For James DeGale 2018 was looking bright he was going to be fighting back in the UK, defending his world title against all comers. There was even talk of a possible rematch with his arch rival George Groves. However all of that went up in smoke on Saturday when he lost a tight split decision to the underrated American Caleb Truax. So in this post I will be looking at what went wrong and what the future holds for him.
On Saturday he started the fight well winning the first 3 rounds on my card then Truax came on strong in the 4th, and nearly took him out in the 5th. He recovered well and got back into the fight, however throughout the fight he seemed ring rusty which is understandable when you consider this was his first fight in 11 months. Also throughout the whole fight he was reluctant to throw the jab which meant that he couldn’t use it to set up his attacks or keep Truax off him so Truax was always on the front foot. Now don’t get me wrong it was a good tight fight but I think the right man won on the night as I had Truax 2 up at the end of the fight.
In his post fight interview he said, he thought he’d won the fight but acknowledged it was close. He also admitted that he did a lot of things wrong in the fight saying it’s time to go back to the drawing board, and maybe he came back too soon. I don’t know if that’s just him making excuses but by the 6th round Truax looked like he’d been out for a run and DeGale looked like he’d been in a fight. When asked what’s next for him he said that he wants the rematch, however that maybe a problem as it looks like there is no rematch clause in the contract.
Now this might sound like a stupid thing to say but maybe this loss is a good thing because he hasn’t looked at his best since he won the title back in 2015, and he hasn’t won a fight by knockout since 2014 when he beat Marco Antonio Periban. So this loss will give him plenty of time to go back to the gym and work on everything without the pressure of been the world champion. So when he does comeback we should see him back at his best.
So what options are out there for him firstly I think most boxing fans would love to see the rematch with Truax if they can make it happen. If not there are still plenty of options for him, firstly a move back to Matchroom would be good for him Eddie Hearn has already come out and said he would be happy to work with him again. If the rematch doesn’t happen he’s still highly ranked with the other governing bodies so he could go after one of the other titles. However for his first few fights back I think it could be good for him to take a step down in opposition I’m not saying he should fight journeyman just someone in the top 10 top 15 just to get him back to winning ways, and get his confidence back in his body and his boxing skills. Then he can go for another shot at the world title.
These are just my thoughts and I would love to know what you think he should do, so please comment below and let me know your thoughts.
Honestly get the rematch prove his as good has he thinks he is an prove me wrong cheers Chris.