British & Commonwealth Super Middleweight Champion, George Groves (14-0) retained his titles in emphatic style against tough and rugid former British Champion Paul Smith (31-3). The Referee Victor Loughran had no option but to call a halt to the contest after only 1 min 18 secs of the 2nd round.
The opening round saw Champion Groves working diligently behind his jab waiting patiently to land a big shot. Whilst his opponent Smith stalked Groves looking to immediately to dent the confidence of the champion. For the vast majority of the round Groves had everything under control until the last few seconds where a lazy jab saw Smith move in fast to land a big right hand which proved to be just the wake up call Groves needed to exert his superiority in the next round.
After only a minute of the second round, Groves landed a huge right hand on Smith which saw him sinking to the canvas clearly dazed and hurt. After a count the Referee allowed the contest to continue which allowed Groves to land yet another explosive right hand, which prompted the Referee to correctly wave off the contest and send Groves's ever increasing army of fans home jubilant.
Groves spoke after the contest "I knew all along that once I landed my big shots the fight would be over quickly. I had an excellent training camp where yet again I have progressed and learnt a lot. There is still a long way to go to prove what I am capable of but this is only my 14th fight". Groves continued "I want to be kept active, I see no reason why I cannot fight again before Christmas even if its in a high class 10 round fight where I can continue to learn from my trainer Adam Booth who knows what it takes to take fighters to the top".
Hayemaker.com caught up with Adam Booth who stated "Yes I am delighted with the result of the fight, but what people must take in is this was only George's 14th professional fight and already he is the British & Commonwealth champion. He still has a journey to go on before he proves he is a world class fighter, I feel he has a world class jab but he has to add to that before he can operate at world level which I am sure he will given time".