By Sean McDaniel 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist James DeGale could be fighting for a world title in 2011 if he’s busy enough to get a number of fights under his belt before the end of the year. DeGale (9-0, 7 KO’s) is undefeated as a pro and is looking better and better in each fight. When he first turned pro, there were a number of fans and even fighters that felt that DeGale lacked the hand speed and the power to make it big in the sport. However, DeGale has opened a lot of eyes with impressive performances against Carl Dilks and Paul Smith recently, stopping both of them inside the distance.

DeGale’s promoter Frank Warren had this to say in a column at thesun.co.uk: “If he [DeGale] fights five or six times in 2011, he’ll be banging on the door for a world title shot.”

That could mean that DeGale might not be fighting for a world title in 2011 if DeGale is only banging on the door and not actually signed for a fight. However, Warren is right that DeGale would be in the position for a world title shot because with a record of 15-0 after six fights in 2011, DeGale would likely be ranked high enough to get a title shot. Warren could really help DeGale by putting him in with top 20 opposition so that DeGale gets pushed up the rankings faster and learns more.

DeGale won’t get much from taking on local fighters that aren’t really good enough to be much more than a punching bag for DeGale to pound on. In DeGale’s last fight, he took apart Paul Smith, a very good fighter, and easily beat him by a 9th round stoppage to capture the British super middleweight title.