EXCLUSIVE: George Groves went above and beyond to make his Ringside appearance with James DeGale as amusing as possible.
The boxing legend spent hours at home, practicing his lines and coming up with horse racing puns to really get under his rival’s skin.
George Groves and James DeGale had one of the best rivalries in British boxing
On May 21, 2011, George Groves and James DeGale went to war at the O2 Arena in London, UK.
After months of back-and-forth, ‘St George’ claimed a victory on the cards after an epic battle in the capital.
However, as brilliant as the fight was, the pair delivered even more entertainment during a recording of Sky Sports’ Ringside, where they traded a plethora of verbal jabs.
During the episode, Groves, who was dressed in very interesting attire, whipped out a number of hilarious remarks, that still raise a smile when boxing fans remember them today.
And as it turns out, the Londoner went above and beyond in the practicing department to ensure he delivered the witty one-liners to the best of his ability.
George Groves knew exactly what he wanted to say to James DeGale on Ringside
In an exclusive interview with Sporf, via betway, he explained: “I was prepared. I love that episode of Ringside. It’s the highest-viewed episode on Ringside ever—me and James DeGale going at it. Lots of it was prepared in that I thought about what I wanted to say, how I wanted to sit, what I wanted to wear. Like, I wore a suit with a lowry tie for the peacock effect, really. I sat down and thought, If I can get him to talk about my tie, then I’ve won the battle. He doesn’t know that I’ve picked this as a battle, but. he brings the tie up. He calls me a ‘mad fool’ or something.
“One line I had was, without trying to descend into personal attacks and trying to keep it relatively professional, I said, “He’s got a long head, a long face,” and I did a bit of an impression. Then I said he was going to look like a horse falling at Cheltenham. In fact, I tried to get a lot of horse references in throughout that show. Again, didn’t tell him that. It was horse references without saying the word horse, it was a crafty bit of wordplay going on there.
“At the time, I was watching a lot of stand-up comedy. I was writing stand-up, so I thought, I’m going to have a go at this sort of stuff—trying to be funny. Heroes of mine were really mean comics.”
Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports
