SWINDON trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick has said George Groves can still claim a world title after the pair split last month.

Fitzpatrick, who took the reins in 2013 after Groves parted company with Adam Booth midway through the training camp for the first defeat to Carl Froch, let the 27-year-old know via text that he thought it was best that they went their separate ways after the Londoner’s split decision loss to Badou Jack in Las Vegas on September 12.

The pair have not spoken since but Fitzpatrick has backed Groves to still be a world champion if he finds a trainer who he is prepared to go through the wall for.

“He is an excellent fighter in an excellent division and I still believe he can become a world champion,” said the Ferndale Road trainer.

“You can pick the fighter everyone perceives to be the best in the world and you can pick the coach everyone believes to be the best coach in the world but when you put them together it doesn’t always get the best results.

“I’m by no means saying that I am the best coach in the world, there are far more educated men than me, but you have to have a relationship and a bond that brings you through those patches when you are dying but the coach knows you are able to give.

“It is not down to George. It is not down to me. It is down to our communication or lack thereof, so I am not doing him a service by being there.

“I have full respect for him. He has a lot of things now he has got to deal with and put in to place. He has got to find someone that has that relationship he used to have with Adam (Booth).”

Fitzpatrick now has more time to focus on Garvey Kelly and Luke Watkins, who both came through last weekend with points victories.

Asked how the split affects the duo, who are both managed by Groves, Fitzpatrick replied: “In a great way because I am not missing for three months. He is their manager on paper. George was gracious enough that I didn’t have my manager’s licence so he took over, but there is no financial commitment and I do all their day-to-day stuff.”