James DeGale, going nowhere fast.

By melo - 10/22/2014 - Comments

degale66By Daven: After comprehensively defeating Brandon Gonzales in arguably the most relevant bout of his career since the controversial encounter with George Groves, many assumed James “Chunky” DeGale would consequently vie for the IBF title within the year. Actually, this was explicitly promised by Eddie Hearn on a public platform. We were led to believe that DeGale joined Matchroom for the purpose of first raising his profile and second to obtain a world title fight.

To his credit, “Chunky” stuck to his end of the bargain by conquering the undefeated yet jet-lagged Gonzales in an apparent “world-title eliminator” in front of 80,000 spectators. However Eddie has not delivered the promised title fight. Instead placing James in an additional eliminator. DeGale is putting on a brave face publicly, suggesting Froch is too afraid to fight him. To those of us in the loop, it is obvious Froch is not afraid of James at all. Sadly, the “Cobra” not unlike thousands of boxing enthusiasts, simply regards Degale as a fringe contender, even though he looked impressive last time out.

The painful truth for DeGale’s team is that for all the cheap put downs of Froch, they’re only too aware James is simply not a big enough name to quench Froch’s appetite. He certainly lacks the star power of a Chavez Jr, Kessler and Golovkin, all of which are PPV fights stateside for the sheriff of Nottingham. Alarmingly for Ambrose Mendy there are a lack of viable options for his client. James will probably fight for the vacated IBF strap next year but who will he go up against? If it ends up being the kind of opposition Quigg’s been facing, then DeGale will be plagued with inevitable credibility issues. Nowadays vying for a world title is all well and good but the opposition matters and rightly so. Failing to confront the top dogs at 168 will all but kill any momentum DeGale experiences.

Ultimately I am struggling to envisage a scenario in the near future where DeGale can headline a successful show. It all comes down to marketing, he brings no particular trademark to the ring, accordingly his fan base is modest. Khan offers total unpredictability, Groves provides knock outs and Fury trash talks to get people talking about him, be it positive or negative press. For me, James has a massive identity crisis. Why should one part with good money to watch a largely unknown quantity perform? If he does win the IBF title next year, Eddie Hearn must work overtime to ensure big fights can be made. Somehow one cannot see this materializing, as playing it safe seems to the primary Matchroom tactic. A tactic somebody in James’ boat cannot afford.



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