James DeGale vs Badou Jack: Fiercely competitive title fight can finally put Floyd Mayweather in the shade

All the talk over Mayweather fighting Conor McGregor will be forgotten when his boxer, Badou Jack, takes on Britain's James DeGale in Las Vegas

James DeGale takes on Badou Jack in the first major title fight of the year (Getty)

Considering that the most talked about fights so far this year have involved a retired boxer and a Mixed-Martial-Artist, or a proposed bout between a convicted domestic abuser and a guy whose claim to fame is spawning the most annoying dance since the Macarena, it’s a thrill that the first major scrap of 2017 is fiercely competitive.

Despite retirement, Floyd Mayweather is very much the glue of stuck between all of those fights. He’s in alleged talks to fight Conor McGregor, he’s training Soulja Boy against Chris Brown, and he promotes Badou Jack who will be fighting James DeGale tonight on Sky Sports.

Swedish born but US based, Jack is the current WBC super middleweight champion and puts his belt on the line in an attempt to claim DeGale’s IBF title in their Las Vegas based unification bout.

Highly regarded during his early career, Jack was knocked out in one round by Derek Edwards in February 2014, but rebounded to win the WBC title a year later after narrowly outpointing Anthony Dirrell.

The 33-year-old followed up with a split decision win against Britain’s George Groves, before struggling to a majority draw with Lucian Bute last April. Jack hasn’t earned a convincing victory since stopping Francisco Sierra at the end of 2014, and has failed to fully shine as champion.

Like a former Big Brother contestant or a member of a faded Britpop band, James DeGale is still striving to define himself in the harsh face of stardom despite winning his own world title in memorable fashion against Andre Dirrell in May 2015.

DeGale has since competed in winning, if slightly dour fights against Lucian Bute and Rogelio Medina, but really needs to electrify if he’s going to become the star he clearly craves to be.

The 30-year-old turned professional under immense scrutiny and publicity after winning gold at the 2008 Olympic Games, but was booed on his debut and has endured almost a decade of disdain ever since.

A pivotal May 2011 defeat to George Groves sent DeGale into a tailspin of changing promoters and headlining shopping centres, but he rallied and regrouped, and began to express himself in the boxing ring the way he wasn’t quite able to with a microphone in hand.

DeGale is human and needs to be loved just like everybody else does, and what better time than now?

The lights of Vegas, a unification bout, a chance to be coronated as the best super middleweight on the planet, and an opportunity to set up high profile fights with British talent including Callum Smith, and maybe finally an opportunity to beat his old rival Groves.

He’s going to have to be at his best to beat Jack who is the more powerful fighter and is not afraid to be patient. The Swedish star is more than happy to make fights untidy, and may relish the chance to get inside the long-limbs of DeGale.

The bookmakers favour the British fighter however, who has been in better form than Jack in recent bouts and seems to finally have his game together after years of tinkering with his tactics during fights.

You can get odds of ⅖ for DeGale to win outright, while Jack can be found at 3/1. It has been six combined fights since either man has not heard the final bell, but in an event of this magnitude anything can happen, so the 11/4 on the fight not to go the distance could appeal to some.


 The winner of Jack (left) and DeGale (right) will claim the IBF and WBC super-middleweight titles 
 (Getty)

“One of the best fighters in the world,” is how DeGale described himself after weighing in yesterday, and tonight is the night to prove it.

Jose Pedraza defends his IBF super featherweight title on the undercard against Gervonta Davis, while keep an eye on the hard-hitting Ievgen Khytrov in action at middleweight.