George Groves Gets World Title Fight with Robert Stieglitz, Is He Ready?

After a solid year in 2011, Britain's George Groves will get an opportunity at the ultimate prize on May 5, when he will face Robert Stieglitz for the WBO super middleweight title.

This will be a big step up in class for Groves (14-0-0, 11 KOs) whose biggest win to date was 11 months ago over Olympic champion James DeGale.

Stieglitz (41-2-0, 23 KOs), on the other hand, will be in his 45th fight and his sixth defence of his WBO crown.

His two losses have come at the hands of good opponents, Librado Andrade and Colombian KO artist Alejandro Berrio.

The fight has been made off the back of two cancelled bouts.

Groves was due to defend his British title against Kenny Anderson, but had to withdraw after he suffered a back injury during sparring.

Stieglitz had been due to fight former WBA and WBC champion Mikkel Kessler. However, after the Dane suffered an injury of his own, he decided to move up to light heavyweight to challenge Allan Green.

While the Russian-born German may have the edge in experience, it has been a long time since he stepped into the ring with a quality opponent.

Since the 2008 loss to Andrade, Steiglitz has fought 10 times, and none of his opponents have been at the level of Groves.

He has also not scored a knockout since January 2010, when he dispatched Argentina's Ruben Eduardo Acosta in five rounds.

Despite this Groves cannot afford to take Stieglitz lightly. He throws good combinations and uses his left well to set up his powerful right hand.

He does have a tendency to start fights quite slowly, so if Groves can come out of the gates quickly, the opportunity should be there to pick up the early rounds.

Starting slowly is something that Groves has suffered from himself though, so he will have to work on this before the fight.

In the build-up to the fight we are sure to hear a lot about the potential for "home cooked" scorecards.

The fight will be taking place in Erfurt, in Stieglitz's adopted homeland of Germany.

Hopefully, that will have no bearing on the fight. However, after the controversy that has surrounded recent fights such as Felix Sturm vs. Martin Murray, if the fight is close you have to worry for Groves.

Last year, 2011, was not a good year for British title-holders. Groves may be the man to stop that trend.

How do you see this fight going? Will Stieglitz have too much for Groves? Or will the Brit take the step up in his stride? Comment below.