I’ll see you outside! George Groves ready to fight Chris Eubank Jr and the elements in winter showdown

George Groves says he will have no problems planning for adverse weather if his showdown with Chris Eubank Jr takes place outdoors in a football stadium early next year.

Promoter Kalle Sauerland confirmed to Standard Sport that both boxers are willing to risk cold, rain and wind in order to maximise attendance at what will be a huge domestic fight.

Groves stopped Jamie Cox in the fourth round at Wembley Arena on Saturday to retain his WBA super-middleweight title and set up a meeting with IBO world champion Eubank Jr in late January or early February.

It will be a semi-final in the World Boxing Super Series knockout tournament - and promoter Sauerland knows an outdoor venue would deliver far more revenue than the indoor O2 or Wembley arenas, with a crowd of around 50,000 possible.

Groves, 29, said: “As long as the ring is covered and not wet, it is no problem. It could even be nice in the cold. It is very hot under the lights when you box indoors. I’d like to have been outdoors on Saturday.

“What you would have to do is be warm in the changing room before, stay warm before the fight starts and be clever. Then, as the rounds tick by under those lights, you might appreciate it.

“I was at the David Haye versus Wladimir Klitschko fight in Hamburg in July 2011. It hammered down all day and all night. So you can never tell what it will be like, anyway.”

Heavyweights Herbie Hide and Michael Bentt fought a world title contest in chilly conditions at Millwall football ground in March 1994.

Lennox Lewis’s fight at Cardiff Arms Park with Frank Bruno in October 1993 had been threatened beforehand by heavy rain but went ahead with the city council distributing plastic rain ponchos among the 25,000 crowd.

However, there are also issues of cold temperatures to be considered, with Fulham, Chelsea and Brighton’s football grounds under consideration.

But backers of the World Series tournament believe British fans are so enthusiastic about stadium fights that it is well worth the risk to stage Groves versus Eubank Jr outdoors. Promoter Sauerland said: “Both George and Chris are ready to do it outdoors. So the question is - does it fit into the UK sporting culture to go outdoors in January or February? Of course, it does.

“There will always be unpredictability about the weather in Britain. The fight would last a maximum of one hour. By 11 pm, it will be definitely over. So it can be done. We would have covers. But you can’t protect again the combination of wind and rain in the summer or winter — and that’s the worst combination.

“There is always the same chance of cancellation if there are extreme conditions. But that would be the case with an indoor venue in winter, with people getting there and stuff like that.

“I think they would turn out for this on the moon.”

Groves insists he is far more accomplished technically than Eubank Jr and that he is a more experienced after fighting failing in world-title shots against Carl Froch - twice - and Badou Jack in Las Vegas. He finally secured the WBA belt by beating Russia’s Fedor Chudinov last May.

Groves added: “I boxed very well against Cox so Chris could quite possibly have been a bit nervous about it at the ringside. But it doesn’t matter. The very best Chris Eubank won’t beat me. I am still improving. I did lose my mojo at one time and wasn’t performing well. I was flat in the Jack fight and I was struggling with the pressure

“Now I’ve come through all that and I’m flying. By the end of this tournament I’d like to be considered the best super-middleweight there is in the world.”