Liverpool's former British super middleweight champion Paul Smith believes he will derail the progress of George Groves when the two clash in a British and Commonwealth title fight on the undercard of the Ricky Burns v Michael Katsidis WBO interim lightweight title fight at the Wembley Arena in London on November 5.

29-year-old Smith (31-2, 17 KO's) has bounced back with a vengeance after losing his British title to James DeGale last December with two first round knockouts this year. Smith demolished Hungarian journeyman Jozsef Matolcsi in less than a minute on the DeGale v Groves undercard in May, and was back in action four months later, icing one-time Welsh prospect Paul Samuels in 182 seconds. 

It has been an emphatic, confidence building return by the Liverpool man, who was ranked third in the world at super middleweight by the WBO prior to his loss to DeGale, who was himself subsequently beaten on points by Groves in May.

Styles make fights, and while Smith had no answer to the silky skills that the DeGale brought to the ring last December, his aggressive boxer-puncher style could cause big problems for the often easy to hit Groves.

As Smith himself said in a recent interview: ''styles win fights and I know I have the style to beat him (Groves). He leaves himself open. I feel he is an overrated fighter who had a one-off performance against DeGale. DeGale is an awkward fighter to face. When you get in the ring he surprises you with the shots he throws. For Groves he had the advantage having sparred with him in the past, there was no shock factor. His win against DeGale does not give me any nightmares.''

Despite his boxing skills, 23 year old Groves (13-0, 10 KO's) has established a reputation for himself as something of a brawler, and will often abandon his corner's game plan to get ''stuck-in'' to his opponent. This almost proved his undoing against Scotland's Kenny Anderson last November. Groves had to climb off the canvas in the fourth round and absorb several big right-handers flush on the jaw from the dangerous, unbeaten Anderson before rallying in the sixth round to force a stoppage.

Unsurprisingly, Groves was a clear underdog going in to his fight with DeGale in May. It was believed that the smooth, counterpunching style of the Olympic champion DeGale would be the perfect foil for the gung-ho, wide open assaults of Groves. However on the night, Groves boxed like a dream - reverting to the style that had won him two ABA titles - following the game plan set out by his trainer Adam Booth to perfection, and frustrating DeGale all night long to emerge with a close majority decision.

Will Groves choose to fight Smith the way he fought DeGale, or will he revert to his favored ''tear-up'' tactics? Fight fans and Paul Smith himself will be hoping it is the latter.

Big Fight Odds: George Groves 1/7, Paul Smith 4/1 bet365