CAN DEGALE WHACK JACK IN BROOKLYN?
JEFF POWELL’S BIG FIGHT VERDICT —
THE fear and loathing in Las Vegas which has spread to trendy and liberal Manhattan with the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States has infected, also, the boxing enclave in New York.
The political lefties are in a frenzy of hysteria and denial about losing power to the maverick southpaw who looks down upon them from atop his gaudy tower on Fifth Avenue while preparing to rule over them.
Only six days to the inauguration, my friends. Yes, panic.
Down on the sidewalks the neighbourhood street fighters are fretting over the prospect of Britain’s right- leading DeGale claiming absolute supremacy over the ring’s gilded super-middleweight division by defeating their adopted Swedish pugilist, Badou Jack.
Less than 24 hours to the first bell, folks. Yes, be afraid.
There ain’t no stopping Trump now. No matter how many more dirty tricks his bizarrely undemocratic opponents try to pull between now and next Friday’s ceremony in Washington.
There ain’t no dodging DeGale. Not in the phenomenal condition in which he is about to enter the ring at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn tonight.
Should DeGale prevail then three belts — his IBF, Jack’s WBC and the presently unclaimed Ring magazine emblem — will be strapped around his chiselled torso.
There have been times when DeGale, if confronted by rivals he deemed inferior, has meandered through fights which he should have dominated with a swagger.
Present him with an opponent of repute on a huge stage in a major television production and this first British boxer to win Olympic gold followed by a world title comes alive. If that holds true here, DeGale will surely go home to a nation filled with converted believers, with his remaining doubters silenced.
There is a financial incentive, also. DeGale has cashed in a few million dollars of chips in the course of four fights in the Americas and another victory will set up £10million worth of big domestic fights against young pretender Callum Smith and old foe George Groves.
Smith will be at ringside in a dual capacity as Sky TV analyst and mandatory challenger to DeGale, who welcomes his presence by saying: ‘Bring him on.’
Of his prickly London rivalry with Groves, the only man to have beaten him, he says now: ‘I hated losing but I know now that defeat was a blessing in disguise for me.
‘I still think I won that fight, but if I had maintained my pace and effort for the full 12 rounds there would have been no doubt. It taught me a valuable lesson, one I will apply here.
‘Against Jack there will be no taking rounds off. No getting bored and losing focus. When I’m full-on every minute of every round I don’t believe anyone can live with me.’
Jack, one of eight children of a Swedish mother and Gambian father, settled in America six years ago. He, too, has lost only once. His successful world- title defence against Groves probably ranks as his standout performance thus far.
Yet even his fabled promoter Floyd Mayweather seems less than bullish about his man’s chances.
He says: ‘I’m very proud of Badou becoming one of the best fighters in the world.’ But he adds: ‘DeGale is the best boxer in Britain. So may the best man win.’
New York insiders are less optimistic, many of them voicing discreet expectation of DeGale pulling off the stoppage. Those concerns have deepened with the revelation that this will be Jack’s last fight at 12 stone before he moves up to light-heavyweight, hopefully to challenge Andre Ward.
Even so, DeGale will resist going head- hunting with isolated big punches. Instead he will use his outstanding technical ability to go after Jack with lightning combinations and let the stoppage come if it will.
Jack is big at the weight and durable so the most logical prediction is a points victory for DeGale.
Even so, I will not be surprised if he lands the mid- fight KO which would elevate him to the international stardom he craves.
Badou Jack v James DeGale will be live on Sky Sports 1 from 2am tonight.