By Scott Gilfoid: IBF super middleweight champion James DeGale (22-1, 14 KOs) is hoping to fight a unification fight this September in the UK against the winner of the April 30 fight between WBC 168lb champion Badou Jack and Lucian Bute. DeGale, 30, has to win his fight on the same date against his mandatory challenger Rogelio Medina (36-6, 30 KOs) at the Armory, in Washington, District of Columbia.
DeGale is calling himself a “road warrior” because he’s fought his last two fights outside of his home country of the UK in fighting in the U.S against Andre Dirrell and then in Quebec against Lucian Bute. DeGale won both of those fights, but they were definitely close affairs. They weren’t close to poor scoring from the judges. They were close because DeGale didn’t have the talent needed to beat Dirrell and Bute soundly.
It might be asking a bit much to have the Badou Jack vs. Lucian Bute winner travel to the UK to fight DeGale in front of a home audience. I mean, DeGale could get away with a move like that if he were fighting one of his contenders in the IBF’s rankings. But with Jack being a world champion, he really doesn’t need to travel to the UK to fight DeGale if he doesn’t want to, and there’s nothing DeGale can do about it.
The only thing he can do is try and encourage his promoter Eddie Hearn to lure the Jack vs. Bute winner to come to the UK to fight him by having him throw a bunch of money at them. I think Jack might do it if Hearn rains enough cash over his head. But I don’t know that Bute will be interested in going to the UK to fight DeGale. Bute had a bad experience the last time he traveled to the UK to fight in his 5th round knockout loss to Carl Froch in Nottingham in 2012.
“I keep telling people they have to know me as the road warrior, I am willing to go anywhere to prove that I’m the best,” said DeGale to the dailystar.co.uk. “I won my Olympic gold medal away from home, I won my world title away from home. But my homecoming is coming very soon. Once I beat Medina on April 30, I want the unification fight in London in front of my home people.”
You did notice that DeGale said “I want” the unification fight in the UK. The problem is that DeGale can’t force the fight to take place over in the UK. DeGale and his promoter Eddie Hearn are going to need to try and persuade the winner of the Badou vs. Bute winner to come over to the UK.
If I was DeGale, I wouldn’t hold my breath hoping that he’ll get the fight in his home country because I can definitely see it not taking place there. They need to have it take place in a neutral country where neither fighter will have an advantage. I could see a place like Canada or Germany being good if Badou is the guy that DeGale faces. If Bute wins the fight against Badou, then they should stage the fight in the U.S., because Bute and DeGale wouldn’t have any advantage if the fight were staged over there. Bute is a transplanted Romanian who fights out of Canada. The casual boxing fans in the U.S aren’t familiar with Bute.
“I am ready to go as soon as. I am going to come through this with no bumps or swellings, so September I will be ready and that would be perfect,” said DeGale.