By Scott Gilfoid: EBU super middleweight champion James DeGale (12-1, 9 KO’s) plans on making up for lost time by staying busy in 2012 and fighting at least six times before the end of the year.

DeGale, 26, defeated challenger Cristian Sanavia last Saturday night by a 4th round TKO. For DeGale, it was his first fight in six months, which really isn’t a long spell to go between fights nowadays.

Still, DeGale wants to be a lot busier than that, and he plans on shooting for a title in a year and half. DeGale had a chance to fight World Boxing Organization 168 pound champion Robert Stieglitz, but he turned down the fight in order to make a mandatory defense of his European Boxing Union title.

DeGale said to thesun.co.uk “I’m hoping to fight at least six times this year. I don’t mind if they are eight rounders or 12 rounders just as long as I see action inside the ropes. My target is to fight for the world title inside 18 months.”

It’s too bad DeGale turned down the Stieglitz fight because it doesn’t get any better than that for DeGale. It’s not as if he’s going to get an easier option than that in the future. DeGale isn’t going to beat IBF champ Lucian Bute, and WBA/WBC title holder Andre Ward would be far too good for DeGale to have any chance against.

He would flounder against both guys. I think DeGale is assuming too much about his belief that he’ll keep getting better and better over time. I don’t see him being any better in a year and a half than he is now, and the only thing he’ll have done is waste that time when he could have stayed busy against quality opposition instead of the Euro level opponents he’s now padding his resume with.