By Harry Hogg – Twitter: @HazHogg
On Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel, on the famous Las Vegas strip, all eyes will be on the junior-middleweight unification showdown between Erislandy Lara and Jarrett Hurd.
For British fight fans, the focus will very much be on the undercard, where James DeGale attempts to avenge his December nightmare and reclaim the IBF super-middleweight title from Caleb Truax.
This time last year, DeGale was ranked by many as the best super-middleweight in the world. Coming off a brutal twelve round draw with Badou Jack, which was seen as a highly debatable decision with many believing the Brit did enough to get the win, despite Floyd Mayweather’s “Bad for Boxing” rant.
De Gale was out of action for the majority of the year because of a shoulder injury, which required surgery.
A December return at the Copper Box Arena in London was the perfect opportunity to ease him back into action, ahead of a huge 2018.
Truax had clearly not read the script.
It was all set-up to be a jubilant homecoming for ‘Chunky’ after 3 years boxing overseas. But what was supposed to be a straight-forward defence, quickly turned into a nightmare.
DeGale looked drained and sluggish from start to finish and found it increasingly difficult to get into any sort of rhythm.
For the most part, he was bullied by the American, who forced DeGale back onto the ropes repeatedly before unleashing powerful combinations.
And at one point in the fifth, Truax threatened the stoppage with a series of powerful uppercuts which almost sent the champion crashing to the canvas.
As the two fighters were brought together at the end, a visibly distraught DeGale raised his hand in hope, rather than expectation.
Leaving the arena, many were left contemplating what went wrong. Was it purely an off night from a badly prepared DeGale, or was it deeper than that, a worrying sign that the former Olympian had begun to descend down that slippery slope that is decline.
The Brit stated in his post-fight interview, that coming back from shoulder surgery so soon was too blame.
Weeks of criticism followed, and DeGale himself would have had to question what went wrong in his preparations. He would have had to look at the team around him, and of course, himself.
It would have been a difficult Christmas for the beaten champion, a shock to the system more than anything else.
The reasons were obvious to see. DeGale looked unfit, both physically and mentally. The movement and sharp combinations that we are so used to seeing were completely missing.
We also saw a familiar vulnerability come to the fore once again, DeGale’s tendency to fade late on. A flaw which has frequently plagued him, most notably in the last few rounds against Jack. The late knockdown that night cost him the victory on the scorecards.
And of course, great credit has to go to Truax, who on the night was dogged and resilient from the first round to last. The American was superb in the way he managed to push DeGale back consistently and force him into a dogfight, he was a deserved winner on the night.
Whether DeGale and his team underestimated the American, only they will know. But no way would they have expected him to be as good as he was on the night.
He has made changes, former two-weight world champion and now analyst Paulie Malignaggi has been drafted in to assist during training camp.
The challenge for Truax now, of course, is to repeat that performance against what is surely going to be a much-improved opponent.
For DeGale, Saturday night is a chance for redemption, a get out of jail card effectively.
By his own admission, defeat could potentially signal the end of his career, the stakes could not be higher.
The pressure has undoubtedly been ramped up by long-term domestic rival George Groves, after the London man’s boxing masterclass against Chris Eubank Jr. back in February.
A victory would put DeGale right back into the mix, future unification bouts with the likes of Groves, as well as Callum Smith, Gilberto Ramirez and David Benavidez in what is becoming an increasingly exciting division.
Perhaps more crucially though, victory would regain some credibility and silence some of the doubters who claimed he’s abilities were beginning to diminish.
Saturday night represents a chance to put things right in what truly is a career-defining fight. Perhaps one that has now become the biggest of his career.
There simply cannot be any mistakes this time around.