EDITOR’S LETTER
Revitalised Eubank Jnr sends Degale towards retirement
Reflecting on Degale versus Eubank
CHRIS EUBANK JNR became the third man to defeat James Degale last weekend and one hopes he’s also the last. Degale should not fight again.
As the reality of that loss sets in the proud fighter will likely feel dreadful. Not only from the physical effects of those 12 rounds, but from the sobering realisation that a boxer’s career is short. That brevity means memories of better days – of the invincibility, of everything working like clockwork – remain fresh, even at the end. So fresh, in fact, it is tempting to try and try and try to relive them.
For James Degale one hopes those early memories ultimately provide comfort that he succeeded in a sport where so many do not. That Eubank Jnr – a long-term pain in Degale’s backside – applied the final punches won’t make it easy for him to rest in retirement but rest he must, because the sport he has given everything to since he was a child will now give nothing back. It will only grow more spiteful. The injuries that piled up over the years and the damage they caused cannot be fixed. The faltering reflexes will continue to fade.
It wasn’t the ending he wanted. Nor the homecoming triumph his illustrious career deserved. But, as John Dennen acutely observed in this week’s issue [pages 12-14], the swing in the fans’ feelings towards Degale, not so long ago a fighter they loved to hate, was a victory in itself.
Such adulation, in the short term, will make the goodbye difficult. But he must cling to the hard truth of this brutal game: A boxer who has been showing signs of decline does not return to form; signs the boxer themselves are the first to notice. Almost always that decline is punctuated by the most humbling of defeats. But the achievements that came before will define him now; the Olympic gold medal, the British and European super-middleweight titles, the two reigns as IBF champion which were born in the USA.
Much of the pre-fight talk was about how far 33-year-old Degale had slipped. The cruel timing of the contest will likely form the post-fight narrative too. People will claim that Eubank won purely because Degale was not the fighter he once was. That might be true, but we can never know for sure. Eubank won this one handily and if we’re to commiserate the loser we should also congratulate the winner.
Eubank Jnr deserves praise for finally delivering on his big-fight promises and scoring the most significant victory of his career. Eubank – a natural middleweight – took control early and never looked like letting go. This all came after he accepted that he needed to make changes to his team following last year’s humbling loss to George Groves. Changes that did not please his father, Chris Eubank Snr. Changes that went against everything his career was built upon.
For so long he claimed he did not need a trainer, that he could go it alone. That he was somehow so gifted he could make it up as he went along. But every fighter needs a guide. Even so, in going against the advice of Senior he showed he remains his own man. For now, the addition of American coach Nate Vasquez to work alongside the wise Ronnie Davies appears to be a shrewd one.
But Chris Eubank Snr should take some credit too. Senior, who like Davies has done so much more to support and nurture Eubank Jnr than Vasquez ever could, knew that something had to change for his old prophecies of fistic grandeur for his son to ever come true. Though he was there at the end, proudly hoisting his son into the air, it also marked the fight when Senior was forced to let Junior fend for himself.
Some observers grumbled that the fight was not a good one. In truth, it was far from a classic. But the winner and loser, from inception until the final bell, gave it everything they’d got. That was as good as Degale can be at this stage and he should now reflect on what he’s achieved with pride. Eubank Jnr, meanwhile, can look to a future that plenty presumed was gone for good.