deGale and Gavin and BJ Saunders sign prof terms with Warren!

http://www.frankwarren.tv/drill/News/Articles/2008/12/02/3067123.html

Frank Warren has signed Olympic champion James DeGale, world champion Frankie Gavin and Olympian Billy Joe Saunders, it was confirmed in London today.

All three will make their professional debuts in the New Year in a hugely exciting move for the sport.

Warren beat off stiff competition from promoters on both sides of the Atlantic to ink DeGale, Gavin and Saunders, some of the best amateurs the UK has produced in the last 20 years.

"I'm delighted to have signed James, Frankie and Billy Joe, and I'm very excited about working with them in the future," said Warren.

"I think they will all become world champions, and after their success as amateurs, the public is really going to get behind them and will want to watch their progress through the ranks."

"Chunky" DeGale became a national hero in August when he won middleweight gold at the Beijing Olympics - and is now aiming to add a world title to his tropy cabinet.

Still only 22, DeGale's progress to the Olympic final was watched by millions in the UK as he became just one of a handful of British boxers to win gold.

In China, he defeated Mohamed Hikal, Shawn Estrada and Bakhtiyar Artayev in the preliminary stages, before widely out-pointing Darren Sutherland in the semi finals.

It set up a final against Cuba's Emilio Correa, and DeGale raced into an early lead in a messy fight - his opponent was docked two points for biting him in the first round - only to be pegged back in the closing minutes.

DeGale held on for a 16-14 victory, and celebrated wildly after achieving a dream that at times only he believed he could fulfil.

Now DeGale has the world at his feet, and has the same profile - and crossover appeal - that

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enjoyed four years ago when he captured silver in Athens.

If things had gone to plan, Gavin would now be the proud owner of lightweight gold at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Eight months earlier, at the world championships in Chicago, Gavin had become Britain's first-ever amateur world champion with a sensational run to the final.

A regular winner at international tournaments, Gavin was immediately installed as a favourite for gold in China, and was the poster boy for the British boxing team.

But his Olympic dream ended before it had even started when he was sent home from a training camp in Macau after failing to make the weight.

A big lightweight who was still filling out, Gavin had simply out-grown his division.

Heartbroken, Gavin returned home and began to contemplate the implications of what had happened - but has vowed to cure the hurt by becoming a professional world champion within four years.

Saunders was the youngest member of the British Olympic squad in Beijing in 2008 - but could become the best of the lot in the professional arena.

He certainly seems to have boxing in his blood, as his family history is steeped in the legendary bare-knuckle fighting of the Romany traveling community.

Saunders, still only 19, was a surprise qualifier for the Chinese Games, making it through when he was just 18.

He beat European champion Andrey Balanov en route to an all-important third place in a tournament in Pescara, Italy.

And the only downside was that by coming third, Saunders' 49-fight winning streak as an amateur came to an end.

At the Olympics themselves, Saunders couldn't get among the medals, bowing out in the second round, but he did't disgrace himself, and also became the first Romany to represent Britain at a Games.