DeGale vs. Dirrell

By Scott Gilfoid: British promoter Eddie Hearn is expecting his fighter James DeGale to make history on April 25th when he battles American Andre Dirrell in a fight for the vacant IBF super middleweight title.

Hearn thinks DeGale will be the talented Dirrell to win the IBF title, and in the process become the first British Olympian to win a world title. Oddly enough, it’s never been done before by one of the British Olympic fighters for some reason, and Hearn thinks that out of all the British fighters that have tried and failed, DeGale will be the one guy to accomplish it.

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By Scott Gilfoid: It seems that James DeGale’s recent comments about him thinking he can stop #2 IBF super middleweight contender Andre Dirrell (24-1, 16 KOs) has woken the American talent up and got him riled a bit. Dirrell is now predicting that he’s going to whip the 29-year-old DeGale’s backside when he gets him inside the ring, whether that be in the UK or America.

Dirrell doesn’t care too much about where the fight takes place. He only knows that he’s going to thrash DeGale badly and take the vacant IBF super middleweight title, which was recently dumped by Britain’s Carl Froch.

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By Scott Gilfoid: Well, it looks like Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn, his fighter #1 IBF James DeGale (20-1, 14 KOs), and his many fans can forget about Andre Dirrell (24-1, 16 KOs) saying not to a fight against DeGale for the vacant IBF super middleweight title on April 25th.

Dirrell is saying he’s very interested in fighting for the IBF title against DeGale, and he doesn’t care if he has to go to the UK to win the title. Dirrell just wants the opportunity and he’s not going to turn down the fight.

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By Scott Gilfoid: #1 IBF James DeGale (20-1, 14 KOs) just got some really bad news with the word that the International Boxing Federation [IBF] is going to force the 29-year-old DeGale to face #2 IBF Andre Dirrell (24-1, 16 KOs) instead of DeGale being able to face anyone his promoter Eddie Hearn found for him to fight for the now vacant IBF super middleweight title.

Up until the IBF ordered the DeGale-Dirrell fight, DeGale and Hearn were hoping to setup a fight against fellow countryman George Groves in a stadium fight in the UK.

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By Scott Gilfoid: In the span of his short six-year pro career, #1 IBF super middleweight contender James DeGale (20-1, 14 KOs) hasn’t yet established himself as any kind of a puncher or even close to being a puncher. If anything, you can call DeGale more of a slapper with the way he throws wide, slapping hooks that frequently leave him vulnerable to the straighter shots from his often less than impressive opposition.

For that reason, it’s interesting to note that DeGale, 29, believes himself capable of stopping #2 IBF Andre Dirrell in their fight for the vacant IBF super middleweight title.

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By Scott Gilfoid: IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch’s time as the IBF 168 pound champion is nearing it’s end. He’s expected to vacate his IBF title before its stripped from him by the International Boxing Federation for Froch failing to defend it against his mandatory challenger James DeGale (20-1, 14 KOs).

DeGale’s promoter Eddie Hearn then expects #1 IBF DeGale to face #2 IBF Andre Dirrell (24-1, 16 KOs) in for the vacant IBF super middleweight title in a fight on April 25th at the O2 Arena in London, UK, according to ESPN.co.uk.

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By James P Sexton: This isn’t a guaranteed fight, but lets say Carl Froch opts to vacate his IBF title rather than defend it against his mandatory challenger in James DeGale. If this happens it could fall into place that American Andre Dirrell could face British James DeGale for the then vacant title at 168lbs. This could prove to be one of the best match ups that we can see. It is interesting for a number of reasons.

Firstly each man has only one loss and zero draws on their records. Each loss came via a very close decision. DeGale’s was a majority decision vs. George Groves and Dirrell’s was a split decision vs Carl Froch. Both of these losses came quite a few years back and each fighter has been on a string of wins.

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