You can add super-middleweight champ James DeGale to the list of big names who want to fight feared middleweight king Gennady Golovkin. Southpaw DeGale, like GGG a former amateur standout, is the IBF 168-pound champion – and he will next face WBC super-middleweight champ Badou Jack in a big unification fight in January – but he sees GGG moving up one day.
“Chunky” explained to Sky Sports his definition of a mega-fight and he says his “perfect” mega-fight would be against GGG.
“A mega fight to me, is one I’m in that people think I’m going to lose, where I’m the underdog,” DeGale, 23-1(14) said. “Golovkin, perfect. It’s a hard fight but I think I’ve got a fantastic chance. He’s not the biggest middleweight and with him moving up I’d have an advantage. His boxing ability is obviously very good but I have seen weaknesses that I could expose 100-percent.”
GGG has stated time and again that he wants all the belts at 160 before thinking of moving up in weight. But the move is expected one day – and a number of people have practically demanded it – and who knows, with his willingness to box in the UK, maybe GGG will look DeGale’s way. Not that DeGale – beaten only by George Groves as a pro – has boxed at home too much lately. DeGale is proud of the way he has become a “Road Warrior,” winning and defending his belt away from home.
If DeGale can defeat Jack – again in a fight set to take place in the US, DeGale having also boxed in Canada recently – he says it will elevate him to being the best 168-pounder on the planet. And maybe a big enough name for Golovkin to want to fight next year some time. If it did happen in the UK, GGG-DeGale would be even bigger than Golovkin’s recent big attraction of a fight with welterweight Kell Brook. And in the opinion of quite a few people, this fight would be a whole lot more competitive.
