By Scott Gilfoid: Super middleweight James DeGale (16-1, 11 KO’s) is ready to start facing the top world contenders/champions after he gets past 2nd tier fighter Dyah Davis (22-3-1, 10 KO’s) next month on November 16th at the Glow, Bluewater, Greenhithe, Kent, UK. DeGale, 27, has been taking things ultra slow since turning pro in 2009 after capturing a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics for the UK.
DeGale is hoping that an impressive victory over Davis will open doors for him to get a title fight against IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch or WBA champion Andre Ward. I haven’t heard Ward saying he’s interested in facing DeGale, but Froch has mentioned his name in the past, so that’s probably a fight that DeGale can get in the very near future if Froch wins his fight next month against George Groves on November 23rd. A loss for Froch might put DeGale in the position where he’d had to pray that Groves would elect to give him a fight.
DeGale did try to step it up a little two years ago against Groves, but he was beaten by a 12 round majority decision. After that experience, DeGale, #4 WBO, #5 IBF, #5 WBC, #10 WBA, retreated backwards with his career in returning to the soft opposition he’d faced before his loss to Groves. DeGale has won his last six fights against less than impressive opposition. The 32-year-old Dyah Davis fits in with the type of opposition that DeGale has been fighting since the Groves loss. In other words, a good safe opponent for DeGale.
DeGale said this via Fightnews.com “It’s time now for me to make a statement because it’s not about treading water, trust me, I do want the big fights and I want the big names…I know where a good performance here can lead me.”
I honestly don’t see Davis as being a big enough name to impress Froch, Ward, Mikkel Kessler, Sakio Bika or Robert Stieglitz. I mean, Davis is a 2nd tier fighter, isn’t he? The last time I checked he wasn’t ranked in the top 15 by any of the sanctioning bodies, so how on earth are Ward and Froch supposed to be impressed that DeGale is beating Davis. If anything, I can see them being more disappointed with DeGale due to him not stepping it up a level to face a world class contender instead of yet another 2nd tier guy.
Davis isn’t the kind of guy that is going to impress fans if DeGale beats him. If DeGale wants to impress fans, Froch and Ward, then he’ll step it up and face the Dirrell brothers or Edwin Rodriguez. I think Ward and Froch would be impressed if they saw DeGale beating those guys because it would show that he’s for real as a fighter. But he can’t prove that by beating Dyah Davis, because it’s already been done before. Bika defeated David by a 10th round stoppage last year in June in a fight that was one-sided for 10 rounds. Aaron Pryor Jr. boxed his way to an 8 round unanimous decision over Davis in 2010.
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