James DeGale

James DeGale MBE
Statistics
Real name	James Frederick DeGale
Nickname(s)	Chunky
Rated at	Super middleweight
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Born	(1986-02-03) 3 February 1986 Harlesden, London, England
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	18
Wins	17
Wins by KO	11
Losses	1
Draws	0
No contests	0

James DeGale

Medal record
Men's Boxing
Competitor for  United Kingdom
Olympic Games
Gold	2008 Beijing	Middleweight
Competitor for  England
Commonwealth Games
Bronze	2006 Melbourne	Middleweight
EU Amateur Championships
Silver	2007 Dublin	Middleweight
Silver	2008 Cetniewo	Middleweight

James Frederick DeGale MBE (born 3 February 1986) is an English boxer and Olympic gold medalist. He was born in Harlesden, London. He started amateur boxing at the Trojan club at the age of 10 before moving to Dale Youth boxing club.^[1] As a boy he soon acquired the nickname "Chunky",^[2] a name that has followed him throughout his career and to this day he is known as James ‘Chunky’ DeGale. The predominantly southpaw Londoner fights as a switchhitter. At the Commonwealth Games 2006 he won Bronze when he lost to Jarrod Fletcher.

DeGale was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.^[3]

Amateur career

Amateur record: 79–16.

Degale represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the Middleweight boxing event, winning the gold medal. In the quarter finals he beat a former Olympic gold medalist from Athens (Bakhtiyar Artayev) and in the semi-final once again beat the late Irishman Darren Sutherland (prior to this latest meeting the boxers had fought five times with Sutherland winning four and DeGale only one). In the final DeGale won a scrappy and bad tempered affair against the Cuban Emilio Correa who was deducted two points in the first round for biting DeGale's shoulder.^[4]

World amateur championships results

2007 (as a middleweight)

• Lost to Alfonso Blanco (Venezuela) 13–28

Olympic results

2008

• Defeated Mohamed Hikal (Egypt) 13–4
• Defeated Shawn Estrada (USA) 11–5
• Defeated Bakhtiyar Artayev (Kazakhstan) 8–3
• Defeated Darren Sutherland (Ireland) 10–3
• Defeated Emilio Correa (Cuba) 16–14

Professional career

On 2 December 2008, he agreed a deal with promoter Frank Warren to become professional along with Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders. The contract agreed is rumoured to be worth around £1.5 million.^[5] On 28 February 2009 DeGale made his professional debut against Georgia boxer Vepkhia Tchilaia, winning the fight on points 40–36. DeGale came in for a mixed reaction, being booed off after being taken the distance by his little-known opponent. However DeGale has been backed by many, as the Georgian was boxing extremely defensively.^[6] Five more victories followed before DeGale won his first title, the WBA International super-middleweight title, defeating Sam Horton by 5th round TKO. On 18 September 2010, DeGale made the first defence of his WBA title against fellow Brit Carl Dilks, gaining victory by TKO after just 2'54" of the first round.

Frank Warren revealed that DeGale would challenge Paul Smith for the British Super Middleweight title on Warren's blockbuster event in Liverpool, set for 11 December at the Echo Arena. On the huge bill includes fellow Olympians; Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders, Nathan Cleverly and Kell Brook. On 11 December, DeGale went on to beat Paul Smith via ninth round TKO in order to become the British Super-Middleweight Champion.

On 21 May 2011, DeGale lost to George Groves. The judges scored the bout 115–115, 115–114, 115–114.

DeGale signed a contract to face Polish, European champion Piotr Wilczewski on 15 October.

On 15 October 2011, DeGale beat Piotr Wilczewski by majority decision to win the European Super-Middleweight title in the Echo Arena Liverpool.

Professional boxing record

17 Wins (11 knockouts), 1 Defeat, 0 Draws[7]
Res.	Rd	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	17–1	Dyah Davis	UD	12	16 November 2013	Bluewater, Greenhithe, Kent	Retained WBC Silver Super middleweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	16–1	Stjepan Bozic	TKO	5 (12)	8 June 2013	Bluewater, Greenhithe, Kent	Retained WBC Silver Super middleweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	15–1	Sebastien Demers	KO	2 (12)	17 May 2013	Hilton Lac Leamy, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	14–1	Fulgencio Zuniga	UD	12	8 December 2012	Bonus Arena, Hull, Yorkshire	Won vacant WBC Silver Super middleweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	13–1	Hadillah Mohoumadi	UD	12	13 October 2012	Bluewater, Greenhithe, Kent	Retained European super middleweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	12–1	Cristian Sanavia	TKO	4(12)	21 April 2012	Arena Nord, Frederikshavn, Denmark	Retained European super middleweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	11–1	Piotr Wilczewski	UD	12	15 October 2011	Liverpool Echo Arena	Won European super middleweight title
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	10–1	George Groves	MD	12	21 May 2011	The O2 Arena, London	Lost British super-middleweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	10–0	Alpay Kobal	TKO	5	12 March 2011	Braehead Arena, Glasgow
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	9–0	Paul Smith	TKO	9	11 December 2010	Echo Arena, Liverpool	Won British super-middleweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	8–0	Carl Dilks	TKO	1	18 September 2010	LG Arena, Birmingham	BBBofC British super-middleweight title eliminator
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	7–0	Sam Horton	TKO	5	15 May 2010	Upton Park, London	WBA International super middleweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	6–0	Matthew Barr	TKO	2	13 February 2010	Wembley Arena, London
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	5–0	Nathan King	PTS	4	5 December 2009	Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	4–0	Ally Morrison	TKO	3	30 October 2009	Echo Arena, Liverpool
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	3–0	Ciaran Healy	TKO	1	18 July 2009	M.E.N. Arena, Manchester
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	2–0	Jindrich Kubin	TKO	1	15 May 2009	Odyssey Arena, Belfast
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	1–0	Vepkhia Tchilaia	PTS	4	28 February 2009	National Indoor Arena, Birmingham	Professional debut

References

External links

• jamesdegale.net
• Professional boxing record for James DeGale from BoxRec
• Olympic profile