DeGale v Groves...some boxing fans are just never happy

A strange title you may think, but let me explain. For weeks, months, even years as boxing fans we have craved the big fights, especially those involving the best of British. We have mourned the lack of a Calzaghe v Froch, and the lack of any sort of meaningful light middle scrap back when Steve Roberts, Richard Williams etc were doing their stuff. Dear me, we’ve had open forum warfare over the fact that ‘Our Richard’ and Junior Witter never swapped leather.

All in all, it’s fair to say despite all of the ins, outs and arguments as to why these fights have never happened, the fact remains they never did and never will. So, fast forward a few years, numerous PPVs and Adam Smith and what you find come Saturday 21st May is arguably our two best domestic super-middleweights, both unbeaten and with a rivalry that goes back over the years, meeting to decide who has ultimate bragging rights over the other.

What we have is James DeGale v George Groves, a fight that we have all championed, a fight we all want to see. You would imagine there will be dancing in the streets? Well you’d be wrong. In fact, what we have seen is the ‘open forum warfare’ I have referred to. Let me explain.

This is a great fight, a really great fight. Anyone involved in this deserves credit for getting it on, none more so than the fighters themselves who could have easily done the old Ronaldo bodyswerve and made money fighting others. So what’s the problem?

Well, apparently we are not amused because that nasty David Coldwell put in a purse bid for the fight, won it, but is not staging the fight. Apparently that’s a crime for which only a public stoning will suffice as punishment. Bad David.

Then that frightfully horrible chap Adam Booth has, apparently, by taking this fight in May, not allowed enough time to be devoted to Groves because of the impending Haye v Wlad scrap in June...or is that July? Naughty Adam.

Finally, and to cap it all, that horrible ugly ginger kid and the arrogant gold medallist have deigned to go on a popular magazine show and have a verbal war in an effort to sell the fight. If you ask me that’s ten lashes of the belt for that one!

‘But DeGale’s a merchant banker!’ we all cry. He has come across badly apparently, picking on that defenceless ginger kid in the playground. Dear me – what sensitive souls we all are!

The facts are this: Look, we are British, we don’t like glamour, we don’t like flying carpet entrances, and we don’t like confidence. What we want is a good old fashioned boxer to walk to the ring, no music, head down having been given just an apple and orange for Christmas and a few nuts, coupled with a right hander for being a cheeky beggar.

DeGale is very good, he's confident, he does not meet this stereotype...therefore we want him to lose. We like Groves, he's the good guy, he's not with the nasty promoter, he's on the outside essentially looking in. He says the right thing at the right time on a boxing programme we all watch. We ignore his less than stellar chin and his opponent’s obvious skill and choose to focus on Degale's 'arrogance' and therefore want him to win so much we make a case for him to do even though the evidence says otherwise.

We whinge that we don’t get enough 50/50 fights, we whinge about a lack of mainstream coverage of our sport, then whinge when two guys, DeGale especially, make an effort to sell the fight to the masses.

We whinge, whinge, whinge and we do so because we are British.

Degale KO4 - over and out.