IBF super-middleweight champ James DeGale, a fighter used to fighting on the road, is set for a massive June fight in London. Last seen going to war with Badou Jack in a WBC/IBF unification clash, which ended as a draw after 12 thrilling rounds, DeGale now has a list of four big names to mull over, as he will reportedly face either: Gennady Golovkin, George Groves, Andre Ward or Callum Smith.
According to a piece by Mail Online, the fight is targeted for Emirates Stadium and that despite all four names on the list having other big fight options, the money on offer is expected to entice one of them into the massive stadium fight.
DeGale, 23-1-1(14) said he could go down in weight to fight GGG, or go up in weight to fight light-heavyweight ruler Ward.
“Golovkin? I walk around less than a stone (14 pounds) above the super-middleweight limit and could easily go down to fight this great man for the middleweight title,” DeGale said to Jeff Powell. “I would love to fight Callum Smith because he is the new young man on the rise who a lot of people seem to think could beat me. But I don’t and it would please me to prove them wrong. Ward, like Golovkin, is among those quoted as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. It would be an honour to share a ring with him. I could go up to light-heavy for Andre. The Groves fight is always there – it is a big British fight in which I could wipe out the only defeat in my pro career.”
DeGale, a talented and teak-tough southpaw who has done things the hard way, more than deserves his big homecoming fight. Though a GGG or a Ward fight might seem unrealistic, the money on offer just might make one of the unbeaten pound-for-pounders take the fight. On paper, DeGale against either Smith or Groves, in a rematch of their 2011 fight, won by Groves via majority verdict, looks most likely.
Groves is of course no stranger to boxing in front of an enormous stadium crowd, having fought his massive rematch with Carl Froch at Wembley a few years back. Could Groves repeat his win over DeGale, in so doing rejuvenating his career at top level in a big way, or would “Chunky” indeed wipe out his sole pro defeat?
As for DeGale facing, and beating either Ward or GGG; the British warrior would become the true international superstar he has always wanted to be if he could pull it off.
