“This could be a £10m year for me,” says James DeGale soon after he has ambled downstairs wearing nothing but his underpants. At home in Hertfordshire, DeGale is so confident that an hour later he’s still just in his skimpy briefs as he polishes off a bowl of porridge whipped up by his mum, Diane. The IBF world super‑middleweight champion puffs out his bare chest and counts off his possible world title fights this year, snapping a finger at each name.
“Badou Jack … Callum Smith … George Groves … that could make me 10 million,” DeGale says as his eyes widen. DeGale steps back into the ring on Saturday night when he and the WBC world champion, Jack, meet in an intriguing title unification fight in New York. Jack, who is promoted by Floyd Mayweather, beat Groves, DeGale’s arch-rival, in 2015 and he represents another serious test. It also marks the fourth successive world title fight in north America for DeGale, who last fought at home, in England, more than two years ago.
He became world champion in May 2015, when he defeated the accomplished American Andre Dirrell in Boston. DeGale then defended his title in Quebec, defeating the former world champion Lucian Bute in his own backyard. His most recent title bout was another clear victory against the mediocre Rogelio Medina in Washington. Jack, a tough Gambian who grew up in Sweden but now fights out of Mayweather’s camp in Las Vegas, is much more dangerous. If DeGale wins, as he should, his credibility will be as secure as his bank balance.
“Even my haters and doubters have to give me respect now,” DeGale says. “I’ve been on the road a long time and this next fight is another battle. It makes me think of Dirrell. I had the fear going into that fight. It was a genuine 50-50 and I knew if I wasn’t on my game I was going to get beat. He was a confident American and him and his brothers were talking trash. So I had that fear factor. I didn’t have it the last two fights. I knew I was the champ. I knew I was better than them. But against Dirrell I was the most edgy I’d ever felt. Same with this fight.”
DeGale fought beautifully against Dirrell, knocking him down in the second round and then outpointing the American with some style. “I know,” he grins. “Dirrell was very skilful. He’d only lost once before me – to Carl Froch in Nottingham – and he gave Froch so many problems. So I was very nervous before that one.”
As befits a man bold enough to complete a long interview wearing so little, DeGale is willing to bare the secret fear all fighters carry into the ring. “The fear is very real,” he says quietly. “I remember Joe Calzaghe saying: ‘The walk to the ring is all an act because I’m shitting myself inside.’ But on the outside he looked so confident. It’s exactly the same with me. I’m scared of disappointing everyone. I’m scared of failing. I’m scared to lose.
“After the first round it gets better. Against Dirrell I was thinking: ‘Hold up, he’s not as fast as me.’ I can hit him with my left hand. It’s a wonderful feeling. I’ve never been in the ring with anyone better than me yet. I’ve been with guys who are almost as good, and very competitive, but no one in sparring or a fight has been better than me. But I need that fear to inspire me.
“Jim McDonnell [his trainer] always worries when I don’t have it. This camp is different. Jim knows I’ve got that fear, that edge. He says: ‘I see it in your eyes, James.’ Everything is on the line. If I win I become the first British super‑middleweight to unify the division abroad. It’s history, so it feels like a big fight. New York, Barclays Center, Mayweather promoting it. On Showtime and Sky Sports. This is the kind of night I dreamed of as a kid.”
DeGale is 30 now and he can read how fighters really feel on the inside. When he looks into Jack’s face does he see a man who believes he can win? “He’s definitely confident. Listen, he’s much improved. When he won that world title he wasn’t expected to beat Anthony Dirrell [Andre’s brother] but he put in a fantastic performance and came out as WBC world champion [in April 2015]. His last two fights [beating Groves on a split decision and retaining his title after a draw against Bute] show his quality. He looks like a guy who believes this is his time.”
Could DeGale lose to Jack? “Only if I’m not switched on. If the James DeGale from my last fight, against Medina, turns up, I could lose. But you’re going to see the guy that beat Dirrell. As Eddie Hearn says, I’m a buzz fighter. The bright lights, big stadium, big occasion inspire me. This is a New York unification fight for the most prestigious belts. I’m buzzing.
“Badou Jack ain’t a trash-talker. He’s very respectful. But at the last press conference they gave me a tiara which said ‘Diva DeGale’. My mum asked why Diva and they told her it was because it took so long to make the fight. But I would fight this guy for free. People don’t realise I’m willing to go to the darkest places to win.”
DeGale is still a slick stylist – more in thrall to Mayweather than Mike Tyson. How has his hero reacted to him during this promotion? “Floyd’s been good. Every time I see him he embraces me and speaks to me. When we first met and he embraced me and said my name I was taken aback. This is Floyd Mayweather who, for me, is the best ever. Apart from Muhammad Ali he’s No1. He’s a modern-day legend, the first billionaire boxer. And now he’s promoting and it’s important for him that Jack wins. Jack is his main fighter. Floyd’s put a lot into him.”
We start chatting about Mayweather’s wry suggestion that he is more interested in DeGale’s sister, Eloise, when the doorbell rings. The boxer saunters over to open the door to show off his underpants to the next visitor. “Oh, man,” he rushes back to me, chuckling helplessly, “it’s my sister’s boyfriend.”
The boyfriend walks in, looking embarrassed. “It’s just banter, mate,” DeGale reassures him. “Floyd’s just selling the fight.”
Should he beat Jack, DeGale is enthused by the idea of fighting Callum Smith, the unbeaten big-hitter from Liverpool. “I love that fight,” DeGale says. “Smith is a homecoming fight – a huge world title fight in England. Eddie Hearn told me it’s going to be in May. Callum Smith is one of the toughest fights out there. But he’s had lots of hype and hasn’t been tested. He caught [Hadillah] Mohoumadi cold [stopping the Frenchman last April]. They’re giving Smith lots of credit because Mohoumadi went 12 rounds with me – but that was four years ago. That don’t mean shit.”
Who would win a fight between Smith and Groves? “Hard to judge,” DeGale says after a pause. “Smith hasn’t fought the same calibre of opponents as Groves. But Smith looks sensational. I guess I’d go with Smith. Groves is struggling now.”
In 2011 DeGale lost his only fight as a professional to Groves in a tight contest. Groves also beat DeGale, who won an Olympic gold medal in 2008, when they were amateur rivals. “Yeah, but the cream always rises,” DeGale says. “When we met five years ago we were both 10-fight novices. There was a lot of bragging rights and he came out on top. It hurt me so bad. It took me a long while to get my mojo back. I went from being Olympic champion, signing with Frank Warren, being touted as the next big thing … and that Groves fight brought me down. It was the worst feeling ever.”
How did DeGale feel when, in November 2013, it looked as if Groves was about to knock out Carl Froch in a huge world title fight in Manchester? “He knocks Carl down and I’m thinking: ‘Oh my God, what’s going on here … it’s all gone wrong.’ I was fighting average American fighters who were just coming over for a pay day. Groves should have won that fight but he lost on a controversial stoppage. George was still on top then.
“My break was when I signed with Hearn. I was on the Froch-Groves rematch undercard in front of 80,000 at Wembley. I boxed brilliantly against an unbeaten American, Brandon Gonzales, and knocked him out. I became Froch’s mandatory challenger and it was all downhill for Groves. He got knocked out by Froch, who retired. I won the title against Dirrell. Groves got another chance against Jack and blew it. He’s got his fourth world title chance coming up soon against [Fedor] Chudinov. If he can’t win that he’s in trouble.”
DeGale, surely, wants Groves to win so that they can stage their rematch later this year? “Of course. I’d love that third big-money fight of the year for me.”
Boxing is also scarred by devastation, and even death. DeGale looks sombre when remembering the death of Mike Towell and the coma suffered by Nick Blackwell last year. “Of course, it shakes you. It was terrible. There were also bad injures in America. Even Groves’ last opponent [Eduard Gutknecht] was in hospital a long time. But look at Nick Blackwell. He recovered and then, unbelievably, he had a sparring session. Another [induced] coma. I couldn’t understand it. You can only say boxing is an addiction.”
Does DeGale also feel like a boxing junkie? “If I’m in camp for a tough fight like this one I moan and tell my mum I can’t wait to retire. But I will miss the training, and getting respect and everyone knowing me. I fight and have a week off and I want to go back to the gym. Maybe I’m also addicted.”
DeGale smiles sadly. “I ain’t met a boxer who don’t have issues, who ain’t a bit bipolar, especially in camp, when you’re up and down. But I’ve been fighting since I was 10. Twenty years. Can you believe it, Mum?”
Diane DeGale looks at me. “He loves it,” she says of his passion for boxing. “Once he gives it up he’ll understand how much he misses the focus, the discipline …”
DeGale stands up. He begins to shadow-box, as if in Brooklyn rather than Bricket Wood. He keeps talking while he fights an imaginary Badou Jack. “I get asked if boxing is in danger from UFC? No way. Boxing is a science, and an art. UFC will never take over from boxing. It’s bit like WWE – only barbaric. Boxing is different. Boxing is a classy art.”
The boxing artist in his classy underpants grins and throws a few more jabs and uppercuts. “Nothing beats a great fight in a boxing ring. I think we’re going to see one with me and Badou Jack. It’s going to be a career-best performance – at least until I come home and fight Smith and Groves. It’s going to be some year. I promise you.”
