By Scott Gilfoid: #2 WBC James DeGale 18-1, 12 KO’s) is going to need to wait for his title shot against WBC super middleweight champion Sakio Bika a little bit longer, as the World Boxing Council has installed Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (48-1-1, 32 KO’s) as the #1 WBC challenger to Bika. DeGale was passed over by the WBC for some reason. There had been talk that DeGale would fight Badou Jack in a WBC super middleweight eliminator bout, but that idea went out the window with Jack’s 1st round knockout loss to Derek Edwards last month on February 28th.
Some of DeGale’s fans then thought that he’d automatically be installed as the mandatory challenger for Bika by the WBC, but apparently the WBC had other ideas. They felt that Chavez Jr. was the better man to be the mandatory than DeGale, as they ignored the British Boxing Board of Control’s advice to have DeGale as the No.1 mandatory for Bika, according to the Bristolpost.
My take on this is that the WBC might have been turned off by DeGale’s horrible opposition since his loss to George Groves, and they might have seen DeGale as totally undeserving of being the No.1 based on the soft opponents he’d been fighting in the last three years. I mean, let’s be real about this; DeGale hasn’t exactly been going out of his way to face talented opposition since the Groves fight.
Look at the guys that DeGale has fought during the last three years and you tell me if he deserves to be the WBC No.1 challenger: Gevorg Khatchikian, Dyah Davis, Stjepan Bozic, Sebastien Demers, Fulgencio Zuniga, Hadillah Mohoumadi, Cristian Sanavia and Piotr Wilczewski. That’s pretty much eight consecutive tune-up fights without a quality opponent mixed in, isn’t it? Where are the talents like Andre Dirrell, Anthony Dirrell and Edwin Rodriguez? How could DeGale have gone all those years without fighting one of them or at least some quality fighters.
For me, I think the WBC has been way too kind in ranking DeGale at number 2, because based on his terrible opposition he’s faced, I think he should be ranked near the bottom around No.15. The WBC needs to send a message that if a contender wants to get ranked high with their organization then they need to stop fighting stiffs and take some risks with their careers by facing talented fighters. I’m sorry, but I just see mediocre opposition as far as the eye can see when I look at DeGale’s resume.
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