Degale - Is it too much too soon

[forcefraser]

I`m all for bringing on experienced and successful amateurs at a faster pace than we have seen in the past, but is Degale being thrown in too deep too soon?

Paul Smith is a hardened pro who has been through some tough wars in his last two fights and has proved he can fight for the full 12 rounds, Degale has never been pushed at all in his pro fights to date.

If we look at the other Olympians/top prospects, they are not fighting even close to this level of opponent yet and for good reason.

I think that Saunders, Jeffries and Pryce would struggle badly with the British champs at their weight at this point in time. Gavin would handle Daws in my opinion, even at this early stage, but I would wait a few fights before I put him in with the likes of Mcloskey.

Fair play to Degale for taking this fight, but I think people may be over estimating him on the basis of some fairly average opposition and underestimating the hard facts of what a gruelling 12 rounder takes from a boxer.

What do you think, is he ready for this?

[reggaereggae]

Hopefully he has been thrown in too deep! But I can see some sort of points stitch up or some ridiculous stoppage

[hurlock]

we will soon see :!:

smith must feel insulted as degale has fancied beating him in 4 fight's in


degale will be smith's most skillfull opponent he has faced. smith just cant jump on degale. he has to be clever early door's & get degale to the ropes later on in the fight. there's no expectations of smith for this fight which should help him, but he does have the pressure of his home support, saying that degale never performed well when recieving boo's in his debut...de ja vu maybe.

[Newport Daz]

In recent times I look at David Haye and Amir Khan as examples of guys who were thrown in with guys too early. Haye was used to knocking people over quickly and didn't have the stamina or patience at the time to deal with a seasoned vet like Thompson who sucked up the first couple of rounds and fought back and won.

When Khan fought Willie Limpond he again wasn't used to having an experienced guy fight back and should have come unstuck when he was dropped for 13 seconds. Khan's inexperiece should have cost him the fight,but got away with it.

Degale Vs Smith seems another of these type of fights. Degale is fighting an accomplished amateur who is in his prime and can do 12 rounds easily. Degale hasn't fought 12 rounds, hasn't fought anyone who can fight back and is tight at the weight. I hope the bookies keep Degale as favourite as i'll be putting money on Smith. Unless there's a stitch up and I wouldn't bet against that either, I can't see how Degale wins this fight at this stage of his career.

[Chambers2]

I like the way Chunky is progressing his career quickly. I don't think it's too much too soon for him, but if it is a loss is not the end of the world. In fact it done Haye and Amir the world of good

[stevek3lly]

I really hope so, don't like the guy and would love to see Smigga knock him out.

[deadpan]

Given that Smith is on the cusp of a title shot it's something of an insult from Franny Wazza that clearly shows where he sits in his pecking order. I do hope it backfires on FW.

[lefty]

One thing Smith is going to have trouble with and quite a few of degales opponents will is his monkey like arms! (p.s thats not a racist comment because he is mixed race by the way,just want to clear that up before anyone jumps on me for saying that)Froch is the same,they both have freakishly long arms and as good a fighter as smigga is he doesnt look the rangiest guy in the super-middle division.To be honest i was pretty shocked when i saw degale and dilks go head to head and saw that degale was actually taller than dilks as dilks is a tall super-middle!

[bigjack]

Hopefully he has been thrown in too deep!

Why do you say that?

I think what he means is he hope smith wins,like myself and a lot of posters on here

[bigdaddy]

Hopefully he has been thrown in too deep!

Why do you say that?

I think what he means is he hope smith wins,like myself and a lot of posters on here

[SAPFO]

In recent times I look at David Haye and Amir Khan as examples of guys who were thrown in with guys too early. Haye was used to knocking people over quickly and didn't have the stamina or patience at the time to deal with a seasoned vet like Thompson who sucked up the first couple of rounds and fought back and won.

When Khan fought Willie Limpond he again wasn't used to having an experienced guy fight back and should have come unstuck when he was dropped for 13 seconds. Khan's inexperiece should have cost him the fight,but got away with it.

Degale Vs Smith seems another of these type of fights. Degale is fighting an accomplished amateur who is in his prime and can do 12 rounds easily. Degale hasn't fought 12 rounds, hasn't fought anyone who can fight back and is tight at the weight. I hope the bookies keep Degale as favourite as i'll be putting money on Smith. Unless there's a stitch up and I wouldn't bet against that either, I can't see how Degale wins this fight at this stage of his career.

You think this is possible?

[freddydoesdallas]

Given that Smith is on the cusp of a title shot it's something of an insult from Franny Wazza that clearly shows where he sits in his pecking order. I do hope it backfires on FW.

Can't really backfire on Warren really, DeGale wins and it legitmises his claims to be one of the hottest prospects in boxing, Smith wins and he gets mainstream exposure and a world title shot

[Final round]

Degale seems to have a good natural skill set to work off and is powerful. Paul has the experience and grit to tough out a win.
Should be a really good fight

[hurlock]

Given that Smith is on the cusp of a title shot it's something of an insult from Franny Wazza that clearly shows where he sits in his pecking order. I do hope it backfires on FW.

Can't really backfire on Warren really, DeGale wins and it legitmises his claims to be one of the hottest prospects in boxing, Smith wins and he gets mainstream exposure and a world title shot

i came with the champion, i left with the champion

[mahatma]

like both of these guys but degale is the clear stand out and will stop smith later rounds. i do hope smith is being well paid as a loss will derail his lonsdale belt chances, which i would like to see him win but degale has too much speed and skill though im sure paul will give him a great fight but chunky is something special

[Asterix]

There will be a lot of reward for the winner, so the risk is justified on both sides. I hope DeGale wins as it will be better for British boxing. More than that, I hope it's an entertaining & clean fight.

Both boxers deserve credit for taking the fight, and praise to be heaped onto the winner.

[crusader]

Stephen Smith was in a similiar situation, and most people here were confident he would win. I think Degale is a special talent, and while Smith is good, he isn't anything special. It is not too much too soon, imo.

[bigped]

I didnt even have paul beating quigley, deagle shud win this one, points win

[Newport Daz]

In recent times I look at David Haye and Amir Khan as examples of guys who were thrown in with guys too early. Haye was used to knocking people over quickly and didn't have the stamina or patience at the time to deal with a seasoned vet like Thompson who sucked up the first couple of rounds and fought back and won.

When Khan fought Willie Limpond he again wasn't used to having an experienced guy fight back and should have come unstuck when he was dropped for 13 seconds. Khan's inexperiece should have cost him the fight,but got away with it.

Degale Vs Smith seems another of these type of fights. Degale is fighting an accomplished amateur who is in his prime and can do 12 rounds easily. Degale hasn't fought 12 rounds, hasn't fought anyone who can fight back and is tight at the weight. I hope the bookies keep Degale as favourite as i'll be putting money on Smith. Unless there's a stitch up and I wouldn't bet against that either, I can't see how Degale wins this fight at this stage of his career.

You think this is possible?

What I meant was that anything like a close round goes to Degale just because he's the newest cash cow. If there's a lot of close rounds and they all go to Degale you could have a pretty wide score on your hands that is not representative of what we'd have just watched.

[Autobarn]

There will be a lot of reward for the winner, so the risk is justified on both sides. I hope DeGale wins as it will be better for British boxing. More than that, I hope it's an entertaining & clean fight.

Both boxers deserve credit for taking the fight, and praise to be heaped onto the winner.

can't help saying this, but i don't think either have what you would call "clean" styles.

[SAPFO]

If 2/3 years from now, who do you see being the top 5 Super Mids?......

[reggaereggae]

Hopefully he has been thrown in too deep!

Why do you say that?

Because I dislike his personality. And I have always found Paul Smith to be likeable and a fighter's fighter.

So really I just want Paul to win.

[gav-laa82]

the truth is if smith cant beat degale now he will never be able to beat him and degale`s taking the bigger risk so if there both willing to fight its all good , i will be be there and wish them both good luck. its a tough one to call

[housesecond]

My opinion is that if he's good enough to beat Paul Smith at this stage of his career then he's good enough to go all the way in future. Paul Smith is a quality operator and its a cracking match up.
I for one can't wait!

[gav-laa82]

me neither i think it will be great fight, and all credit to smith, if he wins its onwards and upwards and if smith loses than at least he has time to get carrer back on track and push for belts again without the degale fight hanging over him. i think degale might just pip him to the win both great blokes even if degale doesent seem that way sometimes ..... best of luck boys it should be a cracker!