraham at some point in the future:

Fighting Arthur Abraham would be an even bigger fight than the Stieglitz one. The public wanted us to step into the ring for years but it was never possible due to rival promoters and TV companies. But Abraham and his promoter, Sauerland, recently signed a TV deal with SAT.1, the network I’ve been fighting on since I became my own promoter. That, of course, makes negotiations easier. Therefore, after Stieglitz, fighting Abraham is certainly a great option.

Sturm's legs appeared to abandon him in the final three rounds, however, and a more accurate puncher than Stieglitz would have taken advantage. Abraham may be just out of the veteran's reach, although Sturm did surprise plenty of fans and pundits on Saturday.

But looking ahead too much for potential future fights would do this bout injustice. Sturm and Stieglitz served up a phenomenal fight that will have the German press buzzing for weeks, and after a draw, a rematch seems like a must for 2015.

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In two of his last three British title fights, Liverpool's Paul Smith has been stopped, once brutally inside two rounds, and yet he lines up on Saturday night to challenge for Arthur Abraham's WBO super-middleweight title in Kiel, Germany.

Smith, 35-3, would stand absolutely no chance against the credible champions at the weight—Andre Ward and Carl Froch—but fortunately for him it is the aging Abraham who has granted him this unearned opportunity.

Abraham, 40-4, has had 14 fights in the super-middleweight division, winning 10 of the 11 in Germany and losing all three outside of his adopted homeland. That gives you the flavour of his legitimacy as a "world" champion. A bogus title-holder for a bogus challenger.

Promoters Matchroom report that Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has commandeered a private jet to watch his fellow Scouser at the Sparkassen Arena. To say that spending a five-figure sum to travel to a Paul Smith fight is a sign of having more money than sense is surely an understatement. 

The bookmakers' odds suggest Abraham has an 80 percent chance of winning and, given his reputation as a puncher, a 60 percent chance of winning by stoppage.

In reality, though, the Armenian-born fighter carries less power at super middleweight than he did as a dangerous middleweight. He has 28 KOs from 40 career wins but in his last eight fights, he has only one win by stoppage from seven victories.

On the other hand, Smith was stopped in Round 9 by the then-24-year-old James DeGale and blitzed inside two rounds by a then-23-year-old George Groves. That hardly suggests great resilience, especially given the Liverpool challenger was a grown man facing inexperienced youngsters.

And, earlier this year in a third fight with Robert Stieglitz, Abraham decked the outgoing WBO champion in the final round, which helped him take a close points win—that suggests he still carries a dig.

Abraham was not expected to win that fight having been stopped due to a closed eye after three rounds of their second match when Stieglitz came out fast and laid a beating on "King Arthur," avenging a points loss from their first encounter.

After dropping the belt to his countryman in early 2013, Abraham looked pretty washed up in labouring to a debatable decision win a year ago against the virtually unknown and six times already beaten Namibian fighter Willbeforce Shihepo.

Smith's best chance is if Abraham turns up in that sort of form, looking disinterested and fighting at a slow pace. Abraham pulled a performance out of the fire to beat Stieglitz in March but at 34 years old, there are serious questions as to how much he has left, and it would be easy for him not to take the challenge of Smith that seriously.

There is no doubt that Smith will enter in excellent condition and he has been saying the right things. It sounds as though his strategy will be to try to work behind the jab and outbox Abraham, as Froch did quite comfortably in 2010, while remaining cautious because of Abraham's perceived power.

An important question will be whether Smith has enough sting in his punches to make Abraham respect him—if he doesn't the champion will just walk him down and detonate his own big shots.

Smith has okay power but despite winning four in a row by stoppage, he has never knocked out a good fighter, unless you count a virtually finished version of Tony Dodson, which you shouldn't.

Abraham has always been a slow starter and if he is as lacklustre as on his worst nights, it is quite conceivable that Smith could win perhaps five of the first six rounds. (Last time out Nikola Sjekloca, who is on a similar level to Smith, probably won three of the first six before Abraham got his jab working.)

That's the best scenario for neutrals because it would set up an exciting second half with Abraham needing to get Smith out of there or at least knock him down. That said, even if he can win early rounds, it is hard to imagine Smith standing up to the traditional Abraham second-half onslaught.

Smith isn't a bad boxer and Abraham can definitely be outboxed, as he was by Froch, Ward and Andre Dirrell in the Super Six tournament, but the Liverpool man is not on their level and may lack sufficient confidence in his punch resistance to really go for it, as Stieglitz did in Abraham's last defeat.

Certainly if Abraham shows up in the condition he was to beat Stieglitz in March then Smith has little chance and will only escape a KO defeat if he runs as much as Mayweather did in the last round against Marcos Maidana. The last overmatched Liverpudlian to try that in a world-title fight still get knocked out—Tony Bellew against Adonis Stevenson in November.

But there is a decent chance the champion isn't at his best and things could then get interesting. In an upset victory, Smith would become the first of four fighting brothers to become a world champion, if one whom the new European champion Groves beat easily, a feat the Londoner would be expected to repeat in a rematch.

On Saturday, from his adopted home of Germany, WBO super middleweight champion "King" Arthur Abraham will defend his title against former BBBofC titleholder Paul "Real Gone Kid" Smith.

The 34-year-old champion has won his last four fights, and this will be his second defense of the title. This is Abraham's second stint with the WBO strap, and it's his third world-title reign.

The man opposing him is in search of his first world title. The 31-year-old Smith has faced many of the top names on the British boxing scene within his weight region, but he hasn't been able to get a win against them.

He was stopped by both George Groves and James DeGale in 2011 and 2010, respectively.

In this, his first shot at a world title, Smith will be trying to shock an experienced and notoriously powerful champion in a fight most expect the challenger to lose. 

Here's how you can catch the bout.

When: Saturday, Sept. 27 at 3:30 p.m. ET

TV: Sky Sports 2

Looking to End It Quickly

A bit of a standard has been set by DeGale and Groves as it pertains to Smith. Styles make fights, but we can't help but compare results when fighters have common opponents.

Since both DeGale and Groves are considered upper-echelon fighters, and Abraham is a world champion, there's some expectation that the "King" should win as impressively over Smith as his younger contemporaries.

Abraham is known for his one-punch KO power.

Of his 40 wins, 28 of them have come by stoppage. That said, he hasn't stopped an opponent since 2012. Has he lost a bit of the snap on his punches? If so, the playing field could be leveled in this bout. The old Abraham would have had his power as a primary weapon, and Smith would have had to respect that advantage.

If Abraham's explosiveness is a thing of the past, this fight might be interesting.

Major Opportunity

Smith knows how big this fight is for his career. This could be his only shot at a world title, and he's determined to make the best of it. 

Per Sky Sports, Smith said this in a pre-fight press conference: "I am the underdog and this is my first world title fight. Arthur Abraham has had 18 or 19 world title fights so it's a massive chance for me and that's exactly how I want it. You don't get given world titles. It's going to be the hardest fight of my life but I'm prepared for that."

Smith's recent opposition doesn't suggest that he should even be in this position. Since being demolished by Groves inside of two rounds, just half of the opponents Smith has faced have had winning records. 

One of his wins came over Jamie Ambler, who is 10-52-2.

That said, Smith has been a pro since 2003, and he was the British champion, so it isn't as if he's a complete stiff. Can he rise to the occasion and pull off the improbable win?

At least one person in the boxing world believes it's possible. Former champion Richie Woodhall told Phil Kirkbride of the Liverpool Echo:

It is a tough ask, no doubt, and this could well be his last chance to win the world title but I rate Paul Smith and always have done. I rate the family, they are an exceptionally talented boxing family and Paul has got a lot of quality. You have got to give him a chance because he has power, especially in his left hook.

He has decent skills as well. It is a 60-40 fight against him but if anyone can pull it off, it’s Paul. Arthur is no spring chicken and in the last few fights he has shown that he is wearing a little bit so I do rate Paul’s chances. But it will [be] tough.

Woodhall's words seem like part endorsement and part hope. On Saturday, Smith will get the opportunity to come through for Woodhall and anyone that is backing him.

Prediction

Abraham is not the same fighter he was three years ago. His stamina late is a question mark, and his ability to make opponents respect his power has waned. That said, over the last two years, Abraham has adjusted his style.

He's a better pure boxer than he was before, and his counter-punching skills have seemingly elevated.

While he's not knocking guys out at the clip he was in previous years, he is outpointing them. 

Smith's jab is his best weapon, and that's a good thing. He'll need it against Abraham. Expect to see the challenger use a calculated plan to stay on the outside and try to utilize his speed and lateral movement.

There's only one problem with that strategy. Because he won't enjoy an enormous advantage over Abraham when it comes to speed and agility, this approach will make for a close fight. Because the bout is taking place in Germany, Smith's chances of winning a tight decision are slim.

Both men will do solid work, but in the end, Abraham will win a competitive unanimous decision.

Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter. I dig boxing and MMA.

A brass band played George Groves into the ring but the real brass was located somewhere inside Christopher Rebrasse's shorts as he stood up to 12 rounds of punishment and kept firing back.

The Englishman, 26, took a wide decision on all three judges' cards and despite the brave effort from the outgoing champion, there was hardly a clear round for him all night.

Thus George Groves won his first fight of 2014 at the second attempt to claim the European super-middleweight title and take his record to 20-2.

On the one hand, Groves dominated the fight in the fashion you would expect but, on the other, he never came close to stopping his opponent, despite landing clean punches, especially in Round 10.

If you only had one word to describe Rebrasse prior to the fight it would be "unproven" so it is difficult to gauge too much from the contest, without a relevant yardstick of the Frenchman facing top opposition.

The Hammersmith man certainly looked a level above Rebrasse, who was a European champion, if a lightly regarded one, but you would perhaps expect a serious world-level hitter to dispose of a fighter who had never fought at that level and already had two draws and three losses on his record.

In the first fight with Carl Froch, when Groves hurt the indomitable champion, it suggested that he had developed into a genuine power-puncher and yet there was little evidence of that yesterday.

Now, it may be that Rebrasse is just freakishly tough, as was the last opponent who took Groves the distance, the 43-year-old Glen Johnson—it is true that the Frenchman has never been stopped.

Regardless of that, Groves did seem particularly lacking in his ability to impose sustained pressure on his over-matched foe, perhaps in part because he was consciously holding himself back from emptying his tank, as he did against Froch to great cost.

Groves did throw plenty of leather on the night but against a passive and static opponent who largely let him dictate the pace of proceedings.

He was still breathing heavily from quite early on and looked exhausted on his stool before the last round so his stamina will continue to be questioned.

The most worrying aspect of the fight for Groves was, providing the Sky Sports punch-counters can be trusted, that he landed just 17 percent of his punches. For comparison's sake, the inexact Marcos Maidana managed 22 percent last week against the elusive target of Floyd Mayweather.

At the highest level, Groves simply couldn't afford to waste that many shots, particularly when coupled with the energy-sapping nature of his herky-jerky style.

On the positive side, after the devastating knockout he suffered against Froch last time, it was good for Groves to be back in the ring looking confident and with no lasting damage, taking home the win and a regional title.

Even so, you would be hard pushed to rate last night's performance as much better than his late 2012 fight against Johnson, and any improvements suggested by the first Froch fight seem to have evaporated.

Groves is eager to get back into world-title contention but you wonder if he might be better to have another rebuilding fight first against better opposition.

There is a significant gap in quality between Froch, who inflicted his two defeats, and the aged Johnson and inexperienced James DeGale who remain his best wins. A fight with the likes of Sakio Bika or Edwin Rodriguez would bridge that gap and give him both meaningful experience and better preparation.

The win last night made Groves the mandatory challenger to the WBC champion Anthony Dirrell, who is the younger brother of Andre who fought a close fight with Froch in 2009.

The younger Dirrell is unbeaten aged 29 but looked less than spectacular when initially drawing with former champ Bika and then taking a decision last month in a competitive rematch.

Groves would start the favourite if the bout was held in England, something that Dirrell is adamant won't happen, telling the Daily Mail: "There's no way I'll be going to the UK. I'm the champ. If they make Groves the No. 1 contender then he's going to have to come here and try and beat me."

Given the large crowd the Englishman attracted to Wembley Arena Saturday he is clearly a much bigger live draw than Dirrell but American TV money may keep the fight in the US, which perhaps swings the odds in the Michigan man's favour.

You would probably expect Groves to win the early rounds with his speed—a quick KO might even be possible if he replicated his first Froch performance.

However, as the fight progresses and Groves tires you have to worry about his ability to take a shot later on. Given Dirrell has 22 KOs from 28 fights, even once decking Bika, he certainly has the power to change a fight.

If a deal with Dirrell could not be struck then the other obvious world-title option is WBO belt holder Arthur Abraham, with whom Groves shares a promoter in Kalle Sauerland.

Abraham faces British opposition in Germany next week against the mediocre Paul Smith, the Liverpool fighter who may not even be the best super-middleweight in his family.

At the top of the division, however, Groves showed nothing yesterday to worry division kingpin Andre Ward, who is yet to fight in 2014.

When Groves played gate-crasher extraordinaire against Froch in November it looked only a matter of time until he became a world champion.

On the basis of his last two performances it is now more a question of if than when—and the question of where may yet be the most important one.

"Saint" George Groves (19-2, 15 KO) is looking to bounce back from back-to-back losses to bitter rival Carl Froch. The last one was a humbling KO defeat that put an end to their verbal and in-ring feud.

Groves will take on Christopher "L'Iceberg" Rebrasse (22-2-3, 6 KO) at Wembley Arena on Saturday. The vacant WBC silver super middleweight title and Rebrasse's EBU (European) super middleweight crown will be at stake.

Groves hails from London, so his return to the ring will take place in front of an adoring crowd. The atmosphere should be electric as Groves looks to get back in the win column.

Here's how you can watch.

When: Saturday, Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. ET

Where: Wembley Arena in London

TV: Sky Sports

The Saint Looking for Redemption

Despite what some may think about Groves after he suffered such an embarrassing loss to Froch, he is still one heck of a young fighter.

Froch is one of the top 15 fighters of his era, and he hit Groves with a huge shot that ended his night. However, the charismatic Londoner is still only 26 years old with a good number of quality years ahead of him. 

He has excellent hand speed, good punching power and flair. Froch exposed some defensive holes and perhaps some conditioning problems, but not every fighter will have the skill and experience to exploit Groves.

To that point, Groves may have used the time between now and his May 31 scrap with Froch to work on his areas of opportunity. We'll see if any strides have been made on Saturday.

Trying to Keep a Good Man Down

Rebrasse may need ear plugs and thick skin as he makes his way to the ring to face Groves on Friday.

The Frenchman knows he'll be coming into hostile territory to take on a talented and hungry young fighter. At just 28 years old, Rebrasse is in the prime of his career. He just took the European title away from Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye in his last fight.

Rebrasse stopped Ndiaye in the fourth round in a very odd bout. Ndiaye approached the normally light-punching Rebrasse with his hands down. Rebrasse tagged him with a three-punch combination, and soon the referee had to step in to save Ndiaye from more punishment.

That may be the only way Rebrasse could score such a dramatic win. The bout was a rematch after the two men battled to a split-decision draw back in June 2013. 

The two competitive bouts with Ndiaye should partially help to prepare Rebrasse for the atmosphere that awaits him at Wembley Arena on Saturday. Though Groves is no Ndiaye.

Prediction

Rebrasse is a skilled and fundamentally sound boxer, but he's not a big puncher at all. Only six of his wins have come by stoppage. 

Against a fighter like Groves, power is extremely important. Few super middleweights are going to outbox him, thus they need to have the equalizer that Froch brought into both fights.

Rebrasse lacks the power to make Groves respect him and the speed to get the better of him in exchanges. Groves will return to the ring victoriously and become the first man to score a stoppage win over Rebrasse.

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As his ascension back to the top continues, Robert Stieglitz got all he could handle from Sergey "The Ghost" Khomitsky before winning the vacant WBO intercontinental super middleweight title via stoppage on Saturday.

Stieglitz stopped the 39-year-old Khomitsky in the 10th round of what was a violent, bloody affair. Referee Stefano Carozza put a stop to the action as he decided the veteran's corner was taking too much time to re-tape his gloves, although a massive gash at the top of his head certainly didn't help matters.

The stoppage was controversial—both in reasoning and when taking into consideration how the bout had unfolded to that point.

Stieglitz was very much taking a beating at various points through the opening nine rounds, which could be seen by a deep cut over his right eye. He elected to drop his hands at inopportune times and gave various tells as to his offensive approach.

To his credit, Khomitsky took full advantage early on. For a fighter who had not been in the ring for a bout that went more than eight rounds since 2011, he brought forth a reckless style and exploited lapses by the lofty favorite.

By the third round, Stieglitz's strategy devolved into a punch-grab approach. He'd swing for the fences and then clinch, before swinging again coming out of the clinch.

The tactic saved him, as he was very much backpedaling his way through the fight. He hit the canvas in the ninth round, but it was not ruled a knockdown.

For as much damage as Khomitsky was able to do as a power puncher, he simply didn't have the skill to counteract a clinch strategy employed by his adversary. Had he adapted, the end result may have been much different.

That said, fans were quick to suggest on Twitter that the gash Khomitsky suffered from an accidental head-butt appeared to play a large role in the stoppage as well:

For Stieglitz, the struggles were in no way expected given the apparently lopsided matchup, although comments he made before the match at the final press conference proved quite prophetic, per FightNews.com:

I am forewarned. A ghost always comes surprisingly and unexpectedly. I’ve prepared myself for [his] fighting style, so I’m safe. He can’t scare me. Khomitsky is good for surprises, well rested and he boxes smart. His victory for the WBO European championship against Buglioni in England was no coincidence. One may never, ever underestimate him. He is a daredevil! If I want to get “my belt” back, then the only possible way is with a clear victory over this “ghost!

Khomitsky, fresh off an upset victory over Frank Buglioni, moves to 29-11-2 with 12 knockouts to his name. The encouraging outing actually bodes well for his future, should he want to continue to take shots at major names despite his age.

For Stieglitz, the controversial triumph and end result raise questions about his validity as a contender as he heads into a September bout with Paul Smith. That's quite a critical fight for him at this stage, as the German is attempting to work his way back up for a rematch with rival Arthur Abraham.

Abraham has defeated him twice in three matchups, with the most recent coming this past March. If Stieglitz is going to be granted a fourth fight and a title shot, he'll need to run through opponents he should handle rather easily instead of struggling and not acting as the aggressor.

Regardless, Stieglitz is in full comeback mode and has some semblance of momentum after Saturday's stoppage.