News has broken today concerning the opposition for the James DeGale and Lee Selby world title doubleheader on December 9th in London. Selby will meet unbeaten Mexican Eduardo Ramirez while Degale will fight Caleb Truax, both battles in defense of their IBF belts at featherweight and super middleweight respectively.
Let’s get this one out of the way. James DeGale (23-1-1, 14 KOs) against Caleb Truax (28-3-2, 18 KOs) is a truly horrible fight. DeGale is arguably the top super middleweight in the world while Truax can be generously called a fringe contender, I guess. The Minnesota based fighter has been soundly trounced by Danny Jacobs and Anthony Dirrell, the latter putting him out in one round just three fights ago. Hell, it was five years ago now, but Truax even managed to lose clearly to late stage Jermain Taylor. This isn’t good at all.
Fortunately, Lee Selby (25-1, 9 KOs) defending against Eduardo Ramirez (20-0-3, 7 KOs) is passable at least. I know few will feel this way, but that is due to the Mexican scene not getting any real exposure internationally. Ramirez, 24, is a solid prospect. Last time out he should have been awarded a significant win over unbeaten prospect Leduan Barthelemy, brother to Rances, but he wasn’t the house fighter and got stuck with a controversial draw. I don’t think he beats Selby, but I do expect him to be competitive all the way through as long as he doesn’t freeze up on the big stage.
Based on the poster, it looks like the right fight will go on last as the main event yet in Selby/Ramirez. Major British prospects in light heavyweight Anthony Yarde (13-0, 12 KOs) and Daniel Dubois (5-0, 5 KOs) will also be in action on the show.
