Sometimes a fighter comes along that makes me think, ‘I just don’t know’.
James DeGale is that fighter.
Following his historical victory against Andre Dirrell in Boston to clinch the IBF Super-Middleweight belt, making him the first Brit to win an Olympic Gold Medal and a major world title, I couldn’t help but ask myself, ‘What took him so long?’
To look at DeGale, he appears to have all the attributes. 6 feet tall, lean, muscular, quick on his feet, a switch hitter with good power in the punch as well as a decent chin. Why had the leap from Olympic success to world title taken so long?
The fight game calls for patience and often when a fighter seems to skip ‘paying his dues’ it can be frowned upon, but seven years? Seven years ago was the gold medal win in Beijing. After making the decision to go pro, DeGale filled his record with a string of varied opponents giving various different performance levels which gives a suggestion as to why he wasn’t given a bigger push and personally, I didn’t think he ever deserved it.
The main bump in the road though appears to have been (and remains to be), George Groves.
These two guys do not like each other one little bit. As amateurs, they were rivals and with Groves scoring a victory when the two faced off with vests and headguards, that obviously grated with DeGale. With all of the pre-fight nonsense came a vulnerability in DeGale that just cannot be exposed if you want to be a success in the sport of kings.
When these two fought in the pro ranks in 2011, the fight was close. Too close to call really so how a majority decision went the way of Groves, the judges only know. When the decision was read out, you could visibly see DeGale’s edge, drifting away out of the arena and at the time, his hopes of becoming what he now is, seemed to drift away with it.
Groves exploded after that night and put himself in the limelight whilst DeGale slunk away and for a very short time, it appeared we would never see him in the ring again. The bitterness of that defeat did not seem to act as a catalyst but rather a stake in the heart. Whilst racking up some more victories at European level, DeGale never really convinced that he had the heart to go all the way. Groves in the meantime notched some rather large names on his bedpost and if it weren’t for a very suspect piece of refereeing in his first fight with Carl Froch, could very well have snared that world title for himself. That brings me to where I believe DeGale’s true renaissance came to fruition.
The indignity of having to fight on the undercard of a George Groves show must surely have finally snapped DeGale. If Groves had won his rematch with Froch, the boxing press would have yet again compared the two, and once again, DeGale would have been left in the shadow of his most bitter rival. Seeing Groves knocked out at the hands of Froch in front of 80,000 people at Wembley Stadium, I believe finally lit a fire in DeGale. To see his bitter rival out cold in front of the largest stadium crowd British Boxing has ever seen must have taken him back to that night in 2011 where he still maintains, Groves robbed him.
Finally the question in his mind of ‘Was he good enough?’ disappeared and all that was left, was the desire to show the world that not only was he better than his old rival, he was ready to take not just the steps, but the leaps and bounds required of a fighter to make them a world champion. In the process he could overtake Groves and be recognized as the better man.
Now a world champion, I can very well see DeGale wanting to put this ghost to bed. He will want to not only fight Groves, but KO him just as Froch did.
Britain needs this sort of fight. We need to show the world that fights such as Froch vs Groves are not one offs, rather just one of a conveyor belt of quality fights that will not just electrify the pay-per-view figures in the UK, but finally around the globe. The fact that DeGale went to Boston and beat a quality fighter in his own back yard must surely raise his profile to the heights where not only will his nickname be ‘Chunky’, but his bank balance and audience viewing figures will be too.
Admitting you were wrong about a fighter isn’t something you like to do too often. On this occasion, I’m more than happy to eat a slice of humble pie. All hail to the new Champ.
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