Badou Jack, George Groves to meet in Las Vegas on Aug. 22
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Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer
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- 2013 BWAA Nat Fleischer Award winner for excellence in boxing journalism
- ESPN.com boxing writer since 2005
- Five years at USA Today
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Super middleweight Badou Jack will make the first defense of his world title against mandatory challenger George Groves on Aug. 22 in Las Vegas, Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, Jack's promoter, told ESPN.com.
Ellerbe and Groves promoter Sauerland Event made a deal a few weeks ago to avoid a purse bid, but the date finally has been squared away.
The fight, which could take place at The Cosmopolitan, will headline a Showtime-televised card.
Jack (19-1-1, 12 KOs), 31, a native of Sweden who lives and trains in Las Vegas, scored a mild upset when he won a majority decision and the belt from Anthony Dirrell on April 24 in Chicago. The win was Jack's third in a row since suffering a first-round knockout loss in a major upset to Derek Edwards in February 2014.
"Badou Jack is a terrific fighter. He's a young man who is focused on his career. I think guys like him -- they become better fighters when they become champions," Ellerbe said. "I think he's going to have a long reign as a super middleweight champion, and he's the kind of guy who, after this fight with George Groves, won't be creeping up on anybody. George Groves is an excellent fighter, but he can't beat Badou Jack."
Groves (21-2, 16 KOs), 27, of England, will be getting his third shot at a 168-pound world title. He was stopped in back-to-back fights in 2013 (controversially) and 2014 (cleanly) challenging then-titleholder Carl Froch, his countryman, in a pair of major British fights, the second of which took place before a crowd of some 80,000 at Wembley Stadium in London.
Since the two losses, Groves has won two fights in a row, including capturing the European title.
http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/13215956/badou-jack-fight-george-groves-aug-22-las-vegas
If Groves loses this fight, DeGeneric and Frochy Froch
#SOGGang will be watching
:soggang: