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| Date | 14 October 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Wembley Arena, Brent, London | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA (Super) super middleweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groves defeats Cox in the 4th round via KO. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
George Groves vs. Jamie Cox was a professional boxing match contested on 14 October 2017, for the WBA super middleweight championship. [1]
Having successfully won a world title at the fourth time of asking against Fedor Chudinov, George Groves entered into the World Boxing Super Series as the number one seed and second favourite to win the tournament behind undefeated contenter Callum Smith. [2]
At the WBSS draft Gala, held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 8 July 2017, Groves choose to fight undefeated follow Brit Jamie Cox. [3] Groves claimed that picking Cox was a '"strategic" move and due to the tournament being long, it would be best to "pick the easy guy first". [4] The fight would take place on 14 October at Wembley Arena London with the winner advancing to the semi-finals to face the winner of the second quarter final between Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Avni Yildirim held the week before. Groves would take back his earlier words of saying Cox was the easiest, "I know there are no easy fights in this tournament and there are no easy fights at world level, but Jamie is the guy I know the most about." [5] [6] Speaking at the weigh in Groves claimed he would "not give up his world title for anything". [7]
On the undercard tournament reserve Patrick Nielsen was upset by John Ryder, who knocked him out in the fifth round. [8]
The fight started with both boxers feeling each other out and trading sporadically. Cox would box well if somewhat recklessly for the first two rounds while Groves patiently waited to land counter punches. [9]
Halfway through the fourth round Cox missed with a left hook leaving him open for a perfectly placed counter right hand to the body from Groves that sent Cox down in pain. He failed to beat the count of referee Steve Gray giving Groves a knockout victory. [10] Groves landed 48 of 163 punches thrown (29%) while Cox landed 36 of 131 thrown (28%). [11] [12] [13]
Chris Eubank Jr., who was sat ringside following his victory over Avni Yildirim, entered the ring, giving his thoughts on the fight, "It was a good fight, he did what he had to win, not too many cuts and bruises so it looks like we're on for January. That's what we wanted." [14] Groves spoke about his fallen opponent, "I picked him because I believe he was the most dangerous of the unseeded fighters. I didn't want an easy fight." [15]
The final quarter final was held two weeks later between Jürgen Brähmer and Rob Brant.
Confirmed bouts: [16]
Avetik Abrahamyan, best known as Arthur Abraham, is an Armenian-German former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF middleweight title from 2005 to 2009, and the WBO super-middleweight title twice between 2012 and 2016.
Christopher Livingstone Eubank Jr. is a British professional boxer. He has held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) middleweight title since October 2024. Previously, he held the World Boxing Association (WBA) interim middleweight title twice between 2015 and 2021. He also held the (IBO) super-middleweight title twice between 2017 and 2019. At regional level, he held the British middleweight title in 2016. He is the son of former two-division world champion boxer, Chris Eubank.
George Groves is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2008 to 2018. He held the WBA (Super) super-middleweight title from 2017 to 2018. At regional level, he held multiple super-middleweight titles, including the European, British, and Commonwealth titles between 2010 and 2014. As an amateur, Groves won the ABA middleweight title twice in 2007 and 2008.
Callum John Smith is an English professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) and Ring magazine super-middleweight titles from 2018 to 2020. At regional level, he held the British and European super-middleweight titles between 2015 and 2017. In 2018 he won the World Boxing Super Series super-middleweight tournament, winning the Muhammad Ali trophy in the process. He is the youngest of the Smith brothers—Paul, Stephen, and Liam—all of whom are professional boxers.
Mairis Briedis is a Latvian former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2024. He was a three-time cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF and Ring titles from 2020 to 2022; the WBC title from 2017 to 2018; and the WBO title in 2019. Upon winning the WBC title in 2017, he became the first Latvian to hold a world boxing title. He was awarded the Order of the Three Stars in 2017.
Erik Skoglund is a Swedish professional boxer.
Avni Yıldırım is a Turkish professional boxer. He challenged for the WBC super-middleweight title in 2019, and the WBA (Super), WBC, and Ring magazine super-middleweight titles in 2021.
The 2017–18 World Boxing Super Series – super middleweight division was a World Boxing Super Series professional boxing tournament taking place between September 2017 and September 2018 in several countries. The Super Series features 8 top-rated super middleweight boxers in a single-elimination tournament. Its winner will hold the WBA's world title, The Ring Magazine title, as well as the Muhammad Ali trophy. The tournament was organized by Comosa AG. A cruiserweight tournament is held concurrently, with prize money for both competitions totalling US$50 million.
The 2017–18 World Boxing Super Series – cruiserweight division was a World Boxing Super Series professional boxing tournament that took place between September 2017 and July 2018 in several countries. The Super Series featured eight top-rated cruiserweight boxers in a single-elimination tournament. Its winner will hold world titles for all four of boxing's major sanctioning bodies, The Ring Magazine title, as well as the Muhammad Ali trophy. The tournament was organized by Comosa AG. A super middleweight tournament was held concurrently, with prize money for both competitions totalling US$50 million.
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Marco Huck was a professional boxing match contested on 9 September 2017, for the WBO Cruiserweight championship.
Murat Gassiev vs. Krzysztof Włodarczyk was a professional boxing match contested on October 21, 2017, for the IBF cruiserweight championship.
Yunier Dorticos vs. Dmitry Kudryashov was a professional boxing match contested on September 23, 2017, for the WBA (Regular) cruiserweight championship.
Callum Smith vs. Erik Skoglund was a professional boxing match contested on 16 September 2017.
Chris Eubank Jr vs. Avni Yildirim was a professional boxing match contested on 7 October 2017, for the IBO super middleweight championship. The bout was also a WBC super middleweight title eliminator.
Jürgen Brähmer vs. Robert Brant was a professional boxing match contested on 27 October 2017.
George Groves vs. Chris Eubank Jr. was a professional boxing match contested on 17 February 2018, for the WBA Super Middleweight championship.
Callum Smith vs. Nieky Holzken was a professional boxing match contested on 24 February 2018.
George Groves vs. Callum Smith was a professional boxing match contested on 28 September 2018, for the WBA and The Ring Super Middleweight championship.
Murat Gassiev vs. Yuniel Dorticos was a professional boxing match contested on 3 February 2018, for the WBA and IBF cruiserweight championship.
Mairis Briedis vs. Mike Perez was a professional boxing match contested on 30 September 2017, for the WBC cruiserweight championship.
