By Scott Gilfoid: #4 IBF James DeGale (18-1, 12 KO’s) has doubts whether #3 IBF Brandon Gonzales (18-0-1, 10 KO’s) will be able to fight hard for a full 12 rounds in their fight on Saturday night because Gonzales, 30, has never fought a 12 round fight before during his 7-year pro career. Gonzales has fought two 10 round fights in his last two fights, but other than that he’s gone 8 rounds and under.

DeGale sees this as his chance to take Gonzales deep and drown him when the two of them face each other at Wembley Stadium in London, UK.

“This guy has never been 12 rounds whereas I have been 12 rounds five times. That’s in you. You don’t get fit for 12 rounds over a 10-week camp – it takes years,” DeGale said.

Gonzales points out that he’s fought 13 and 14 rounds in the gym during a regular basis during training camp, and that he’ll have no problems in going 12 rounds if the fight makes it that far. Gonzales isn’t sure if DeGale will be able to last that long though, because he feels things happen in boxing and DeGale might not be standing by the 12th.

DeGale has only fought 12 rounds five times during his career, so it’s not as if he’s an expert in fighting 12 round fights or anything. In the fights that DeGale has gone 12 rounds – George Groves, Piotr Wilczewski, Hadillah Mohoumadi, Fulgencio Zuniga and Dyah Davis – he’s looked dog tired by the 10th, and has labored to make it the final two rounds to get to the 12th.

The chances are that if the fight goes 12 rounds, it’s going to be DeGale looking more tired than Gonzales because he’s not looked good in the past. In Gonzales’ last two fights in going 10 rounds, he’s looked pretty solid on both occasions in putting in good performances against Jonathan Nelson and Thomas Oosthuizen.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s DeGale who gasses out on Saturday and Gonzales the one looking strong at the end of the fight. DeGale is going to need to move an awful lot in this fight if he doesn’t want to get knocked out by Gonzales, and I see that as wearing DeGale down fast.