George Groves: Shoulder was fine, Smith was the better man

George Groves was knocked out in the seventh round by Callum Smith on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, losing his WBA super middleweight title and falling in the finals of the World Boxing Super Series.

But the 30-year-old Groves (28-4, 20 KO) is making no excuses about his shoulder or anything else, and says he’ll be back.

“Embarrassing. I’ve never been hurt by a body shot before like this in my entire career. But all credit to Callum. He deserves this night. We knew he could punch, he has height and reach as well so I didn’t really want to trade with him. I was landing myself, but so was he and he got the finish.

“The shoulder looked alright and it felt alright. I’m not here to make excuses, it worked. Callum was the better man on the night. I’m going to have a good rest, I’m not retiring, it’s been a dogged year for me.”

Groves has been to the top and has now been knocked off his perch, but he’s still in what should be his prime, and there are plenty of good fights out there for him since he’s going to continue. Even with the loss, he’s still probably a top three guy at 168 right now. Expect some tune-ups and bounce-back type fights, at least one or two, before he targets anything big again, which is fair enough.