By Scott Gilfoid: #4 WBO, #7 IBF, #9 WBA, James DeGale (16-1, 11 KO’s) expects to get a title shot against the winner of the November 23rd fight between IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (31-2, 22 KO’s) and George Groves (19-0, 15 KO’s) despite the fact that there are other fighters that are ranked well ahead of him. DeGale still thinks he’s going to be the one that gets to fight the winner.
DeGale told Sky Sports “I look at the Froch vs. Groves fight and I know that in the next six months it’s likely that I’ll fight the winner of that one, so it really is exciting times.”
I wonder what gave DeGale the impression that he should be the one that fights the winner of the Froch-Groves fight instead of someone else like Andre Ward or #8 WBA Andre Dirrell. Look at the rankings. Dirrell is ahead of DeGale, so he should be the one that gets a shot against the winner of the Froch vs. Groves, not DeGale.
Besides that, Dirrell has unfinished business with Froch after being on the receiving end of a controversial decision in Nottingham, UK back in 2009 when Dirrell was in the Super Six tournament. He dominated Froch in his home arena, and found himself going home the loser of the fight. Froch never gave Dirrell a rematch despite him asking for one in a neutral country.
DeGale hasn’t fought anyone good in his career, and we’re still waiting for him to step up against one of the talented super middleweights. Groves beat him by a 12 round decision back in 2011, and DeGale has been taking it slow ever since with C level opposition. Since his defeat at the hands Groves, DeGale has beaten the following fighters: Stjepan Bozic, Sebastien Demers, Fulgencio Zuniga, Hadillah Mohoumadi, Cristian Sanavia and Piotr Wilczewski. DeGale’s wins over Wilczewski and Mohoumadi because he appeared to lose to both of them and yet still get the decision. I thought that was some really sorry scoring and reminds me of the scoring for the Ricky Burns vs. Raymundo Beltran fight.
I don’t mind DeGale getting a title shot, as long as he earns it first, and I don’t think he has. The opposition has been way too soft, and his controversial decisions has left a cloud over his head that is hard to ignore.
If DeGale is going to get a title shot, I’d prefer it be against WBC champion Sakio Bika rather than the Froch and Groves winner. The winner of that fight should be facing Dirrell or Ward. Of course, I doubt that their promoter Eddie Hearn will match either of them against those guys because they’re too dangerous and would likely spoil the party. I don’t think DeGale is going to get a fight against either of them.
Froch is the only that’s mentioned wanting to fight DeGale, because Groves already beat him. There’s no point in Groves going over old ground by whipping DeGale again. And I see Groves beating Froch, so there’s no way that DeGale is going to get a fight against the winner.
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