By Scott Gilfoid: For boxing fans wondering when super middleweight James DeGale (10-1, 8 KO’s) will be back in the ring, DeGale says he should be back by September. He needs time for his cuts to heal from his controversial 12 round majority decision loss to George Groves last weekend. DeGale doesn’t see it as a loss, and feels that he should have won the fight, and I agree with him. It’s sad when the judges take a victory away from a fighter and give it to someone that’s running and spoiling the way that Groves was.

Speaking with sportsvibe.co.uk, DeGale said “I should have jumped on him [Groves] a littler earlier…I only have myself to blame. I should have put it on him from round one. I thought I was a couple rounds up. It’s hard to take, especially because I dislike the guy. I should have really won…With cuts, I need time to heal. In September I’m going to be straight back in the mix. I don’t feel like I lost properly. I don’t need George Groves. Obviously I’d like a rematch soon but he don’t want it. He said if the board [BBBofC] demands a rematch, he’s going to give up his belt. I don’t need George Groves. Maybe down the line when I’m a world champ, maybe we can fight again. I don’t need him. I’ll just move on and on my own route.”

This is good news. DeGale needs to get back in there against an excellent opponent and then make an example out of him. DeGale says he’s going to use the loss as motivation and for learning purposes. He’s going to jump on whoever he fights from now because he knows that if you start off slow, it sometimes doesn’t matter if you dominate your opponent for the next eight rounds like DeGale did last Saturday night, because the judges are looking at the early action and putting DeGale in a huge hole.

Groves is saying he won’t fight DeGale again until they fight for a world title in a year or two. But I’m wondering if Groves is holding out on the rematch hoping that when DeGale becomes a champion, he’ll pick Groves out of the bunch to fight rather than a top contender. If Groves fights DeGale straight away, Groves will surely lose but won’t get as much as he would if he gets picked out by DeGale once he becomes champion. For Groves, waiting until DeGale is a champion to fight him is a good way for Groves to ensure that there’s a pretty good chance of him getting a crack at a title. I don’t see Groves winning a title, so it’s got to be DeGale who be the one offering Groves a fight.