James DeGale is not worried by news that rival George Groves is sparring with Andre Dirrel in America. DeGale and Groves will battle it out at The 02 in London on May 21 for the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight crowns in the biggest domestic showdown seen in recent years, live and exclusive on Sky Box Office. Harlesden’s DeGale has based himself in Essex with trainer Jim McDonnell ahead of the mouth-watering fight, Groves jetted straight to Miami for an intensive training camp. Among those he has shared a ring with are former world title challenger Andre Dirrell..
Dirrell was full of praise for Groves – but DeGale is reading nothing into it.
“He will have to go a lot further than Miami if he wants to beat me,” said DeGale.
“I saw that Dirrell had been bigGing up Groves on twitter, but he also said he had ‘ok speed’ and ‘not enough head movement’.
“How on earth is he going to beat me if he doesn’t move his head and isn’t quick enough?
“You’ve got a guy in Groves who has not made any progress as a professional.
“In fact I’d say he has gone backwards, whereas I have improved so much since I won the Olympic gold in 2008.
“I’m not bothered who Groves spars or works out with in the next few weeks because he needs years to improve, not days.
“There is only one winner on May 21, and it’s not George Groves.”
DeGale’s trainer Jim McDonnell said that his man would be sparring with British and Commonwealth Middleweight Champion Darren Barker and WBO Interim Light-Heavyweight Champion Nathan Cleverly, plus a few more names.
He said, “You can’t replicate James DeGale in any way so for Groves to go and spar with Dirrell won’t prepare him for DeGale at all.”
“The only thing that they have in common is that they are southpaws and that’s where the similarities end.”
“DeGale has Barker and Cleverly lined up for sparring in the next few weeks and we’ve got a few more names coming to do some work with him.”
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