James DeGale admits to enjoying skin-splitting fight with Badou Jack as Rocky-like battle proved he has the stomach for war
The West London star had a tooth knocked out in the build-up and had the temporary replacement splashed across the canvas
JAMES DEGALE wanted to get flattened and bashed-up by Badou Jack in a sick bid to prove to his doubters that he is more than the flashy jab-and-mover he confesses to being.
The IBF super-middleweight champ appeared to lose a tooth in the majority draw with the WBC boss – who has just vacated his strap and moved up to light-heavy – but revealed he lost the gnasher 10 days before the Brooklyn showdown in a brutal sparring session.
The handsome west Londoner had a touch of Quasimodo about him when the final bell rang – so spiteful were Jack’s punches and his round-12 knock-down – but DeGale insists he enjoyed taking the Rocky-esque battering and winning over thousands more fans.
Discussing his lost tooth and new-found respect, : “He didn't actually knock out any teeth.
"Ten days before I was in Miami doing my last spar, and some geezer knocked it out. We put it back.
"That's why I'm getting so much credit and kudos.
"A lot of people looked at me as just a slick boxer that doesn't like getting hit. I showed them Saturday, mate. I can go in the trenches.
"It felt like I was in a Rocky film, it was weird. In a sick way, I actually enjoyed it.
"I remember saying to my coach 'I'm looking forward to being in fights where I'm getting off the floor'."
After the devastating 2011 loss to old enemy George Groves – a 12-round war of attrition that could have gone either way – DeGale rebuilt his career on the road in Denmark, in shopping centres and in Canada, before heading to America to stake his claim for world honours.
During that difficult resurrection – with fights at the Bluewater department store in Kent, in Hull and Bristol – DeGale was rarely tested and was allowed to improve his smart southpaw style.
Even in his 12-round points wins over Andre Dirrel, which won him the IBF crown in May 2015, Lucian Bute and Rogelio Medina, DeGale was rarely out of his comfort zone, barely cut and never scarred.
That meant his mettle was questioned and his heart a fair topic for discussion. Until now.
But he understood the doubters: “Because I just out-box people. I'm just too good for them.
“But in this fight I made it hard for myself. I stood in the pocket. I played him at his own game, and had a fight with him."
“The first four rounds I was moving, winning pretty easy. But a 12-round fight is a long time so, in the end, I stood there and had it with him. I actually enjoyed it."