George Groves had to overcome a bloody scare in his battle with Francisco Sierra at the HP Pavilion in California last night.

Sierra, now 25-6, used his jab and caught Groves with some clean right hands throughout, but the British banger kept his composure to out maneuver the 6'1 Mexican fighter, who has 22 knockouts in his 25 wins.

In the third round, Groves was cut by his right eye that poured out blood. At the start of the fourth, the referee ordered Groves to get his gash checked by the ring doctor, who granted Groves his wish to continue.

Groves continued to have issues with Sierra's ram rod jab from time to time but began to get the better of their exchanges. In the fifth, Groves was hurt by a body shot that forced him to hold and Sierra finished the round off by landing a left to the head.

It all came to a head in the sixth round but not before Sierra landed a right and more decent jabs. A right, left, right left combination from Groves put his man on the deck but he got up only to ship another right which forced the referee to step in.

Last night's fight was a tough one for the Londoner but he demonstrated his tremendous will to win despite being heavily cut and facing an opponent who could probably hit just as heavy as himself.

Sierra's record may have looked less than stellar on paper but he proved to be a stern test even though he is somewhat of an unknown quantity.

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