IN an ideal world, this column would have been dedicated to one of the greatest ever upsets by a Scottish boxer.

But sadly Inverness heavyweight Gary Cornish was obliterated in over 90 seconds by Anthony Joshua in their Commonwealth title fight at London’s 02 Arena on Saturday.

The Olympic gold medalist demolished the Scot to continue his march towards world domination.

But while Joshua’s stock continues to skyrocket, the same cannot be said for another of Britain’s finest.

Super-middleweight contender George Groves was unsuccessful in his third attempt to win a world title after previously losing twice to bitter rival Carl Froch.

This time the Londoner suffered a split-decision points defeat to WBC champion Badou Jack on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather’s supposed ‘final’ win over Andre Berto in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Groves was dropped in the first and two of the three judges believed he didn’t do enough to claw back the deficit.

The 27-year-old was tipped to beat Jack, a solid yet unspectacular champion.

Groves has not been the same fighter since that earth-shattering knockout by Froch at Wembley Stadium and recent wins over Christopher Rebrasse and Denis Douglin did not impress most in boxing circles.

So after his loss to Jack plus the two crushing stoppage defeats by Froch, is Groves on his way to becoming one of British boxing’s perennial nearly-men?

Groves only has to look back at some of the former contenders in his own weight division who didn’t quite make it to the top of the mountain.

Sheffield’s Herol “Bomber” Graham is widely considered to be the greatest British boxer to never win a world title. Despite his amateur background and blinding speed, Graham, like Groves, failed in his three bids for gold against Mike McCallum, Julian Jackson and Charles Brewer respectively.

Three was the unlucky number for Yorkshire favourite Henry Wharton also after his valiant but inadequate efforts against English world title holders Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Robin Reid in the 90s.

In more recent years, Matthew Macklin couldn’t see off Sergio Martinez and Gennady Golovkin after suffering a controversial points loss to Felix Sturm while Martin Murray now hopes for glory up at super-middleweight following a debatable draw with Sturm before a robbery against Martinez and a brave showing against Golovkin.

But Groves can take inspiration from the man dubbed the people’s champion.

Frank Bruno’s losses to Tim Witherspoon, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis left the boxing universe wondering if he would ever win the world heavyweight crown.

But Bruno’s dream came true at the fourth attempt when he beat Oliver McCall for the WBC title at Wembley.

Groves can take some solace from Bruno’s battle but he needs to rethink and re-group.

A chance for current IBF champ and fierce rival James DeGale to gain revenge on the man who handed him his first defeat may be Groves’ only hope at a future world title crack.

For the full story see this week's Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald.