DEGALE MAKES HISTORY!
History was made on Saturday night when James DeGale MBE 21-1 (14 KO's) dropped Andre Dirrell 24-2 (16 KO's) twice on route to winning a unanimous decision to claim the IBF Super Middleweight title. In doing so DeGale became the first British Olympic Gold medalist to win a professional world title. The man who could have pipped him to the post was Audley Harrison who won Super Heavyweight Gold in 2000 but failed miserably as a pro considering his expectations.
It's been a long route to the promised land for DeGale who turned pro in 2008 following his Olympic success. It's taken 7 years in whcih hes had 22 fights, averaging around 3 fights a year. This was due to him having promotional issues aswell as long standing injury's which saw him fall in to the shadows of British boxing, and in particular his great rival George Groves who took his unbeaten record and went on to have blockbuster fights with Carl Froch for the world title.
DeGale managed to get himself in to the mandatory position for Carl Froch who insisted he couldn't get motivated to fight DeGale due to his lack of top level fights. Froch vacated the title, leaving DeGale to fight the next challenger to himself, the formidable Andre Dirrell. Dirrell's team, fronted by Al Haymon, won the purse bids and a tough fight became even tougher when DeGale found out he had to go on the road for his shot. He never once moaned or complained though, simply taking it all in his stride.
When the first bell went what unfolded was a fascinating fight. A close opener was probably shaded by Dirrell who pushed hard to finish the round. The second round however DeGale let off arguably the punch of his career. An over hand left connected to the jaw of Dirrell to send the American to the canvass. Looking far from having his senses cleared, he rose to his unsteady feet only to be sent down by a flurry from the Brit. Still he got up again to just about survive the round.
What seemed to be a very long interval between round 2 and 3 gave Dirrell a chance to clear his head, however it was DeGale who would continue to bully his opponent around the ring, singing him with crisp combinations. From the 6th round onwards DeGale decided to get on his bike and make the American chase the fight, landing nice counter shots, the fear was however he was being outworked possibly. This patern continued until the 11th round. Going in to the last two round I had the fight even, Dirrell had the momentum and it was in America. DeGale needed to win the last two round in the eyes of most. He came out like a lion and showed tremendous heart to fire and trade with Dirrell, outscoring his opponent and taking the last two. Great Britain has its first Olympic and World champion. History.
