It’s been officially confirmed that Britain’s IBF super middleweight champion James DeGale, will indeed face Canadian-based Romanian Lucien Bute on November 28th in Quebec, Canada.
The British former Olympic gold medalist is newly ‘advised’ by Al Haymon, and will be making the maiden defence of the title he won back in May by scalping Andre Dirrell in Boston, in doing so becoming the first British gold medal winning Olympian in history to go on and win a world title in the professional ranks.
Canada based Romanian former super-middleweight champion Lucien Bute is still the most realistic next opponent for Britain’s IBF 168 lb champion, James DeGale, with a mid-late November date likely.
It emerged last week that talks had begun for a November 14th meeting in Bute’s Quebec backyard for what will be DeGale’s maiden defence of the title he won in a history making effort in May against Andre Dirrell on Premier Boxing Champions, although an exact date has yet to be pinned down.
As rumours abounded on social media that George Groves may announce retirement following last Saturday’s world title challenge loss to Badou Jack, bitter rival James DeGale seems to believe it karma, saying openly it’s “funny how things work out.”
As Groves deleted his social media accounts in the wake of his Las Vegas disappointment, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist spoke to Sky’s Ringside Reaction online show, to reflect on how when his own career ‘hit the skids’ under promoter Mick Hennessy, leaving ‘Chunky’ boxing in shopping malls against less than stellar opposition, Groves was one of the first to openly mock him.
It would seem that many of George Groves’ old foes are wishing him well in Saturday’s WBC title clash with Badou Jack in Las Vegas on Saturday.
First Carl Froch, who defeated the Hammersmith man in back-to-back world title fights, wished him luck for the sake of British boxing, and now IBF 168 lb champion James DeGale, defeated by Groves in their close 2011 encounter, has joined the chorus of well-wishers in hope of getting a big domestic unification rematch signed for the future.
He makes his debut under the Matchroom promotional banner tomorrow night in Liverpool, fighting up at 168 lb for the very first time against Georgia’s George Beroshvili in what is something of an “easing into the division” fight – yet Martin Murray has his sights on the division’s big-guns – and is hopefully looking towards big money-fights with new IBF champion James DeGale and WBC mandatory George Groves in the none too distant future.
Murray, who extended Gennady Golovkin further than any man previously when he took him 11 rounds in Monaco back in February, spoke to iFLtv about his fight tomorrow night – and just what lies in store beyond that.
After narrowly losing out in his challenge for the vacant IBF 168lb title to Britain’s James DeGale at the end of last month on Al Haymon’s PBC format, Andre “The Resurrected” Dirrell, has spoken to fighthype.com to insist that he wants to do it all again and is prepared to come to the UK to do so.
The American essentially lost the fight due to two early knockdowns, that despite a spirited comeback, were enough to win DeGale the fight, even when it appeared the Harlesden man was flagging in the final third of the contest.
After he vacated his IBF title instead of facing James DeGale (his then mandatory) in the first instance – something that allowed the Londoner to box – and beat – Andre Dirrell in Boston last month for said title, Carl Froch has spoken out (again!) to hit back at DeGale for his recent pu*** slur on him, insisting he is too experienced for the new champion to deal with – and certainly no pu***.
Speaking to TalkSport to criticise DeGale’s history making performance against Dirrell, Froch said;
“I thought he did just what he had to do to win the fight. I thought he could have pressed it home a little bit more when he scored the knockdown, (but) he seemed off the pace and on the back foot towards the end.”
He has never been one to mince his words in the past and James DeGale certainly hasn’t this time either in his latest interview with fighthype.com – in which he yet again has a few choice words for Carl Froch.
The Harlesden super middleweight, who just captured the IBF 168lb with a gutsy display against a tough, mentally ‘right’ version of Andre Dirrell – has made it very clear there is no love lost between him and Nottingham’s “Cobra” – re asserting his belief that Froch doesn’t want to fight him out of cowardice.
Following last night’s history making victory for James DeGale against Andre Dirrell, his trainer – former world title challenger Jim Mc Donnell -has spoken out to say it’s the consistent work ethic of the Harlesden fighter that won him the fight in the end.
“He has worked so hard, not just for this camp but since day one. I said to him, when he first turned professional that this is the plan.”
Those of us in the UK, who started out frustrated at the fact that the live televised broadcast of tonight’s fight card was delayed by a sh***y lower tier English football play off final, actually had our spirits lifted come the end of the in-ring action, when Harlesden’s James DeGale, became the first British fighter in history to lift a professional world title following an Olympic gold medal.
One hell of an achievement.
The likable Londoner is the sole British name on an elite list of fighters that includes both Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard in accomplishing this history making feat, in a fight that was nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster for both sides – UK AND US – as the early action saw 2 stunning knockdowns in the 2nd round that left many thinking it would be an early night’s work for the Brit.