Groves not wowed by champion Jack

George Groves is venturing into enemy territory, but as long as the London native doesn't have to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Badou Jack at the same time Saturday, he figures he can handle things.

Groves (21-2, 16 knockouts) will try to separate Jack from his World Boxing Council super middleweight title in a scheduled 12-round bout at the MGM Grand Garden. The fight is on the undercard of the pay-per-view portion of Mayweather's main event fight against Andre Berto.

Jack (19-1-1, 12 KOs) won the title April 24, dethroning Anthony Dirrell, but Groves is unimpressed.

"(Jack) is just another fighter," Groves said. "If I do my job correctly, I can beat anyone in the world."

Groves, 27, said the fact Jack lives in Las Vegas and fights under the Mayweather Promotions banner doesn't faze him.

"It would be all that much sweeter to beat one of Floyd's guys in his own backyard," said Groves, who will be making his second appearance in Las Vegas. In May 2010, he stopped Alfredo Contreras in the sixth round at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

To prepare for Jack, Groves moved his training camp from London to Big Bear, Calif., where he and trainer Abel Sanchez were able to hone their game plan, get Groves acclimated to the Pacific time zone and improve his conditioning by training at altitude.

"It was the best move I could have made," Groves said. "I got away from all the distractions I would have had at home and we were able to really concentrate on getting ready for this fight.

"Training at altitude got me into fantastic shape. The only thing is I haven't seen my family in eight weeks. But that's how seriously I'm taking this fight. I'm totally committed to winning the title."

This fight originally was scheduled Aug. 22 as the main event on a Premier Boxing Champions card, but was pushed back to get on the Mayweather-Berto card. Both fighters kept working in their respective gyms, and neither said the delay is an issue.

"It gave me more time to get sharper," Jack said. "We were ready then, and we're ready now."

Groves said: "It was always in the back of our minds the date of Sept. 12. We were already set to come out, so it wasn't a problem."

Groves said he sees many flaws in the 31-year-old Jack, and without giving away his game plan, he said he plans to put the champion on the defensive and pressure him into mistakes.

"We want to make him work every second," Groves said. "There's nothing Badou Jack has done that I haven't seen before. We know his weaknesses, and we know where to go in there and exploit those weaknesses.

"I've studied his mannerisms. I know his history. I've seen him fight live. He's a good fighter. But we're 100 percent certain and prepared to win this fight. I plan on taking that belt back to England."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him: @stevecarprj