George Groves won’t underestimate Denis Doughlin, who he faces in Liverpool tomorrow night, despite having a potential shot at the world title next year.
Groves, 26, will defend his WBC Silver super-middleweight title and risk his number one challenger position to the WBC world title when he fights at the Echo Arena.
Doughlin, trained by his mother, is ranked 40th in the world and holds an unimpressive record, but Groves still sees the fight as an opportunity for improvement.
“I always want to improve as a fighter, I want to be a complete fighter, although I don’t think I or anyone ever will be,” he said.
“I want to get as close to that as humanly possible, so you have to look at your mistakes as well as what you are doing well, try to understand them and improve on them.
“It is not about taking your eye off the ball because you lost in May, or that you might be in a bigger fight next year, I just want to go out and perform, to keep the momentum going and keep the show going for the fans.
“To do that, you have to be fully focused with a mindset and direction, that is what I have got at the moment, and I know there are massive fights out there for me.”
The Hammersmith fighter features on a bill that features fellow super-middleweights Callum Smith and old rival James DeGale.
Groves outpointed DeGale in 2011 and believes that a rematch between the two for several world titles would be historic.
“If it is a unification fight against DeGale, with the history we’ve got, it’d be the biggest fight ever. It would far eclipse what me and [Carl] Froch did.
“The last Froch fight was extraordinary, the way it captured the public’s imagination but there’s more potential for more fights like that in the future.
“And if anyone is going to do it, it’s probably me and James because we both have a story to tell.”
Image courtesy of Sky Sports, via YouTube with thanks
