DeGale vs. Wilczewski: James beating Groves to the top

By Scott Gilfoid: James DeGale (10-1, 8 KO’s) is in an excellent position to get a title shot against one of the world champions in 2012 if DeGale can get by European Boxing Union (EBU) super middleweight champion Piotr Wilczewski (29-1, 10 KO’s) on September 17th.

The win is crucial for the talented #7 ranked WBO contender DeGale, because Wilczewski is ranked at #2 by the World Boxing Organization, just behind Mikkel Kessler at #1 and champion Robert Stieglitz. Kessler will likely be the champion before long, because he’s looking to fight Stiegltiz in the near future and Stieglitz can’t beat Kessler. This puts DeGale on a crash course with Kessler in the near future.

DeGale lost his last fight to George Groves last May by a controversial 12 round decision. The decision was a popular one in England, but elsewhere around the world many boxing fans still saw DeGale winning the fight. The loss hasn’t knocked DeGale down in the rankings. Indeed, if anything, DeGale is doing even better than before. Groves didn’t get a bounce that you would think he might have and still languishing at the bottom of the rankings by IBF and WBC.

DeGale said this to Sky Sports News “I’ve learned a lot from the Groves fight. Obviously cutting down the ring and throwing a lot more punches is the first thing, while keeping a good defense. When I boxed Groves, I made the first seven rounds a spar and although I was cutting down the ring, I wasn’t throwing enough punches.”

DeGale treats the loss as a learning experience and realizes how important it is to get rounds under his belt and learn from the experiences to get better. DeGale will obviously beat Groves to the top and that’s not just because DeGale is a couple of years older; it’s because he’s got huge talent and other people can recognize that. He just needs a good trainer and more experience he’ll be a champion in no time.

Wilczewski doesn’t have much power and is going to have problems with DeGale’s power and pressure that he puts on him in this fight. Wilczewski won’t have many options to fall back on. He can’t run because DeGale has been working overtime at cutting off the ring and applying pressure on his opponents. Wilczewski can’t stand and trade, because DeGale is too strong. If he does that, DeGale will mow him down quickly.

DeGale will get to the top, win a title and maybe show some generosity to Groves by giving him a shot a title. I don’t know DeGale will do this, because I certainly wouldn’t. Groves didn’t want to give DeGale a rematch after winning a controversial decision, so I think it’s only fair to have DeGale leave Groves out in the cold and let him fend fror himself and languish on the bottom of the division.

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