GUEST COLUMN
We were always in it together and I can’t thank Degale enough for that
Jim Mcdonnell on Degale’s career
WHEN people look over his career, James Degale is a history maker. No one else had done what he’s done, the first British Olympic gold medallist to win a world title.
It’s like the end of an era, his achievements even as a junior were just outstanding. Some people are just born to box and I think James is one of them.
A two-time world champion, British and European champion, all the accolades as an amateur.
He boxed for the British title against Paul Smith, in Liverpool, in the lion’s den, in front of a really hostile atmosphere and that was his ninth professional fight. He was going into 12-rounders when people were only dreaming of moving up to eight-rounders and 10 rounders. The thing with James, unlike all the fighters I’ve known in the past, wherever a ring is, it is home. His mentality is the best I’ve ever seen.
Apart from being physically very talented with all the skills, he had the best mindset. He could think so clearly even when the pressure was on. His belief in himself was unreal.
I was with him from start to finish. He’s the most loyal fighter I’ve ever trained. It just happens in the game, when a fighter gets beat, it’s never the promoter’s fault, it’s never your manager’s fault, it’s never your mum’s fault, it’s never your dad’s fault, it’s always the trainer every single time. You’re in it together, you’re a team, if you’re that annoyed with your trainer, tell him before the fight, stand up and be counted. James Degale would stand up and be counted every single time. If there was something he didn’t agree with, he’d put his point in. We had that open thing. Sometimes you need to look at yourself.
That’s why he was so good. He was real, he was real with himself, real to his family, real to me. He had the same group all the way through his career.
If you reflect on James’ career there are many more highs than there are lows. He lost a close decision to George Groves early in his career, that showed character, resilience. He was back in the gym in 10 days and carried on to do what he’s done. When you look at most fighters’ careers ending sometimes there’s never a happy ending.
People in boxing would know, when you look at a peak James Degale, and we’ll see what Chris Eubank Jnr goes on to achieve as a pro but it’s going to be very hard to match what Degale’s done. Degale at his best, for me, beats any supermiddleweight on the planet.
You can’t say the same about Eubank Jnr. He’s tough, he’s got the blood of his father and it’s in the family. But the James Degale who beat Lucian Bute, beat Andre Dirrell, beat Badou Jack [their fight was a contentious draw], beat Porky Medina, beat Paul Smith and those people on the way through, he was a special, a very special fighter. And Chris Eubank’s a good fighter, but a fighter like Degale, they only come along once in a lifetime.
A fighter like Degale, he’s a special character, a special fighter. They’re one-offs.
Great fighters have won Olympic gold medals, they’ve gone on to be professional world champions and James is the first kid to do it from our shores and he deserves a lot of credit for that. He was in the lion’s den boxing elite fighters. He never had a promoter who got him home advantage. He was in the lion’s den, on the other promoter’s bill so he deserves massive credit.
Retiring is the hardest thing in the world for a fighter. I remember retiring, having seven years out and boxing again. I think Sugar Ray Leonard did exactly the same thing. He was a bit quicker than me, he had six years out then boxed again, and the list goes on. But Degale was always a smart kid.
‘HE COULD THINK SO CLEARLY EVEN UNDER PRESSURE’