Having suffered the exact injury during his amateur career, George Groves was once more forced to battle through extreme pain during his final pro run.
A heralded British talent, Groves — best known for his pair of fights with fellow super middleweight star Carl Froch during their infamous rivalry of the 2010s — finally broke through in his bid to win world championship spoils.
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And beyond a close loss to Badou Jack, Groves was afforded one final chance to claim world championship spoils before his retirement. But he met some sizeable adversity on the way.
George Groves suffered brutal injury before stunning win
Off the back of four straight wins after his split decision loss to Jack, Hammersmith native Groves was offered one final go around for the WBA super middleweight championship — following knockout losses to Froch.
And paired with Russian star, Fedor Chudinov — the governing body’s defending champion — Groves would finally break through.
Lodging a come-from-behind sixth round knockout win over the champion, Groves won his first WBA super middleweight title, but not before going through some extreme pain.
“I knew it straight away. I’d broken my jaw ten years prior as an amateur,” Groves told SunSport.
“I remember – I think it was the third round – the last punch of the round he wings a big right hand over the top and I hear a loud crack.
“…Absolutely nothing could have stopped me – they’d have to have carried me out.
George Groves required surgery to address brutal injury
After his crowning moment at the fourth time of asking, Groves underwent a surgical procedure to fix his severe jaw fracture. But that’s not the only significant injury he suffered in the ring.
After his title coronation, Groves defended his belt opposite both Jamie Cox and a young Chris Eubank Jr. — defeating the duo.
Against the latter, however, Groves suffered a dislocated shoulder during the WBA super middleweight title fight — a pain which the medic described as “worse than childbirth”.
“The comedown once the adrenaline started wearing off, in the ambulance with the dislocated shoulder was pretty horrific,” Groves explained.
“The surgeon told me it’s more painful than childbirth.”