By Scott Gilfoid: In yet another mismatch involving super middleweight contender James DeGale (15-1, 10 KO’s), he stopped an over-matched journeyman fighter named Sebastien Demers (31-6, 11 KO’s) in the 2nd round on Friday night at the Hilton Lac Leamy, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
In the 2nd round, DeGale nailed the 33-year-old Demers with a hard left uppercut that snapped his head back causing him to turn around and walk back to the corner and take a knee. Demers was then counted out after he failed to stand back up.
While it was a decent shot, it was hardly the type that I would consider a huge knockout blow. But then again, Demers came into the fight with a three-fight losing streak. Just why DeGale is still fighting this caliber of opposition at this point in his career is hard to understand.
It seems that DeGale has taken his career into reverse mode ever since he was beaten by George Groves two years ago, and I don’t see any improvement in his game whatsoever. I have noticed that his opposition is getting worse, though, and that makes wonder why.
DeGale showed the same poor defense that got him into trouble in the Groves fight in the 1st round when Demers consistently nailed him with big shots, including a huge, huge right hand that sent DeGale retreating backwards.
That right hand was a much better shot than the knockout block that DeGale landed in the 2nd round. I have no doubts that if Demers had kept hitting DeGale with shots like that he would have knocked him out. Unfortunately for Demers, he didn’t let his hands go enough to get the win. I mean, he just covered up most of the time and it reminded me of how a sparring partner would fight.
DeGale showed the same problems as in his recent fights where he voluntarily backs up to the ropes and just covers up. I think it’s a stamina thing because he just doesn’t look like he can fight hard for three minutes of every round without these rest breaks.
Believe me, when DeGale steps it up to 1st tier opposition one of these days, he’s going to get beaten badly when he tries this bit.
After the fight DeGale bragged: “Give me a couple of more fights. I’m going to be a world champion by the end of this year.”
I’m still trying to figure out how DeGale can become a world champion by the end of the year when he clearly doesn’t have the talent to beat any of the current world champions. If he can’t even beat George Groves then that tells you all you need to know about DeGale’s chances of beating the existing world champions at 168. It just seems like an utter pipe dream on his part in terms of him beating any of the champions.
Other boxing results on the card:
Baha Laham KO 5 Alan Paredes
Andrew Gardiner RTD 5 Emiliano Cayetano
Tony Luis UD 6 Maurycy Gojko
Mian Hussain UD 6 Alessio Domarin
Schiller Hyppolite KO 3 Martin Avila
Pascal Villeneuve UD 4 Fouad Nasri
Zach Bunce RTD 3 Donald Willis
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