By Scott Gilfoid: James DeGale (20-1, 14 KOs) has had an up and down career since turning pro in 2009. He’s looked good at times when matched against the right type of opponent, but then he’s struggled badly when put in with the likes of George Groves, Piotr Wilczewski, and Hadillah Mohoumadi. But after those three arguable losses, DeGale has righted his ship and won his last seven fights in impressive fashion against clearly weaker opposition than those three fighters.
DeGale, 29, is now 8 days away from fighting for the vacant IBF super middleweight title against the talented American Andre Dirrell (24-1, 16 KOs) on May 23rd at the Agganis Arena, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The DeGale vs. Dirrell fight will be shown on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC.
While many boxing fans see DeGale as an underdog in this fight, DeGale believes that he’s going to put in the best performance of his career in the process of beating Dirrell. I wish I could agree with DeGale’s rosy outlook in this fight, but I can’t. I’ve seen too many of DeGale and Dirrell’s past fights for me to give DeGale a chance of winning or looking good.
“I honestly think you’re going to see the best performance of my career,”DeGale said via the Mirror.co.uk. “This one is going to top it off by winning the world title and making history. I thrive on the pressure.”
DeGale is stuck on trying to make history by becoming the first British fighter to win both a gold medal in the Olympics and a world title. While I do think DeGale will eventually stick around the sport long enough to win a paper title against someone along the lines of Arthur Abraham, I don’t see DeGale as being able to accomplish that against a talent like Dirrell.
DeGale is too slow, too flat-footed, and too easy to hit for him to ever beat Dirrell in my estimation. But I do think DeGale would likely beat Abraham. I’d give him a 50% chance of defeating WBC champion Badou Jack. That would be a very, very tough fight for DeGale though due to Jack’s ability to apply a lot of pressure.
DeGale is currently in Miami, Florida, still training for the Dirrell fight. Once he wraps up his training camp, he’ll go over to Boston and face what shapes up to be the best opponent he’s ever fought before in the pros or the amateurs. Dirrell is likely going to be the best fighter that DeGale ever will face in his career. That’s just the reality of it.
“I’m feeling relaxed, chilled and can’t wait to perform,” DeGale said. “My time is here, next Saturday. I’ve trained very hard and you lot are in for a treat. I’m confident of winning.”
DeGale is unhappy that the fight couldn’t get staged in the UK so that he would get the hometown advantage. However, Dirrell’s management won the purse big and they obviously saw the United States as the best location of the fight.
The Dirrell-DeGale fight will be televised on NBC on Premier Boxing Champions. It’s likely going to be seen by millions of fans.
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