TALES OF OLYMPIC GLORY: JAMES DEGALE
With London 2012 well underway, FightHype UK presents it’s “Tales Of Olympic Glory” series. This series will focus on a number of boxers from all over the world who have represented their countries at the Olympic games before progressing to the professional ranks.
Understandably, not all boxing legends went to the Olympic games, but they still went on to have a successful career within the sport. For many, however, the Olympic games proved to be a platform to maximize the exposure of individuals, which ultimately translated to success in the pro ranks. While fight fans will have their eyes firmly fixed on the Olympic games to see if they can identify a superstar in the making, it is important to note that the success of previous athletes is what inspires most of the young prospects today. Names like Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, Roy Jones Jr, Lennox Lewis, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Amir Khan, are just a few of the successful Olympians from both the past and present. You will notice not all of them won Olympic gold, but all went on to have to successful careers as world champions and beyond.
Regarded as Great Britain’s answer to Floyd Mayweather Jr., James DeGale is widely regarded as one of the best prospects in the United Kingdom. A slick switch-hitter who primarily fights as a south-paw, has, in the early stages of his career, shown us on more than one occasion that he has the tools necessary to succeed in the sport. On a personal level, DeGale is already a favourite of mine; the way he operates in the ring and his charismatic demeanour away from it has drawn me to him. Still a prospect, and still developing as a fighter in the paid ranks, there is a lot of miles to run in the career of DeGale, and it is one I, and many other boxing fans, should watch with intrigue and excitement.
Check out part six of Tales of Olympic Glory starring Britain’s James DeGale.
OLYMPIC GAMES 2008 – GOLD MEDAL
The Olympics in Beijing saw 3 British fighters return home with medals, but DeGale was the only one to return with the coveted gold. David Price and Tony Jefferies returned home both with a bronze medal to their name.
Even before he tasted Olympic glory in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, James DeGale was already an accomplished amateur. From Harlsden, London, DeGale began boxing in 1996 at the age of 10 years-old. In years 2005 and 2006, DeGale won back-to-back ABA Championships in the middleweight division. Following on from his ABA triumph in 2006, DeGale would go on to compete at the 2006 Commonwealth games, where he would win a bronze medal after losing to Jarrod Fletcher. In years 2007 and 2008 DeGale featured in the EU Amateur Championships, emerging with a silver medal on both occasions. James also competed in the World Championships, but lost a wide decision to Alfonso Blanco of Venezuela (13-28).
Needless to say, that amateur pedigree served DeGale well in Beijing. James qualified for the Olympics at the second of three qualifying events and was the first British fighter to box at the 2008 games.
DeGale got Britain off to a fine start as he successfully defeated Egypt’s Mohamed Hikal 13-4 in the round of 32. The fight didn’t start as well as DeGale would have planned as he found himself down 3-2 at the end of the first round, but Hikal quickly found himself trailing as DeGale started to use his fast hands and sound foot-work. In the last 16, DeGale would face American Shawn Estrada. DeGale again started slow and the score was level at 0-0 after the first frame. Similar to his opening bout however, DeGale picked up the pace in the final 2 rounds and cruised to a 11-5 victory.
In the quarter finals James would meet Kazakhstan’s Bakhtiyar Artayev who had won gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, all be it in a lower weight class. However, this proved to be of no worry to DeGale as he won the bout 8-3 in what could have been considered a small upset. In the semi finals DeGale would meet Ireland’s Darren Sutherland. Out of the 5 times they had fought each other prior to facing one another in Beijing, Sutherland had won 4 times and DeGale only once. Going by that record Sutherland was, naturally, the favourite. However DeGale got his tactics correct and remained focused through-out the match to take a 10-3 victory.
In the final DeGale would meet Cuban fighter Emilio Correa Jr. – the son of 1972 Olympic champion, Emilio Correa. DeGale had built up a commanding 10-4 lead at the half-way stage of the contest, but from there-on the fight became a scrappy and bad tempered affair. DeGale held firm though and took a 16-14 victory to become Britain’s 2008 Olympic Gold Medallist.
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
In December 2008 DeGale signed a promotional contract with Frank Warren worth a reported £1.5 million.
DeGale was fast-tracked by his promoter and even as early as his 8th professional fight he was talking about fighting for a world championship. To many fans, because of that remark, they seen James as arrogant and deluded and as a result took a dislike to him. In his 9th professional outing, he went some-way to backing up his words with a near flawless performance against the then British super-middleweight champion, Paul Smith. In only 9 professional fights DeGale was a British champion and was progressing at a rapid pace. Some may say he was progressing too fast.
DeGale marked time and kept himself busy with a 5th round stoppage of Alpay Kobal before facing amateur rival and long-time foe, George Groves. This is where we seen the worst of DeGale. In and out of the ring. By his own admission Groves brings the worst out of him, but that doesn’t excuse his childish and, at times, cringe-worthy attitude in the lead up to the fight. Ultimately, DeGale suffered his first loss as a professional as George Groves took a razor thin majority decision victory. To some, the wheels had come off the bus for DeGale. Fans now doubted whether or not he was all that he was cracked up to be. Groves fought a smart fight, and it was DeGale’s failure to adapt in the early going that proved to be the difference on the judges cards.
However, his loss to Groves didn’t set him back as much as many thought it would. In his next fight DeGale found himself fighting for the European title against Piotr Wilczewski. It proved to be another tough, 12 round fight for DeGale. This time however, he was on the winning end of a majority decision. It wasn’t a scintillating performance, and questions still remained, but he had been tested and will have learnt a lot from that fight.
After defeating Wilczewski, things have went downhill for DeGale. But, not in a fighting sense. In-activity has been the major problem which has come about because of a dispute with his promoter, Frank Warren. DeGale has been open in his desire to leave Frank Warren Promotions, and due to still being under contract, he has, as of now, been unable to free himself. DeGale has fought only once in 2012 – an impressive 4th round stoppage of Italian veteran, Cristian Sanavia.
While DeGale does hold the European belt and the world ranking that comes with it, he is still a baby in the sport. He is still developing as a fighter and still needs more ‘developmental’ fights before pursuing a world title. DeGale was an accomplished amateur, but he is not yet an accomplished professional.
It is easy to forget that James DeGale is still only a 13 fight novice in the sport, and that he has only been a professional for 4 years. Hopefully his contractual issues can be sorted, and we see DeGale become more active and gain more experience as a fighter to ultimately mould him into becoming a future world champion.
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