George Groves has been retired since 2018, but has suggested that one man would get him back in the ring.
Groves is a British super middleweight great who has been involved in one of the best rivalries of the last 20 years.
After impressing in his way up through the ranks, he forced a fight with then world champion Carl Froch back in 2013. Froch underestimated his opponent and was put down early by the London man, but rallied to win by controversial stoppage.
The rematch came in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in May 2014 and was ended more conclusively with an eighth round KO for ‘The Cobra.’
Groves fought on and beat the likes of Martin Murray, became WBA world champion after his win over Fedor Chudinov and also bested James Cox and Chris Eubank Jr, before losing to Callum Smith in the final of the World Boxing Super Series in 2018 after suffering from a shoulder injury.
He walked away from the sport after that loss, though one standout in his career always remained his victory over his long-time amateur and professional rival James DeGale in 2011.
Speaking to iFL TV, Groves was asked if he would come out of retirement to fight DeGale again, this time in the bare-knuckle arena, and didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Yeah, absolutely, Yeah. I’m intrigued by it, and I like anything that has a bit of showmanship.”
DeGale is a former world champion boxer who retired after losing to Chris Eubank in 2019, but made his bare-knuckle debut in July 2025 with a win over Australian Matt Floyd. Whether or not he continues to compete in the promotion remains to be seen.
