Since the retirements of George Groves, James DeGale and Carl Froch, Britain has been waiting for its next super-middleweight star.
But Groves believes British and Commonwealth champion Callum Simpson can follow in their footsteps.
“He’s already got a tremendous following. He’s going to get looked after in that respect because he’s commercially valuable. The people of Barnsley are behind him, and beyond,” Groves told Sky Sports.
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Simpson gets a controversial TKO win against Woodall after the referee stops the bout in the second round
“I think as he goes through the levels that will only get bigger. From what I’ve seen of Callum Simpson I really like him. I really like his attitude. I like the way he fights.
“He sort of burst on the scene of late. He’s not like an amateur star who before people had even seen him were talking about him. So I respect that as well. I like that about him.
“You’d struggle to go against saying Callum Simpson can get to the very top because he hasn’t given us any reason to doubt that. We just want to see him in more great fights.”
Simpson, just three weeks after his last fight, is accepting a short-notice assignment to defend the Commonwealth title against Elvis Ahorgah at the OVO Arena Wembley on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.
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Simpson and Mark Jeffers discussed whether they’d fight each other in the future, provided they both emerge victorious from their next bouts
“I think this is great. Obviously someone’s loss is someone’s gain. Maybe with the Isaac Chamberlain-Viddal Riley fight falling through, there was an opening to make this show better and they brought Callum in recently after a good win last month,” Groves said.
If he is victorious Simpson will be looking to box at the Oakwell stadium in Barnsley later this year. With his popularity, Simpson might not even need the kind of grudge match that Groves had with both DeGale and Froch.
“Keep that momentum going and a huge fight at Oakwell. He’ll need a serious fight for that. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a rival or a big name or whatnot. But it needs to be something that can be sold. But I like him,” Groves said.
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Watch the classic ‘Ringside’ encounter from 2013 when Carl Froch and George Groves clashed ahead of their epic first fight
So could he become the new George Groves? “He could well be,” Groves himself said. “He’s a little bit too nice.
“You need people who don’t deserve to be in front of you randomly in front of you to bring out the George Groves,” he added with a laugh. “And then he sticks the knife in! But we might not see that with Callum.”
Watch Simpson vs Ahorgah this Saturday live on Sky Sports
