By William Mackay: 2008 middleweight Gold Medalist for Britain James DeGale (1-0) is looking to put in an impressive performance in his next bout on Friday night against Jindrich Kubin (5-0, 3 KOs) at the Odyssey Arena, in Belfast, Ireland. DeGale, 23, was disappointed with his performance from three months ago in a four round decision over Vepkhia Tchilaia on February 28th, which resulted in DeGale receiving a steady stream of booing from the ringside boxing fans who booed him from the 2nd round until the end of the fight after the 4th.
For most fighters, it would have been enough that DeGale was able to beat the over-matched Tchilaia by a one-sided decision. However, for an Olympic Gold Medalist like DeGale, the boxing fans were expecting much more out of him, at the very least more aggression.
Indeed, DeGale fought what in a safety first manner through much of the four-round bout, taking few chances and mostly hitting and running. The lack of power shots from DeGale especially hurt his performance because he spent much of the bout slapping and throwing occasional back hands.
Given that Tchilaia was a fighter of only average talent level, it was assumed that DeGale would be able to dominate him enough to get a knockout victory. Unfortunately, DeGale missed his chance to impress the fans by not putting much energy into his shots and looking as if he was still fighting as an amateur.
This time, DeGale promises to be much more aggressive and plans on trying to impress the fans by going after Kubin from the first round in hopes of taking him out with something big. DeGale has never been a puncher, which is why that many boxing experts feel that he won’t make it to the upper level of the middleweight division.
Power is a criteria of success at middleweight and without it DeGale is likely to have much more limited success than he had as an amateur athlete in the Olympics. At 23, DeGale is still young enough to develop more power in the future as he gets older and matures as fighter, but by 23, you can usually tell whether a fighter is going to have punching power or not.
Still, DeGale should have enough punching power to take out the 30-year-old Kubin on Friday night, but what it proves is unclear. Beating a C-class fighter like Kubin by knockout is one thing, but beating a much better class of fighter in the same manner is a whole different kettle of fish.
DeGale plans on fighting more in the pocket against Kubin, and will be using less in an out movement than DeGale used in his first pro fight. DeGale is planning on using different angles and movement to create his opportunities rather than staying primarily on the outside like he did in his last fight.
Also on the same card, Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders will be fighting for the 2nd time in their pro careers. Unbeaten light welterweight prospect Gain (1-0, 1 KOs) will be facing Mourad Frarema (2-3) in a four-round bout.
Welterweight Saunders will be fighting Ronny Gabel (2-1, 2 KOs) in a four-round bout. Saunders, 19, stopped his first opponent Atilla Molnar in the 2nd round in his pro debut in February.
In the main event, heavyweight Commonwealth champion Martin Rogan (12-0, 6 KOs) will be defending his title against young 24-year-old challenger Sam Sexton (11-1, 4 KOs) in a risky bout for the 38-year-old Rogan. What makes the fight so risky for Rogan is that with his two back to back wins over Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton in his last two fights, Rogan has a lot to lose should he be defeated by Sexton.
There is talk of Rogan potentially getting a title shot in the near future against the World Boxing Association heavyweight champion. If Rogan is defeated by Sexton on Friday night, that potential fight is effectively off the table.
Rogan also would lose out on other good paying fights against talented local fighters or top European level heavyweights if things go badly with Sexton. Having seen both of them fight, Rogan appears to be the better heavyweight by substantial margin.
However, it’s hard to tell what will happen with Rogan if Sexton presses him hard for 12 long rounds. At Rogan’s age, he can possibly be worn down by the younger fighter and outpointed or stopped.
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