By Scott Gilfoid: George Groves and Chris Eubank Jr. both took shots at James ‘Chunky’ DeGale on Twitter following his 12 round unanimous decision upset loss to American fringe contender Caleb Traux (29-3-2, 18 KOs) last Saturday night at the Copper Box Arena in London, England.
Groves told DeGale to retire from the sport, because it’s all over for him. Eubank Jr. said DeGale’s performance was “shameful.”
“Call it a day mate, you ain’t got it anymore,” said Groves to DeGale on his Twitter.
A lot of fans are saying the same thing Groves is about DeGale needing to retire from the sport. DeGale won’t retire, of course. He’s give it another go at some point in 2018, but I doubt that he’s going to improve on the performance he put in against Truax. DeGale looks like he doesn’t have it anymore.
DeGale lost to Truax by the scores 115-112, 116-112 for Truax, and 114-114. This was the 4th defense for DeGale of his IBF super middleweight title.
Truax was the last guy that you would think that would have the talent to separate DeGale from his IBF title. Truax didn’t show much in the way of hand and foot speed during the bout. DeGale made it easy for Truax by constantly running to the ropes to cover up each round. Traux had to be wondering what kind of game DeGale was playing. He was making it too easy for Truax by presenting a trapped and stationary target. DeGale have brief moments where he would be in the center of the ring, but then he would dash back to the ropes to cover up. It looked like DeGale didn’t have the stamina to stay in the center of the ring, although he blamed the defeat on his shoulder problem.
Before the defeat to the 34-year-old Truax, DeGale (24-2-1, 14 KOs) had been blabbering on Friday about him fighting Groves for 10 million pounds in 2018. I think it’s safe to say that DeGale won’t be fighting Groves for that kind of money anytime soon. It’s been 6 years since Groves beat DeGale in 2011 by a 12 round majority decision. Groves wanted to wait until both of them are world champions before fighting a rematch. Well, it looks like DeGale will need to try and claw his way back to world title status before he can start yapping about a rematch with Groves.
“After all the trash talk & disrespectful comments @jamesdegale1 you go & put on a display like that!! All I can say is WOW!!! You have properly let down British Boxing #Shameful,” said Eubank Jr. on his Twitter.
DeGale isn’t the same fighter that fought a 12 round draw against former WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack last January. The question is did Badou Jack give DeGale such a beat down that he finished his career? It kind of looks like that to me. I’m just saying. DeGale looks like a shot fighter now. His performance had nothing to do with his shoulder. He looked like he’s over the hill at 31.
”want the rematch. That’s what I want,” said DeGale in talking about Truax.
We’ll have to wait and see if DeGale and Truax will fight again. If DeGale does fight Truax in a rematch and lose, it’s a good idea for him to retire rather than let himself become a trial horse for the other contenders. If DeGale can’t even beat a fringe contender like Truax at this point in his career, it means there won’t be any more world titles for him.