WHAT NEXT FOR JAMES DEGALE?
James DeGale elevated himself to a new level when he went to America to claim the IBF Super Middleweight Title on Saturday night. After beating the feared American, Andre Dirrell he finds himself in a geat position and on the verge of becoming a superstar. His next fight will be crucial in his quest to become a house hold name.
With his promoter Eddie Hearn already stating that he would like to set up a huge unification match with long term rival and the man who took his unbeaten record, George Groves next summer at Wembley Stadium. Groves will have to come through and produce the goods for that to happen when he fights Badou Jack for the WBC Title later in the year. Hearn has already stated that DeGale will fight in September or Octover in London, here I will look at who he could possibly fight with my verdict on who could get the fight.
MIKKEL KESSLER 46-3 (35 KO's) - Kessler would be a great name to add to the record of DeGale. He would also be an easy fight to sell to the British punlic having already fought in the UK in two huge fights. He fought Joe Calzaghe in the Millenium Stadium, giving a good account of himself in losing on points, he has also beaten Carl Froch before losing a rematch in two great wars. The rematch with Froch was the last time the 'Viking Warrior' fought and that was two years ago now. However, money talks and providing Hearn talks his way around the IBF sanctioning the fight I see this as a real possibility.
LUCIAN BUTE 31-2 (24 KO's) - The Canadian-Romanian seemed a real force at Super Middleweight as he notched up to 30-0 as IBF champion making 9 successful defences. He then fought Carl Froch in a fight that many thought was a forgone cunclusion and that Froch, deemed past it, would be easily beaten. Froch however fought arguably the best he ever has and completely destroyed Bute in 5 rounds of what was a one sided massacre. Since then he has had one win, before losing to Jean Pascal at Light Heavyweight. That was in January 2014 and he has not fought since, yet is still ranked at Super Middleweight. He is a decent to have and is more than beatable at this point.
ARTHUR ABRAHAM 42-4 (28 KO's) - Abraham is the WBO champion so a fight between the two would be a unification. Given the fact that Eddie Hearn and the Sauerland brothers, who promote Abraham, have a good relationship this fight wouldn't be hard to make. I do feel though that Hearn would have to cough up a lot of money to get Abraham out of Germany where he earns good money and seems to be locked in to Germany's own little World title as he battles it out with Robert Steiglitz for the fourth time, when they meet this year. For this reason I think Abraham rules himself out of the equation.
CARL FROCH 33-2 (24 KO's) - There is a story behind this fight. Froch is the proven champion who has beaten many world class opponents through out his career, including DeGale's conqueror George Groves. He is the former IBF champion, he vacated this title rather than fight DeGale, with a lot of people seeing it as Froch ducking him for fear of losing and not being able to get to grips with his style. DeGale has told Froch to retire, insisting he will beat hm up if they were to meet in the ring. DeGale beat Dirrell in a better fashion that Froch, who many thought lost to Dirrell. I feel if Froch is to fight on it will be against either Gennady Golovkin or James DeGale.
JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ Jr. 48-2-1 (32 KO's) - Chavez missed the boat of a lucrative fight with Froch when he lost to Fanfara in a tune up bout this year. That was at 172 and Chavez blames the weight for his loss, saying he will come back at 168. He makes his comeback on July 18 against Marco Reyes in what looks like a straight forward win. After that he will be looking to get a World title and this is where DeGale could benefit the most. Chavez is a big name and is extremely beatable. It seems he had so much success at Middleweight due to his huge size advantage which he does not hold at the higher weight. DeGale would beat Chavez comfortably in my opinion. The roadblock to this fight happening is Chavez earns so much fighting in the US, due to the huge Mexican community that it could cost a lot to get him over to London.
Rocky Feilding 20-0 (11 KO's) - Feilding is certaintly the wild card in this mix. He is not a top class name, nor has he fought, let alone proved himself at the top level. He is however, ranked highly by the IBF. The scouser is also promoted by Eddie Hearn, and we all know how he loves to build those big domestic fights. Feilding is a good fighter, untested and maybe doesn't have what it takes to win a world title. This could be Hearn's chance to cash in. An unbeaten opponent for DeGale to look good against. It would sell because of it being an all British affair. Feilding could also come back with no shame losing to the world champion, having been paid well. Everyone's a winner and I see this as one to look out for!
VERDICT: I think you can rule Abraham & Chavez out as they would cost too much and earn good money fighting at home. Carl Froch will not take this fight, certaintly not unless its a stadium fight. That would be highly unlikely due to the time of year, but not impossible. For Froch to take this there would have to be HUGE pressure from the public. I dont see that happening. That leaves us with Kessler, Bute & Feilding. Kessler & Bute are the biggest names. They are fights that would sell and give DeGale solid names on his record. Their inactivity makes it a little unlikely to see happening and i think if they can work around getting one of them sanctioned, they will be first choice. If not, then it could fall to Rocky Feilding. A good win over Brian Vera next month may be enough for him to be accepted by the British public to make this fight happen. What do you think?
