By Jim Dower: 2008 middleweight Olympic Gold Medalist for Britain James DeGale (3-0, 3 KO’s) destroyed Irish journeyman Ciaran Healy (10-11-1, 2 KO’s) in the 1st round on Saturday night at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, England. DeGale, 23, staggered Healy, 34, with a big left hook sending him retreating backwards again the ropes.
DeGale then quickly closed the distance and hammered Healy with a big left hook to the head followed by a lift-right to the midsection and then a left to the head that caused Healy to bend forward as if trying to duck DeGale’s shots.
Next, DeGale fired off a left to the midsection and then a big right to the kidneys that sent Healy down on the canvas. Healy rose slowly at the count of eight. However, just as Healy got to his feet, his corner threw in the towel. Referee Phil Edwards officially stopped the bout at 2:59 of the 3rd round.
DeGale looked slightly better then his last fight, also a 1st round knockout against a mediocre fighter. Although DeGale slapped a lot with his punches and looked slow and beatable, he found success by loading up with his shots in the ropes second of the fight. Healy, who came into the fight having lost three out of his last five fights, landed a series of weak hooks to the head of DeGale, taking advantage of DeGale’s aggressiveness.
DeGale, a southpaw, switched back and forth between the southpaw and orthodox fighting stance. The move was hardly needed because Healy stood absolutely no chance in this fight and would have had problems regardless of what fighting stance DeGale used in the fight.
Showing a little too much eagerness to impress, DeGale missed with a number of big shots in the first two minutes of action, swinging and missing repeatedly as he went for a knockout. Healy connected well as DeGale sought to slug it out with him at close range.
At one point, DeGale landed a big right hand that sent Healy flying backwards again the ropes. DeGale then moved quickly towards him and tagged him with several big left hooks and right hands to the head. Healy tried answering back but DeGale kept firing away with big right hands and left hooks to the head getting the better of Healy.
Finally, DeGale landed a big left hook that staggered Healy and causing him to move backwards against the ropes. It wasn’t the right move for Healy to take, however, as DeGale blasted away at him with huge body shots as Healy stood trapped again the ropes, finally sending him down on the canvas after landing a hard right hand kidney punch. The bout was then stopped by the referee at the exact same moment that Healy’s corner threw in the towel.
All in all, it was a good win for DeGale. He showed good power and combinations in putting Healy away. However, he still has a long ways to go to develop more power. He looked sloppy and weak at times, and slapped with a lot of his punches. I’d hate to see what one of the good middleweight contenders might have done to DeGale had they been in Healy’s place.
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