James Degale failed to captalise on wonderful oppertunity of becoming unified super-middleweight champion after he ended up on a majority draw decision against Badou Jack. Degale started stronger and looked in control in first 5-6 rounds but after that he had to withstand several on onslaughts from Badou Jack and he just managed to hang in there to retain his titles.
British boxer James Degale has incredible opportunity to unify super-middleweight division when he takes on Badou Jack this Saturday night in Brooklyn, New York. Degale holds the IBF super-middleweight title while Badou Jack put his WBA super-middleweight on the line. This is a massive fight for both boxers who can look for bigger paydays with a win while the losing fighter will have a major setback in the career.
Official Weigh-ins: James Degale hit the scale half stone under the limit at 11.5 stone while Badou Jack barely made the weight with 168 lb and put away his struggles of making weights in the past . Degale has age advantage while Badou Jack is naturally heavier puncher. Both had common fighter (Lucien Bute) in their recent fights and both struggled against the vateran. Degale recorded a narrow win while Badou Jack ended up drawing his fight against Bute.
The fight is arranged under the banner of Premier Boxing Champions “PBC” and will be televised on regular showtime channels (non-ppv) in the United States. UK viewers can catch live action on SkySports 1 in the early hours of Sunday morning at around 03:00 am uk time. There are several other fights on the night including Ievgen Khytrov vs Immanuwel Aleem in the middleweight division while Jose Pedraza take on Gervonta Davis. The fight night coverage starts at around 09:30 p.m ET with the undercard coverage and we can expect Degale-Jack ring walks by around midnight US eastern time.
Degale describe his preparation for this fight as best in his career and vowed to surprise people with a knockout.
Badou Jack is slightly favourit after the weigh-in as far as the odds are concerned but interms of style and competitive nature there is not much between the two. We can expect a very tight fight which might last 12 rounds. However Degale was very confident of his chances and describe himself “in the best shape of his life” under new fitness and nutrition coach.