James DeGale

James Frederick DeGale, MBE (born 3 February 1986) is a British professional boxer. He has held the IBF super-middleweight title since 2015, having previously held the British super-middleweight title from 2010 to 2011, and the European super-middleweight title from 2011 to 2012. As an amateur, DeGale represented Great Britain at the 2008 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the middleweight division. By later becoming IBF champion, he became the first British boxer ever to have won both an Olympic gold medal and a professional world title.

Born to a black Grenadian father and a white British mother, DeGale started amateur boxing at the Trojan club at the age of 10 before moving to Dale Youth boxing club. As a boy he soon acquired the nickname "Chunky", a name that has followed him throughout his career. The predominantly southpaw Londoner fights as a switch hitter. At the Commonwealth Games 2006 he won Bronze when he lost to Jarrod Fletcher.

DeGale has stated on numerous occasions that he is a big Arsenal fan and frequently fights with the Arsenal F.C. Club logo on his robe and shorts.

Amateur record: 79–16.

DeGale represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the Middleweight boxing event, winning the gold medal. In the quarter finals he beat a former Olympic gold medalist from Athens (Bakhtiyar Artayev) and in the semi-final once again beat the late Irishman Darren Sutherland (prior to this latest meeting the boxers had fought five times with Sutherland winning four and DeGale only one). In the final DeGale won a scrappy and bad tempered affair against the Cuban Emilio Correa who was docked two points in the first round for biting DeGale's shoulder.

World amateur championships results

2007 (as a middleweight)

• Lost to Alfonso Blanco (Venezuela) 13–28

Olympic results

2008

• Defeated Mohamed Hikal (Egypt) 13–4
• Defeated Shawn Estrada (USA) 11–5
• Defeated Bakhtiyar Artayev (Kazakhstan) 8–3
• Defeated Darren Sutherland (Ireland) 10–3
• Defeated Emilio Correa (Cuba) 16–14

• Superb DeGale lands boxing gold. BBC. 23 August 2008

On 2 December 2008, he agreed a deal with promoter Frank Warren to become professional along with Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders. The contract agreed was rumoured to be worth around £1.5 million.

DeGale was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.

Early career

On 28 February 2009 DeGale made his professional debut against Vepkhia Tchilaia, winning a points decision by 40–36. DeGale received a mixed reaction from the crowd, who booed him after being taken the distance by his little-known opponent. However, DeGale was also backed by others in attendance, as Tchilaia chose to box extremely defensively. Five more victories followed before DeGale won his first regional championship, the WBA International super-middleweight title, stopping Sam Horton in five rounds. On 18 September 2010, DeGale made the first defence of his title against Carl Dilks, winning by stoppage near the end of the first round.

Frank Warren revealed that DeGale would challenge Paul Smith for the British super-middleweight title on Warren's blockbuster event in Liverpool, which was set for 11 December at the Echo Arena. The bill included fellow Olympians Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders, as well as Nathan Cleverly and Kell Brook. DeGale went on to defeat Smith via ninth-round stoppage to become the British super-middlewight champion.

First loss and comeback

On 21 May 2011, DeGale suffered his first professional loss to fellow Dale Youth Boxing Club graduate George Groves, in what was seen as a very close fight. The judges scored the bout 115–115, 115–114, 115–114; a majority decision. DeGale returned on 15 October 2011 to defeat Piotr Wilczewski by MD to win the European super-middleweight title. In February 2012, DeGale signed a sponsorship deal with Bulk Powders sport supplements.

Signing with Matchroom Sport

On 10 April 2014, DeGale signed a promotional deal with Matchroom Sport. DeGale made his first appearance under Matchroom on the undercard of the Carl Froch and George Groves rematch at Wembley Stadium on 31 May 2014. He stopped opponent Brandon Gonzáles in the 4th round.

IBF super-middleweight champion

DeGale vs. Dirrell, Bute

On 23 May 2015, DeGale beat American boxer Andre Dirrell by unanimous decision (24-1, 16 KOs) to win the vacant IBF super-middleweight title.

It was announced in mid-2015 that DeGale would take part in his first IBF super-middleweight title defence against Romanian fighter Lucian Bute. On 28 November 2015 in Quebec, Canada, DeGale defeated Bute via unanimous decision.

DeGale vs. Medina

On April 30, 2016, DeGale outpointed mandatory challenger Rogelio 'Porky' Medina (36-6, 30 KOs) at the D.C Armory in Washington, D.C.. DeGale won on all three judges scorecards (117-111, 116-112 and 115-113).

DeGale vs. Jack

Showtime Boxing confirmed that a unification fight between DeGale and WBC champion Badou Jack (20-1-2, 12 KOs) was set for January 14, 2017. The fight was supposed to be announced for the autumn of 2016, however it had taken a little longer for the negotiations to complete. The vacant The Ring title would also be at stake as well as the WBC and IBF titles. On November 15, it was officially confirmed that the fight will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The first time both fighters would be fighting at the arena.

In front of a crowd of before 10,128, DeGale retained his IBF title but failed to capture the WBC and vacant The Ring title after the match ended in a majority draw. Judge Glenn Feldman scored it 114-112 for DeGale and judges Julie Lederman and Steve Weisfeld both scored it 113-113 draw. DeGale knocked Jack down once in round 1 with a left hand. DeGale also hit the canvas for the first time in his professional career when Jack knocked him down with a right hook to the head in round 12. DeGale lost a tooth during the fight and damaged his eardrum. Post-fight Jack's promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr, complained about the result saying his fighter had done enough to win and calling the decision "bad for boxing." When DeGale said he wanted a rematch possibly in London, Jack stated he would do it light heavyweight, with Mayweather also saying Jack has gone too big for super-middleweight. DeGale's purse for the fight was $750,000, while Jack made $700,000. According to CompuBox, Jack landed 231 of 745 punches thrown, a connect rate of 31%, more than DeGale, who landed 172 of 617, connect rate of 28%.