Family comes first as George Groves prepares for life outside of the ring

It was peril that came with boxing which under-pinned his desire to officially walk away from the sport on Monday, aged just 30

The Briton is now looking to focus his competitive energy elsewhere (Getty)

As George Groves held court for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, his two young sons played in the reception area of the modern London office he will now call home.

The boys, Theodore and Albie, aged two-and-a-half and seven months, will enjoy immense privilege thanks in no small part to their dad's willingness to put his life on the line 32 times during a decade as a professional boxer.

But it was such peril that under-pinned his desire to officially walk away from the sport on Monday, aged just 30, four months on from his stoppage defeat to Callum Smith in a Saudi Arabian sports centre.

“I've got a lovely family now, I've got two boys,” Groves said. “My missus has had to put up with me boxing for so long. You're so self-absorbed that you don't comprehend the feelings of everyone around you but it's a great relief for them.

“I'll be able to spend some better time with them and not always have to put boxing first. So that's good for me. I'll enjoy that part of life.

“There's always talk about going out on top, unfortunately for me that means going out on a loss but it's going out at the highest level. I'm happily satisfied and it makes a lot of sense to me.

“I got to world champion, No 1-rated fighter in the division and managed to earn from the defences. That was it. I've got a young family now and I wanted to spend my better years with them.”

But, despite appearing a little more fleshy around the midriff than usual, the competitive nature which finally drove him to the WBA super-middleweight title in 2017 still burns.

“I want to get great at something else, to be honest,” he added. “I'm just not sure what.

“I don't think it's going to be badminton or anything athletic. My athletic days are over... No more combat sports. The dislocated shoulder was enough for one career. I already feel fat and out of shape so if that's what it feels like to be a civilian I need to do something about it.

“I suppose I still do see myself as a fighter to a certain degree. That might take a while to change or it might never change. As long as keep the attributes of a fighter that work well in future that's all good.

“I'm going to be here at Wasserman managing fighters. I could be very good at it. I might also indulge in something, I don't know what else.”

George Groves in action against Callum Smith during the World Boxing Super Series middleweight final (Reuters)

That could even mean reigniting his fledgling career as a comedy screenwriter, which began nearly 10 years ago when he was a young pro.

“I will not be pipe or slippers and golf at the weekend,” Groves said. “I need to find that sitcom I started writing about a boxing, I think it was really funny, but it might not have been.

“It was loosely based on some of the things that I had seen and been part of early in my career. Comedy is a passion but I don't know if I a am funny enough to make a living out of.”

Groves' dry sense of humour has endeared him to British boxing fans and media alike, who reacted to news of his retirement by providing swathes of well-wishes. But while he always attempted to make light of the brutality in which he traded, the Londoner's story was also touched by the darker side of the sport when he crossed paths with Eduard Gutknecht in the November of 2016.

The Kazakhstan-born German suffered life-changing injuries as a result of the one-sided defeat at the hands of 'The Saint' at Wembley Arena that night and Groves paid a touching tribute to the 36-year-old in Monday's retirement statement.

“My fight with Eduard Gudknecht...” Groves started. “After that fight I knew my days were numbered.

“After that I was only going to stay in the sport for as long as was necessary.

Groves' dry sense of humour has endeared him to British boxing fans and media alike (Getty)

“Straight after that I got the Fedor Chudinov fight which is when I ticked one box which was to win a world title and the next was to leave the sport with some money.

“I signed for the World Boxing Super Series tournament and earned good money and that was enough for me.”

However, in walking away, Groves has also turned his back on a potential rematch with James DeGale which would have added more millions to the retirement fund.

The pair had shared one of British boxing's best known modern rivalries, which dated back to their amateur days as youngsters at Dale Youth.

Groves beat him back then – and again in 2011 once they had both turned pro – but a third contest has always been seemingly on the table.

But not now, and Groves retires with a record of 2-0 against the 2008 Olympic champion.

When asked how it feels to walk away from such a money-spinning encounter, Groves said: “I have already earned millions in one night but then again it is not just one night's work.

James DeGale won't get his rematch against George Groves (Getty Images)

“It is a lot of hard work and sacrifice, especially now with my two little boys. I never wanted to be a fighter who had a fight for the sake of it, or the money.”

DeGale, incidentally, is preparing to face another of Groves' victims, Chris Eubank Jr, on 23 February and the dad of two could not stifle a smile as he imagined how news of his retirement might have gone down in 'Chunky's' training camp.

“It does feel good but maybe he doesn’t care,” Groves said. “but I am pretty sure he does.

“He has taken the Eubank fight thinking he can fight me next and he can't, that ship has sailed. Ideally this flattens him and demoralises him for a couple of weeks, if that was his agenda.”

Although he never lost to DeGale, Groves retired with four defeats on his record, all in world title fights, three inside the distance and two at the hands of Carl Froch. He is not absent-minded enough, therefore, to insist he did everything right.

“There’s definitely plenty of regret,” he says in closing. “I always hear people insist: ‘I’ve got no regrets!’ And I think ‘really? You’ve just written off your car!’

“There are plenty of regrets but maybe I do think everything happens for a reason.

“I mean, who knows? The worst case scenario would have been beating Froch in the first fight and then fighting DeGale at Wembley and getting knocked out by him in front of 80,000 people.

“DeGale was mandatory at the time so we were on the cusp... you never know... fucking hell.

“That would’ve been a nightmare.”