David Haye: George Groves performance against James DeGale "no surprise"

It's ironic after James DeGale's trash talking of George Groves as the "ugly kid" that his bitter rival is the one sitting pretty.

Groves upset the odds to bring golden boy DeGale's world crashing down at London's O2 and add the British super-middleweight title to his Commonwealth crown.

Suddenly after being viewed as the outsider, now Groves is the man being fast-tracked towards a world title shot.

David Haye, his stable-mate and pal, claims the Londoner may even be ready to be ready for a crack at one of the major belts next year and says he never doubted he would win his grudge match against DeGale.

"George proved a lot of people wrong on Saturday night, but his performance was no surprise to me or his trainer Adam Booth," said Haye.

"We've always believed George has the style, intelligence and ability to get the better of James, and that's what played out at the weekend.

"It's easy to forget that George is a British and Commonwealth champion with only 13 pro bouts to his name. If Saturday night was a sign of things to come, George can look forward to many more packed out nights in big arenas. That fight alone has made him an overnight star."

While Groves can get excited about what lies ahead, for DeGale, it's back to the drawing board.

DeGale's first pro defeat was a real slap in the face after he had been riding a wave since winning gold at Beijing in 2008.

Now we will see what Chunky is really made of and if he has the character to come back from this huge setback.

He can be thankful that he has Frank Warren in his corner and no British promoter has a better track record at guiding fighters to the very top.

DeGale need only look at how Warren revived his pal Amir Khan's career after the Breidis Prescott loss.

Few at ringside that night in September 2008 believed Khan could win a world title after that shattering loss.

Yet 10 months later, Khan delivered arguably his most-polished display as he outclassed Andreas Kotelnik to take the WBA light-welterweight title.

So there is hope for DeGale if he is prepared to work hard and learn the lessons of this defeat, such as doing your talking in the ring rather than out of it.

And if he does bounce back, just think how tasty that would make a Groves- DeGale III.

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