James Degale last night

[alexpaterson]

Ye I agree i never thought he would find it easy going from the Ams to the pros but that last fight he showed it looked good and i hope he continues not hyping himself up to much

[chrisfinch]

He looked good last night, a step in the right direction.

We'll find out his popularity in London on the Khan undercard. If his home town boos him, that could really dent his confidence and I hope they don't.

But then again, did FW really expect a positive reception for the British Olympians in Belfast? I know the Olympic team is "Great Britain and Northern Ireland" but it was an Irish crowd last night, not a British one. It sounded to me like Billy Joe got pretty soundly booed and I think Frankie only got away with because of his Irish heritage.

[stujones]

Looked very open I thought. I liked the looks of BJ Saunders. Gavin is going to find it tough, a cutter who cannot punch... got a lot of Amateur traits to iron out, did anyone notice he paused when he landed a peach of an uppercut - I am sure he was expecting the ref to deliver a standing eight count.

[alexpaterson]

Looked very open I thought. I liked the looks of BJ Saunders. Gavin is going to find it tough, a cutter who cannot punch... got a lot of Amateur traits to iron out, did anyone notice he paused when he landed a peach of an uppercut - I am sure he was expecting the ref to deliver a standing eight count.

He definetly looks the most amatuerish of the lot Saunders has adapted brilliantly his body work is top class Gavin look good cutting of the ring but definetly lacks a punch DeGale looked strong quite open but he wanted an exciting fight and it was he definetly has power and skills

[zzutak]

NULL:

[teddy009]

[quote="zzutak"]Fair play to Degale he got the job done and looked much better than his first outing, but the opponent was dreadful, when you consider he was unbeaten in five, it makes you wonder how bad the opponents were!

Regarding Gavin, I am I the only person that considers Farnell the worst possible choice of trainer? Farnell is attempting to turn him into an aggressive box fighter, Gavin neither has the power or skin integrity for that style![/quote

Farnell gdoesn't have the experience at the moment so i thought it was a strange chice in trainer but he needs to be given a chance. I cannot believe Gavin won a world amateur title, you have to wonder on the quality of fighters at the championships if gavin can win.

[jBacca]

Chunky looked good last night, weren't a fan at first but was impressed comparing to his first fight. He came across well in the interview as well.

Really unsure about Gavin at the moment, he doesn't seem to have top class power and he seems to get hit alot, hope he comes good!

[Quixall]

Similar to other posts on Tyson Fury et al, it's way too early to start making any sensible predictions as to how well DeGale will do as a pro. He took the fight to his opponent last night, partly in fear of having another mauling by the press and putting the quality of the opponent aside, he showed a decent repetoire of punches and some good accuracy to go with them, put his man down early and finished him, so all in all a decent performance for DeGale. One thing i did notice was that he seems a bit upright at times and does'nt seem to have great footwork and seems rather static. Now whether that was because he was trying to set himself for shots, i don't really know, but he seems a bit "dead-legged" to me, did anybody else happen to notice that ? Technical flaw maybe ?

[Old bones Ian]

Thought he looked good last night, there was a few boo's for him, but don't forget that the fight was in N.I and alot of guys there support Sutherland, who Degale beat on the way to gold.

[stujones]

Looked very open I thought. I liked the looks of BJ Saunders. Gavin is going to find it tough, a cutter who cannot punch... got a lot of Amateur traits to iron out, did anyone notice he paused when he landed a peach of an uppercut - I am sure he was expecting the ref to deliver a standing eight count.

He definetly looks the most amatuerish of the lot Saunders has adapted brilliantly his body work is top class Gavin look good cutting of the ring but definetly lacks a punch DeGale looked strong quite open but he wanted an exciting fight and it was he definetly has power and skills

Yes, I think Degale will box better....well going to be in the minority here, but I was more impressed with him in his debut. Sure it was negative and its about bums on seats as well as wins.... but less mistakes in his debut.

[stujones]

Farnell gdoesn't have the experience at the moment so i thought it was a strange chice in trainer but he needs to be given a chance. I cannot believe Gavin won a world amateur title, you have to wonder on the quality of fighters at the championships if gavin can win.

Its a COMPLETELY different sport, thats why its such a gamble. Medals and titles in the amateurs counts for nothing in the pro's - apart from initial box office sales. Look at Audley and even Khan.

Even taking out the completely different nature, the actual scoring is usually dodgy also. Alot of "clean" shots don't get counted.

If I was a promoter, then off course I will be looking at the amateurs, but not necessarily the medalists... cause it is an entirely different sport now. Gavin was a class amateur, and a worthy world champion.

[confirmation]

why is degales nickname chunky? don't get me wrong, its an awesome name, really has a ring to it... James "CHUNKY" DEGALE!!!! Would love to hear Michael Buffer giving that the full treatment

[confirmation]

Farnell gdoesn't have the experience at the moment so i thought it was a strange chice in trainer but he needs to be given a chance. I cannot believe Gavin won a world amateur title, you have to wonder on the quality of fighters at the championships if gavin can win.

Certainly Gavin didn't look like the hype said he was but he was humble enough to admit that he has average power and is willing to work hard. On the point of Farnell, he should be given a chance as trainer. He did a nice bit of shadowboxing in the corner at the end of the first round

[gobbles]

Medals and titles in the amateurs counts for nothing in the pro's - apart from initial box office sales

That's an often repeated myth based almost entirely on Audley Harrison. Most top pros were world class amateurs.

Hatton, Calzaghe, Froch, Haye, Leonard, Lewis, Harrison, De La Hoya, Mayweather, Tyson.........

[Bomber 1]

Can't believe anyone could question the calibre of the opponents of a world am championships saying it must have been poor if Frankie won it???

That is a pathetic comment!! Not only did Frankie win it he beat the best P4P am on the planet!! Alexy Tishenko was unbeaten in 3 years was Olympic Champion,World Champion & European champion!! Frankie beat him by 9 points!! How can anyone question that?? I personally think it's the best Am result that any brit has ever achieved!! Who has a better Am result to anyone's knowledge??

Give Frankie and Arnie a chance guys.. Arnie ain't trying to change him he's just trying to add things to him!! Let's not forget Frankie has had to attack in his 2 pro fights and that's not his strong point!! When someone comes to attack him you'll see the best of Frankie, He's hardest kid I've ever seen to hit!!

Remember he's our ONLY EVER WORLD AM CHAMP!!..Let's remember who's tried to win 1 too and failed..The kid is special and should be given time to adapt..

[confirmation]

Can't believe anyone could question the calibre of the opponents of a world am championships saying it must have been poor if Frankie won it???

That is a pathetic comment!! Not only did Frankie win it he beat the best P4P am on the planet!! Alexy Tishenko was unbeaten in 3 years was Olympic Champion,World Champion & European champion!! Frankie beat him by 9 points!! How can anyone question that?? I personally think it's the best Am result that any brit has ever achieved!! Who has a better Am result to anyone's knowledge??

Give Frankie and Arnie a chance guys.. Arnie ain't trying to change him he's just trying to add things to him!! Let's not forget Frankie has had to attack in his 2 pro fights and that's not his strong point!! When someone comes to attack him you'll see the best of Frankie, He's hardest kid I've ever seen to hit!!

Remember he's our ONLY EVER WORLD AM CHAMP!!..Let's remember who's tried to win 1 too and failed..The kid is special and should be given time to adapt..

good post

this bomber bloke... seems so sound, bombs his opponents out and putting up great posts on the forum. i want to give him a blow job!! 8) great stuff mate!

[$wifty]

Thought Degale went out there and made a statement! BIG step in the right direction. Might get a few people off his back now and give him a chance to progress nicely. As for Gavin, I thought his jab was brilliant and he looked a lot better pro than in his debut, again making big steps in the right direction.

People seem to forget we are talkin about the Olympic and World Amateur champions here, their potential is unbelievable. We should get behind them and could have some stars in the future, to put our country up their along side the best in the world!

[stujones]

Medals and titles in the amateurs counts for nothing in the pro's - apart from initial box office sales

That's an often repeated myth based almost entirely on Audley Harrison. Most top pros were world class amateurs.

Hatton, Calzaghe, Froch, Haye, Leonard, Lewis, Harrison, De La Hoya, Mayweather, Tyson.........

Most of those listed had most of their amateur successes under the old style judging system.... which was definately far more accurate to judge and closer to the pro game. Getting more "dud" pro's now.

[Phenomenal-Nutrition]

It was a tomato can knock over job who didn't fire back, it doesn't say allot. James is entitled to 1 or 2 of those but they really tell us nothing.

[gobbles]

Medals and titles in the amateurs counts for nothing in the pro's - apart from initial box office sales

That's an often repeated myth based almost entirely on Audley Harrison. Most top pros were world class amateurs.

Hatton, Calzaghe, Froch, Haye, Leonard, Lewis, Harrison, De La Hoya, Mayweather, Tyson.........

Most of those listed had most of their amateur successes under the old style judging system.... which was definately far more accurate to judge and closer to the pro game. Getting more "dud" pro's now.

No they didn't. New judging system came in after Jones was robbed in 1988, it was in place by the 1992 Olympics, so Hatton, Froch Haye, Harrison, Mayweather, De La Hoya and Calzaghe would have all boxed under the system. The fact is, that apart from some poorer countries where boxers tend to turn pro at 15 to make money, the vast majority of top class pros not only have a sound amateur background, but boxed at world class in the amateurs. It tends to follow that if you can box, you can box.

[Wrists]

Fair play to Degale I thought.

Poor sod can't win, first fight gets slagged for being negative, next fight wins in the first gets slagged for being 'too open'

Typical StuJones post!!!



PS. Travis Dickinson is a better prospect than any of the olympians

[stujones]

Fair play to Degale I thought.

Poor sod can't win, first fight gets slagged for being negative, next fight wins in the first gets slagged for being 'too open'

Typical StuJones post!!!



PS. Travis Dickinson is a better prospect than any of the olympians

I didn't criticise the first fight though, and I didn't criticise the opponent for this one. He had a good record.

[stujones]

No they didn't. New judging system came in after Jones was robbed in 1988, it was in place by the 1992 Olympics, so Hatton, Froch Haye, Harrison, Mayweather, De La Hoya and Calzaghe would have all boxed under the system. The fact is, that apart from some poorer countries where boxers tend to turn pro at 15 to make money, the vast majority of top class pros not only have a sound amateur background, but boxed at world class in the amateurs. It tends to follow that if you can box, you can box.

Yes, but as the system has been going for more than 10 years. Alot of boxers are coming into gyms from a young age and being taught from the off to box in a way that is effective to the current judging. De La Hoya and Calzaghe were taught the basics under the old system, and I would imagine Floyd Mayweather was also.

Everything takes time to evolve, and now the amateurs have evolved into this almost entirely different sport. I'm not just talking about Audley, but several others. Calvin Brock was possibly more guilty of this than Audley.... fighting in a way that suited the amateurs... and the guy who Brock beat in the US championships, not sure of his name - but he would frankly have made a rubbish pro. Its only since Sydney IMO in which you are getting fighters who have fought the majority of the championship youth fights under the current system.

[WelshDevil]

I thought DeGale looked fantastic.(against an unknown, undefeated fighter)

Power, speed, movement, agility and accuracy. Seemed humble in the post fight interviews.

Good performance by the man.

[Quixall]

I thought DeGale looked fantastic.(against an unknown, undefeated fighter)

Power, speed, movement, agility and accuracy. Seemed humble in the post fight interviews.

Good performance by the man.

Bit over the top

I think you need to view the fight from a more critical perspective and take the quality of the opponent into account. This fight tells us nothing about DeGale at all and can't be used as a guide to how he will fare in future fights, as the calibre of opposition improves. He beat the guy that was put in from of him, fair enough, but that's all he did. DeGale won't be worth commenting on until after 10 or 15 !!