Chris Eubank Jr will be 'exposed' by James DeGale, says former sparring partner
Denis Douglin, who was employed by Eubank to be his chief sparring partner for the past six weeks, has come out and thrown his support behind DeGale
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Your support makes all the difference.James DeGale will "expose" Chris Eubank Jr in their all-British grudge match at the O2 Arena on Saturday.
That is the surprising opinion of Denis Douglin, who was employed by Eubank to be his chief sparring partner for the past six weeks.
The Brighton man even flew Douglin over and let him stay in his house for the entirety of the training camp, which was wrapped up on Friday before fight week kicked off.
But the so-called 'Momma's Boy', who is trained by his mother Saphya, has shown no loyalty to his former landlord and predicted that 33-year-old DeGale will be too crafty for Eubank when they collide at the weekend.
Douglin is no stranger to England having boxed – and lost – to George Groves in Liverpool back in late 2014, as part of a card on which DeGale also featured.
The Olympic gold medallist and two-time IBF super-middleweight champion won that night, stopping Marco Antonio Periban, and Douglin believes DeGale will be victorious in what is only his second fight on British soil since.
“I was in camp with Eubank for six weeks and he's tough and definitely in shape but I'm picking DeGale,” said Douglin, who is already back in Las Vegas.
“I feel bad saying it but I just think DeGale is more intelligent in the ring and that's what it comes down to.
“Eubank is not going to fade but I just think DeGale is too crafty. It was just little things in sparring that I was doing and he didn’t know how to handle it.
“But I appreciate everything Chris did, let me stay in his house and paid me well but it was just a lot of basic stuff that I saw him struggling with. I think DeGale is going to expose that.
“I know that DeGale woke up for this fight because they don't like each other.”
DeGale was stunned to hear Douglin's comments given the American spent most of his time in England backing Eubank to do the business.
“Shut up, what did he say?” DeGale said. “Well there you go.
"When he was over here he was saying 'James DeGale is rubbish' and now he is over there saying that.
"He has obviously got home, got the paycheck and said that. If one of my sparring partners had done that then I would not be happy.
“But, look, I have known it all along but it is now about putting it into practise.”
Eubank broke from his usual strategy of training himself during the preparation for DeGale, with Nate Vasquez – along with Douglin – employed for the camp on the south coast.
Eubank usually takes whatever sparring he can get in his underground gym and broadcasts most of the sessions on social media. But this time he hired southpaw Douglin in a bid to replicate DeGale's style and kept all footage of their spars off the internet.
And the Brighton man, beaten twice in 29 fights, admitted he was not expecting his chief sparring partner to pick against him.
"That surprises me after what he said to everyone else in other interviews,” Eubank said.
"I have not seen the comments but the spars went very well, it was a successful training camp.
"I do not feel I was falling for his traps, they were competitive spars, that is why I brought him over.
"Maybe he is trying to get some publicity because he has previously said the complete opposite.
"I did a lot of technical spars with him but they were physical, I spar hard but I enjoyed it.”
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