Groves (l) and Murray. Photo: Lawrence Lustig

British super middleweight George Groves believes he will defeat and retire Martin Murray at The O2 in London, England, on June 25, in what will be the chief support to Anthony Joshua’s IBF heavyweight title defense against Dominic Breazeale.

Groves, who is rated No. 5 by THE RING at 168 pounds, believes his domestic clash with Murray could be fight of the night and both men bring plenty of experience to the occasion. Murray has already had four world title shots, three at middleweight and one at super middleweight, while Groves has had three cracks at 168 pounds.

“I think if (Martin) loses he will think about packing it in,” said Groves in a press release issued by Sauerland Promotions. “I can’t speak for him but he’s older than me and he’s exhausted all the natural things that a fighter can do to win a world title.

“He didn’t pull it off at middleweight, he’s moved up to super middleweight and he’s had a crack at Arthur Abraham and let himself down there. He’s got the domestic dust-up that he’s craved and that’s what is motivating him for this fight. If he doesn’t win then I don’t know where he goes from there.”

In fairness, the bout looks like a must-win assignment for both men, although Groves insists that there are glaring differences.

He said, “Martin is the chosen opponent in world title fights; he gets picked as an opponent that looks good on paper but gets beat. I’ve never been that guy. Maybe Eddie Hearn, Carl Froch and Matchroom Boxing were confident in the first fight, but they didn’t want the rematch. We had to force the IBF to get the rematch and went down the mandatory route.

“I’m the A-side of this fight, although we both wanted it. Martin called it a 50-50 fight then backtracked and said it wasn’t. I can understand why people might think that but I believe that I’m the heavy favorite in this one and you’ll see why on fight night.”

Also on the card, Chris Eubank Jr defends his British Middleweight title against Welshman Tom Doran, John Wayne Hibbert clashes with Andrea Scarpa, Brixton Heavyweight Dillian Whyte returns to the fray, Conor Benn is in action for the third time in the paid ranks and there’s a debut for Team GB star Felix Cash.

Tom Gray is a member of the British Boxing Writers’ Association and has contributed to various publications. Follow him on Twitter: @Tom_Gray_Boxing

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