Booth: Groves will relish his Arena return

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George Groves’ trainer and manager Adam Booth says the Hammersmith man will relish the chance to fight on another major show at the O2 Arena on 25 May.

Unbeaten Commonwealth champion Groves, 25, will face Noe Gonzalez Alcoba of Uruguay at the same venue he beat arch-rival and fellow West Londoner James DeGale at in 2011.

The fight will be chief support to the world title clash between Mikkel Kessler and Nottingham’s IBF champion Carl Froch, who has been mooted as a possible future opponent for Groves.

“George loves it – he absolutely loves fighting on big shows,” Booth told West London Sport

“He has had his fair share of experience fighting on big shows behind David Haye, as well as the DeGale one, so he is looking forward to it.”

Last year Groves was forced to withdraw from two fights – including a world title challenge against the then WBO champion Robert Stieglitz – because of injury.

But a victory next month would maintain his unbeaten record as his hopes of securing a world title fight later this year.

Booth said: “We have got four weeks of training left. He has started sparring and everything is, touch wood, alright at the moment. I’m superstitious so I don’t want to curse it.”

He added: “If Carl beats Kessler, I think he [Froch] will have his eyes set on people like Andre Ward.

“But winning will make George 19-0. He is already really highly ranked and it’s about consolidating those rankings and getting a mandatory shot – whoever that’s against.”

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