James DeGale = the next Audley Harrison

You must have been watching something a lot different to me, DeGale tried his best within his own style and faced with the opponent he had. He's not Joe Frazier, I think true boxing fans can appreciate that having seen him as an amateur. He threw a lot of punches (not all of them impressively delivered) and was the aggressor at all stages.

It just didn't quite happen for him. I suspect we'll see him look better when an opponent puts some effort into things.

 

Trust me. Hayes "fans" at the O2 for the Enzo were far worse. 15,000 Danny Dyer wannabees.

You did do well to keep away from the Hatton thing for a couple of posts there though. Keep it up!!

 

I knew someone was going to pull the "true boxing fan" line when defending DeGale. Nice one TFFP.

 

Thanks, the obligatory quota had not been fulfilled for this thread.

It is true though that there are fans of boxing that want to appreciate the action and then fans of nights out and booze. Unfortunately the latter seem to overshadow things on most occasions, in all sports.

 

He may as well have gone to the ring and done a huge sloppy **** in the centre then thrown it all over the fans.

 

have not been able to get involved in this so far but people are being very harsh on DeGale. ive got a few points to make. i agree with allot of what TFFP is saying

Look DeGale has been cocky and arrogant long before he won the gold medal, its just who he is, he does need to tone it down a bit but so do some of you on here. I can understand why people turned on Amir Khan, because he become arrogant over night and let his own hype get to him, i honestly think if DeGale had not even qualified for the olympics and turned pro with maloney/hennesey or whoever he would be saying the same stuff.

his performance was, to be fair, like an amateur. hes still picking his shot a bit to much, and he slaps. (to be fair calzaghe is britains best for some time and he did the same). the tapping of the head is something he did in the olympics, i dont thing there was any dis respect, its more likley something he does to wind his opponent up so that that come forward and make mistakes, and play into his style. he looked goo whenever the all be it limted oppenent did come forward, his counter punching then was great, one uppercut that hurt the guy stood out it was a textbook punch (maybe it stood out because the others were not) and he has very fast hands, quick feet, knows his way around the ring and looks difficult to hit. on that performance alone can he be a world champion??? no. but knowing what we no about the guy already, hes very confident, hard working, clearly skillful and and decent defensively, he can deffinatley go on to good things.

DeGale is a counter puncher, he will only look great agaisnt come forward agresive fighters. i also think hes the kind of fighter that will look better against better oposition. the guy he was fighting just sat back and it really didnt suit degale. he deserves some praise for not being drawn into a fight that didn't suit him, that is exactly what happenend to frankie gavin.

after the fight DeGale admitted it was not a great performance, thats hardly the signs of arrogance and cockiness, he say he can do better and i think its fair to say even his biggest critics agree with that statement.

regarding the pundits saying he was most impressive, yeh a bit bizarre but you guys on here are way more bizarre with your criticism. For Jeffries looked the best of the 5 olympians we have seen so far including Sutherland. DeGale won the fight comfortably. Beetson your comment about it almost being a draw is laughable and ridiculous.

DeGale should have gone to america and has his first 10 fights out of the spotlight, he might of done this without the gold medal, but without that gold medal even if he became a world champion he wouldn't make as much money as he will with the gold even if he doesnt win the commonwealth. people need to lay off him on here and see degale for what he is even if degale doesnt see it himself.

 

The people on here giving him **** for his performance are a lot closer to the truth than Nelson and Piper who were just toeing the company line for SkyTV.

In the arrogance stakes he makes Amir Khan look like a non-starter. Khan isn't even that arrogant, he just forgets to engage his brain before he opens his mouth.

 

he slackened off the longer it went.

he deffo settled for the decision after the 2nd rd.

in that respect it was disappointing.

you'd like to see a prospect show some devil and want the stoppage.

especially on a debut where a lot of press were gonna cover it.

i still think degale will come good. :good

 

good article in the times

Let's put this in simple terms. DeGale, the Olympic middleweight champion, did not struggle against Vepkhia Tchilaia, the dreadfully negative Georgian who was up against him. He won every round, he did many things well, there are some things he could have done differently. But it was only his debut. The main job of Saturday night was to get Saturday night over with a win on his record, get rid of the debut nerves. In cricket terms, this was about getting of your duck.

Some would say he did not look as good as his former GB team-mates Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders. Possibly so, but he wasn't facing the same opponent and DeGale is more of a counter-puncher than either of them. Saunders's opponent looked by far the worst of the three, while Gavin got in a tear-up and finished with a nasty cut. So, who really did the best job?

DeGale didn't really take any chances against a guy who barely threw a punch, but why should he? The biggest danger was that DeGale would get complacent. He did once when he was hit by a left hook, but apart from that took things in his stride. He is expected to have up to another seven similar learning experiences this year. Part of the crowd booed, but so what?

 

What was that 'jab' all about though? Just weird.

And hand speed is only effective if there's at least something behind the punches, some of those flurrys he produced were embarrassing little ***** slaps!

 

Much too early to say. It's well documented that Bernard Hopkins lost on his pro debut and Ali only won on points on his so I wouldn't get too excited. Seems that DeGale has overnight become the most hated British fighter. Give him a chance for **** sake.

 

he will be exposed sooner or later, he's all showbiz. Darren sutherland would knock him the **** out

 

Actually Sutherland makes some pretty telling comments about DeGale towards the end of this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPmKRP0kjm0

 

i enjoyed seeing his over-confident-novice-arrogant smirk slowly fade to that of a small,scared rabbit in the headlight-what now? look---the first part of a very long learning curve,,good luck.
confidence should only rely on good experience first.(amir?@?)
you have to earn the right to be respected in the pro game.:nono