Stieglitz vs Groves: Fight To Take Place May 5, Huck-Afolabi Undercard

WBO super middleweight titlist Robert Stieglitz will make his mandatory title defense against current British and Commonwealth titleholder George Groves on May 5 in Erfurt, Germany. The main event of the card will see WBO cruiserweight titlist Marco Huck defend in a rematch against Ola Afolabi, giving the show a solid double-header at the top of the card.

Stieglitz (41-2, 23 KO) was set to face Mikkel Kessler back in November, with the fight moved to April, and then ultimately called off when Kessler again backed out, instead choosing to fight on May 19, where he'll face Allan Green in a move to the light heavyweight division. In a total coincidence, surely, as soon as Kessler pulled out of the Stieglitz bout, Groves was named mandatory challenger and pulled out of his March 16 bout with Kenny Anderson. SES won the purse bid for the Groves bout, and will co-promote the May 5 card with Sauerland Event, who have a good working relationship with Frank Warren, Groves' promoter.

Groves (14-0, 11 KO) is a highly-regarded prospect and has done about all he's going to do domestically in the UK, but let's not forget that he is still a 24-year-old prospect, whose best win came over another prospect, James DeGale, and that was debatable, too. The 30-year-old Stieglitz is no world-beater, but he's a capable pro and could certainly prove to be more than a handful for the talented young Groves. If he does not, then Groves may be a special fighter indeed.

Huck vs Afolabi II is a rematch of a very close fight from December 2009, which Huck won on scores of 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112. Mayweather vs Cotto is, of course, on May 5, so BoxNation subscribers in the UK are getting quite a day of action from the channel, and those American fans inclined to find a way to catch this card will also have a fine full day of the fight game.