James DeGale
 |
James DeGale MBE | |
|---|---|
 DeGale in 2011 | |
| Born | James Frederick DeGale 3 February 1986[1] |
| Other names | Chunky |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Super middleweight |
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)[1] |
| Stance | Southpaw Switch hitter |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 22 |
| Wins | 21 |
| Wins by KO | 14 |
| Losses | 1 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Boxing | ||
Representing  United Kingdom
| ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
2008 Beijing | Middleweight |
Representing  England
| ||
| Commonwealth Games | ||
 |
2006 Melbourne | Middleweight |
| EU Amateur Championships | ||
 |
2007 Dublin | Middleweight |
|
2008 Cetniewo | Middleweight |
James Frederick DeGale MBE (born 3 February 1986) is a British professional boxer and Olympic gold medalist. He is the current IBF super-middleweight champion, which makes him the first ever British boxer to have won an Olympic Gold medal and a world title.
Background
Born in Harlesden, London,[citation needed] DeGale started amateur boxing at the Trojan club at the age of 10 before moving to Dale Youth boxing club.[2] As a boy he soon acquired the nickname "Chunky",[3] a name that has followed him throughout his career and to this day he is known as James 'Chunky' DeGale. The predominantly southpaw Londoner fights as a switch hitter. At the Commonwealth Games 2006 he won Bronze when he lost to Jarrod Fletcher.
Amateur career
Amateur record: 79–16.
DeGale represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the Middleweight boxing event, winning the gold medal. In the quarter finals he beat a former Olympic gold medalist from Athens (Bakhtiyar Artayev) and in the semi-final once again beat the late Irishman Darren Sutherland (prior to this latest meeting the boxers had fought five times with Sutherland winning four and DeGale only one). In the final DeGale won a scrappy and bad tempered affair against the Cuban Emilio Correa who was docked two points in the first round for biting DeGale's shoulder.[4]
World amateur championships results
2007 (as a middleweight)
- Lost to Alfonso Blanco (Venezuela) 13–28
Olympic results
2008
- Defeated Mohamed Hikal (Egypt) 13–4
- Defeated Shawn Estrada (USA) 11–5
- Defeated Bakhtiyar Artayev (Kazakhstan) 8–3
- Defeated Darren Sutherland (Ireland) 10–3
- Defeated Emilio Correa (Cuba) 16–14
Professional career
On 2 December 2008, he agreed a deal with promoter Frank Warren to become professional along with Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders. The contract agreed is rumoured to be worth around £1.5 million.[5]
DeGale was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.[6]
On 28 February 2009 DeGale made his professional debut against Georgia boxer Vepkhia Tchilaia, winning the fight on points 40–36. DeGale came in for a mixed reaction, being booed off after being taken the distance by his little-known opponent. However DeGale has been backed by many, as the Georgian was boxing extremely defensively.[7] Five more victories followed before DeGale won his first title, the WBA International super middleweight title, defeating Sam Horton by 5th round TKO. On 18 September 2010, DeGale made the first defence of his WBA title against fellow Brit Carl Dilks, gaining victory by TKO after just 2'54" of the first round.
Frank Warren revealed that DeGale would challenge Paul Smith for the British Super Middleweight title on Warren's blockbuster event in Liverpool, set for 11 December at the Echo Arena. On the huge bill includes fellow Olympians; Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders, Nathan Cleverly and Kell Brook. On 11 December, DeGale went on to beat Paul Smith via ninth round TKO in order to become the British super middleweight champion.
On 21 May 2011, DeGale lost to George Groves. The judges scored the bout 115–115, 115–114, 115–114.
DeGale signed a contract to face Polish, European champion Piotr Wilczewski on 15 October.
On 15 October 2011, DeGale beat Piotr Wilczewski by majority decision to win the European super middleweight title in the Echo Arena Liverpool.
In February 2012 DeGale signed a sponsorship deal with Bulk Powders sport supplements.[8]
On 10 April 2014, DeGale signed a promotional deal with Matchroom Sport. DeGale made his first appearance under Matchroom on the undercard of the Carl Froch and George Groves rematch at Wembley Stadium on 31 May 2014. He stopped opponent Brandon Gonzáles in the 4th round.
On 23 May 2015, DeGale beat American boxer Andre Dirrell by unanimous decision to win the vacant IBF super middleweight world championship.[9]
Professional boxing record
References
- ^ a b "James DeGale". teamgb.com. British Olympic Association. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
- ^ Mathew,Syed."Dale Youth Boxing Club", The Times, 2005-10-07
- ^ "James DeGale Bio". British Olympic Association. August 2009.
- ^ Superb DeGale lands boxing gold. BBC. 23 August 2008
- ^ Lewis, Ron. "James DeGale's dream of double gold ends", The Times, 2008-12-03
- ^ "No. 58929". The London Gazette (invalid
|supp=(help)). 31 December 2008. - ^ "British trio make winning starts". BBC News. 1 March 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ http://www.bulkpowders.co.uk/blog/bulkpowders-james-degale-formalise-partnership/
- ^ http://www.premierboxingchampions.com/news/james-degale-does-early-damage-win-over-andre-dirrell
- ^ Boxing record for James DeGale from BoxRec (registration required)
External links
- Official website
- Boxing record for James DeGale from BoxRec (registration required)
- Olympic profile
1904: 145–158 lb (65.8–71.7 kg) · 1908: 140–158 lb (63.5–71.7 kg) · 1920–1936: 147–160 lb (66.7–72.6 kg) · 1948: 67–73 kg · 1952–2000: 71–75 kg · 2004–2012: 69–75 kg · 2016–2020: 70–75 kg · 2024–: 72–80 kg | |
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- Use dmy dates from September 2012
- Articles needing cleanup from July 2009
- Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from July 2009
- Wikipedia pages needing cleanup from July 2009
- 1986 births
- Living people
- British boxers
- Middleweight boxers
- Boxers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
- Boxers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic boxers of Great Britain
- Olympic gold medalists for Great Britain
- British people of Grenadian descent
- People from Harlesden
- British sportspeople
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Amateur Boxing Association of England champions
- Olympic medalists in boxing
- Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Male boxers