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DeGale to work with Cleverly ahead of Groves bout

Somebody's unbeaten record will fall when James DeGale meets George Groves on May 21 © Getty Images

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James DeGale has attempted to trump George Groves ahead of their fight by roping in Nathan Cleverly as a sparring partner.

Groves has caused a stir at his Miami training camp by going through his paces with celebrated super-middleweight Andre Dirrell, whose only career loss came against Carl Froch in 2009, as he prepares for DeGale.

The two long-term rivals, who have maintained a fierce rivalry since learning their trade in the same gym, will face off at the O2 Arena for the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight belts.

Their clash is on the undercard of Nathan Cleverly's light-heavyweight world-title tilt against Juergen Braehmer - and the Welshman has placed himself firmly in DeGale's camp ahead of the May 21 battle.

"You can't replicate James DeGale in any way so for Groves to go and spar with Dirrell won't prepare him for DeGale at all," said DeGale's trainer, Jim McDonnell, to East Side Boxing.

"The only thing that they have in common is that they are southpaws and that's where the similarities end. DeGale has Cleverly lined up for sparring in the next few weeks and we've got a few more names coming to do some work with him."

Meanwhile, DeGale's torrent of insults towards Groves continues to gather pace. "He will have to go a lot further than Miami if he wants to beat me," he said. "I saw that Dirrell had been bigging up Groves on twitter, but he also said he had 'ok speed' and 'not enough head movement'.

"How on earth is he going to beat me if he doesn't move his head and isn't quick enough? You've got a guy in Groves who has not made any progress as a professional. In fact I'd say he has gone backwards, whereas I have improved so much since I won the Olympic gold in 2008.

"I'm not bothered who Groves spars or works out with in the next few weeks because he needs years to improve, not days. There is only one winner on May 21, and it's not George Groves."

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