George Groves has revealed that Eduard Gutknecht's family has absolved him of any blame surrounding the fighter's condition, allowing him to concentrate on his fourth world-title fight later this month.

The 29-year-old challenges Fedor Chudinov for the vacant WBA super-middleweight title at Sheffield's Bramall Lane on May 27, fighting for the first time since November's defeat of Gutknecht that left the German disabled.

Gutknecht collapsed after that one-sided victory, spent five weeks in a coma, is yet to rediscover the ability to speak or walk and his family have been told he will never recover to the point he does not require care.

Groves set up a fundraising appeal for his stricken opponent, eventually raising £4,620.50, but after meeting his family he has since focused on his bid to become a world champion after his past defeats inflicted by Badou Jack and Carl Froch.

"I managed to see him before he went back to Germany," said Groves. "I met his wife and his sister and they gave me a big hug straight away. I knew they were feeling it, but they didn't blame me.

"They said, 'This is sport, we understand'. To relieve me of that sort of guilt was a wonderful thing that they didn't need to do, I really appreciated that; he's still in our prayers and we all hope for an improvement for him soon so he can get back to a good standard of living.

"I've got to be honest, selfishly right now I try not to think about it too much.

"It's sad, it's distressing. He's not in a good way, his family are struggling, he hasn't made the improvements that we prayed he would.

"It's tough for my family to see; they are worried about him and worried about me, worried about my health. It's not nice.

"He's in a very bad way. I still have to fight, I don't have the luxury of quitting yet, I don't want to, selfishly, and I couldn't anyway. You try not to think about it too much.

"I'm pretty good at shutting the gym door and getting on with work, I'm hoping I can do that on fight night, (but) you never know."

The retired Chris Eubank said he lost his finishing instinct after his similarly-tragic 1991 fight with Michael Watson that left the latter partially disabled.

Groves believes he will only know if he has been affected in the same way when he enters the ring against Russia's impressive Chudinov, also 29, and recognises that if he does not win world honours then, then he will never succeed in doing so.

"It's instinct, isn't it? So you won't know until you know," he said. "Sparring partners are trying to hit me and I'm trying to hit them back so it's hopefully still there. It certainly needs to be.

"After the Badou Jack fight I was thinking (it was not meant to be for me to win a world title): it's in the back of your mind, that ticking clock.

"I don't want to be, 'I've lost the fight because I've been robbed (against Froch), I've lost the fight because I've been knocked out (in the Froch rematch), because I didn't do enough (against Jack)'. I've covered all bases now.

"There will be elements of (desperation); the best way to get rid of the desperation, the pressure or anxiety is to be fully prepared."