can degale?

[citybluechris]

can james degale beat Arthur Abraham right now or do you think he needs another year atleast ? degale been going on about a fight with Abraham how do u think he will do? degale looks a lot better lately and he aint as chopsy as he used to be which is great to see
love to see a rematch with George groves next year

[iamasadlittleboy]

Unless he can change his style of lying on the ropes...no. Abraham stops him. If he can stay off the ropes and use his feet he wins no issues.

[citybluechris]

agree 100% frustrating at times seeing him go back on the ropes a lot, even after mcdonell was saying stuff of the ropes to him he kept going back on there, he looks good at times on ropes countering but he gets caught aswell, if that was Abraham Friday and he caught him with that big right zuinga did on Friday in 11th round it could of been a lot worse

[jameswilson]

The thing is Abraham aint exactly Ike Ibeabuchi like with his workrate. Abraham can easily be outworked by DeGale with the number of punches he throws each round. It's a case of whether Degale can take Abrahams power and get Abrahams respect so he doesn't just walk through him in the short spurts of each round that Abraham does throw punches.

[citybluechris]

The thing is Abraham aint exactly Ike Ibeabuchi like with his workrate. Abraham can easily be outworked by DeGale with the number of punches he throws each round. It's a case of whether Degale can take Abrahams power and get Abrahams respect so he doesn't just walk through him in the short spurts of each round that Abraham does throw punches.

if degale can keep his workrate up and stay of the ropes he could easily do what froch did to Abraham imo

[CheckHook]

I don't think Degale could really hurt Abraham who has a tight defense and when Degale starts sitting on the ropes, which seems inevitable, Abraham will punish him and grind him down. I think Degale would get stopped late on.

[citybluechris]

if he stays of the ropes he wins but if he goes on the ropes and get caught like in his last 2 fights its game over for him but just needs to keep workrate and don't get lazy like he sometimes does

[Dioufy]

The horse would be put to sleep, IMO.

[ILikeBeer]

Rematch Groves, DeGale.

[Dirk Kelly]

There hasn't been much said on the forum about Degale and Eubanks fights on Saturday - did nobody watch them?

Degale was frustrating the hell out of me on Saturday, at times he was displaying blistering hand speed, fast footwork and was bossing the fight, leading the fella in and whacking a big undercut so hats off to him and McDonnell for doing their homework.

BUT then he'd ease off, coast almost, go to the ropes. He could have had that guy out of there on many occassions and what a performance that would have been to stop a guy early that I think only Bute and Pavilk have stopped and stopped late and he took Cloud the distance at LHW.

Eubanks was doing ok till O'Connor ruined it with a premature stoppage, one of the worst stoppages I've seen, christ if O'Connor was in charge of the Degale fight instead of the Spanish Numpty then the fight would have been stopped in the 2 or 3 round.

Yes I think Degale beats Abraham but only if uses his speed, footwork and stamina, if he eases off then it will be curtains for him. Hope Degale goes all the way to a title so Groves ends up chasing him.

[JLP]

There hasn't been much said on the forum about Degale and Eubanks fights on Saturday - did nobody watch them?

Degale was frustrating the hell out of me on Saturday, at times he was displaying blistering hand speed, fast footwork and was bossing the fight, leading the fella in and whacking a big undercut so hats off to him and McDonnell for doing their homework.

BUT then he'd ease off, coast almost, go to the ropes. He could have had that guy out of there on many occassions and what a performance that would have been to stop a guy early that I think only Bute and Pavilk have stopped and stopped late and he took Cloud the distance at LHW.

Dirk, there is a topic somewhere that was running at the time of the fight and shortly afterwards. My opinion, and the general consensus amongst others was almost exactly the same as yours i.e. frustration due to the points you listed.

I'm not sure whether James doubts his fitness or his chin or both. Nor am I sure whether or not he has the instinct to notice when an opponent is hurt and there for the taking. He's got superb ability but he's maybe lacking a bit of savagery and predatory menace. The Yanks won't be interested in him if he can't finish men off.

[stevieb_8006]

Degale should go and see jimmy Gibbs if he wants to fight on the ropes. He can't seem to close the show lately can he? Granted that was a toughie on Saturday.

He has all the tools to beat Abraham. I'd favour him. Can't see Abraham travelling mind.

[Hardcase]

i personally think he fights well on the ropes
Gets his opponents to throw silly shots, blocks and rolls
then comes back and counters.

i mean he fought a 12 round fight in his 7th bout , that is amazing !
This kid should get full credit

It took me years to develop the stamina to do a solid 12

my hats off to him

[clubberlang]

Went to see the fight on Saturday and I was impressed, Degale boxed his ears off, also I thought it was entertaining fight to watch if a bit one sided, not sure how it came across on TV. I don’t think Degale is ready for AA just yet; he still takes too many shots, give him a few fights at this kind of level though and I think he will be ready to take the world scene by storm.

[rossij8]

I would make this a 50 / 50 fight especially at SMW, as Abraham has struggled a little at moving up to this weight

I really hope this one happens

[Dirk Kelly]

There hasn't been much said on the forum about Degale and Eubanks fights on Saturday - did nobody watch them?

Degale was frustrating the hell out of me on Saturday, at times he was displaying blistering hand speed, fast footwork and was bossing the fight, leading the fella in and whacking a big undercut so hats off to him and McDonnell for doing their homework.

BUT then he'd ease off, coast almost, go to the ropes. He could have had that guy out of there on many occassions and what a performance that would have been to stop a guy early that I think only Bute and Pavilk have stopped and stopped late and he took Cloud the distance at LHW.

Dirk, there is a topic somewhere that was running at the time of the fight and shortly afterwards. My opinion, and the general consensus amongst others was almost exactly the same as yours i.e. frustration due to the points you listed.

I'm not sure whether James doubts his fitness or his chin or both. Nor am I sure whether or not he has the instinct to notice when an opponent is hurt and there for the taking. He's got superb ability but he's maybe lacking a bit of savagery and predatory menace. The Yanks won't be interested in him if he can't finish men off.

Couldn't find anything on Saturday, but obviously wasn't looking hard enough.

I think Degale is maybe too nice and doesn't have that savage instinct. I know he was a knob on the run up to the Groves fight and give him credit as he acknowledges it too. However I think C5 are doing a dam fine job in building him up as a poster boy - all the pre-fight stuff on Saturday was top notch and showed (and I know its biased) what a good, family guy he is so maybe that's his problem. Or simply he wanted to do 12 hard rounds, who knows.

Think of C5 get a big fight we can't be far away from them doing their verison for 24/7.

[milpool]

I still think he's about a year away from someone like Arthur Abraham. His performance for six rounds on Saturday was superb. The second half of the fight was good but he seemed to lose interest and was content in just coasting through to get the decision.
Fair play he's getting the rounds in but I'd like another year of him upping the quality of opponents before going in with an experienced operator like Abraham.
He's getting there though...

[JLP]

I like the way he fights off the ropes. A lot of shots got blocked and it gives him an extra dimension. McDonnell was right to point this out post-fight. If those spells on the ropes in winning fights help him learn then more power to his elbows, as long as he tucks them in, mind.

He doesn't do anything badly and he does a heck of a lot well. I just feel that to generate wider appeal i.e. American appeal, he will have to be prepared to take a few more risks and go hard for a stoppage when the opportunity presents itself.

[SamWise72]

I think he's got the ability to beat Abraham with relative ease; if you're mobile and have a reasonable workrate, you can beat what's left of that guy. The trouble is in every fight what he's actually doing is precisely what's required to get brutally knocked out by Abraham.

[Adamj1987]

maybe if he stayed off the rope for the fight

[rhino222]

froch easily outboxed AA and degale is a better boxer than froch, granted that froch is a better fighter than degale!!

[CheckHook]

Froch is a better boxer than he is given credit for I think.... He had the jab in Abrahams face all night and never let himself get caught on the ropes and maintained his stamina well. Anytime Abraham came alive in that fight Froch would string 5+ straight shots together and put Abraham back in his shell. Abraham can definatly be outboxed and if you keep punching he wont drop his guard all night, but when Degale wants to buy a break, which he will, Abraham will unload and land hard shots. Right now, I don't think Degale would go the distance, first four might go his way, but he would get pinned down, opened up and hurt as the fight went on. Abraham is being way under rated due to his cagey style/ low output and the depth of talent at 168. He'd eat up Degale if they fought right now.

[binipop]

James needs to shorten up on his punches, he's too wide and long, and he slaps and cuffs too much. Don't remember noticing it in his earlier fights but his jab looked weird to me, he appeared to be lifting it into his opponents face as opposed to snapping it out. He might beat the likes of Abraham & Kessler down the line when they've slid a bit but i don't think he's going to beat true world class fighters at their peak. His speed and shot selection are very good but there's a real lack of power and defensively he's not elusive enough, though i think he's tough and can hold a shot well.

[ILikeBeer]

Usual DeGale, weren't it? A lot of him talking smack pre-fight. I did think he looked good, to be fair. But as said, he did seem to coast it a bit. I don't know if it was a deliberate attempt to get rounds in after a lot of inactivity last year, or if it was just arrogance/laziness on his part. Maybe Zuniga has a harder head than we gave him credit for.

He was the clear winner, don't get me wrong. And it was a very convincing win. But he wasn't fighting an opponent that was particularly good. All DeGale's smack-talk about fighting Froch is absurd. Does DeGale think Froch would just turn up to make the numbers, like his opponent on Saturday did? Actually, knowing DeGale he probably does.

Chris Eubank Jr. has impressed me with his two fights in December. He has improved, I reckon. I just wish he'd stop pretending to be his old man.

[stujones]

Key shot against Abraham is the jab to the body. He don't like those body shots -

Degale can beat him now IMO.... it would be a very interesting fight - I don't think it will be particularly close either way, either Abraham gets to him or Degale wins a near shut out decision.