Midday Eastern time on Saturday, a pair of Frank Warren promoted IBF titleholders will be in action in England. James DeGale will defend his super middleweight belt while Lee Selby will do the same with his featherweight title. Is either guy in particularly tough?
James DeGale (23-1-1, 14 KOs), who I believe has the main event slot here, has had an interesting reign as a world titleholder. To be honest, even though I have him ranked #1 at the weight, it has been a reign that makes me question just a little how good DeGale really is. The 2008 Olympic gold medalist first won his title in May of 2015 in a vacant title fight against Andre Dirrell. Early, Degale dominated. He put the Flint fighter down twice in the second round and nearly had him finished. Yet, he also faded very late and nearly lost the fight on points.
Next he fought an aging Lucian Bute. Now DeGale clearly won this fight, but he is still really the only top fighter that Bute didn’t fold against up to that point. Comparatively, Carl Froch and Jean Pascal had a much easier time with the Montreal star. Next, and maybe most damningly, DeGale went life and death with Mexican brawler “Porky” Medina. Now Medina isn’t a terrible fighter, but he also shouldn’t have so much success against a true, elite guy. David Benavidez, for example, absolutely torched him. I scored DeGale’s defense against him a draw. Most recently DeGale fought to a draw with Badou Jack. This is essentially the same result as every other ranked fighter has with Jack.
I understand that I am holding James DeGale to a very high standard. Yet, if he is going to be the top fighter in the division, his record deserves this kind of thought. Obviously, James DeGale is a real high level fighter. I just think the number one spot in the division is wide open for someone to come in and take it from him.
None of this should matter come Saturday though. Minnesota gate keeper Caleb Truax (28-3-2, 18 KOs) is not a threat. Truax is that high quality regional fighter that is ultimately the backbone of the sport as a whole, but he can’t compete on world level. Danny Jacobs routed him before scoring a late stoppage. Anthony Dirrell blew him out in one. Even the faded version of post-Pavlik Jermain Taylor was able to easily outbox him, one knockdown aside. Truax doesn’t really have a notable win on his resume to speak of either.
If James DeGale doesn’t win this one impressively, something is wrong. He is returning from a shoulder injury too. It shouldn’t be a problem though.
Lee Selby (25-1, 9 KOs) isn’t considered in the same class as DeGale by most despite having the same belt. He’s a good fighter, no doubt, but I don’t think he can really cut it against true top featherweights. He just doesn’t have the pop to keep opponents away, nor the elite level athleticism needed to work without it. Still, he is a solid blue collar fighter who has done great to maximize what he does have. Last time out he did also beat Argentinian contender Jonathan Victor Barros much more easily than I expected, so maybe there has been some improvement too.
24 year old Mexican prospect and emerging contender Eduardo Ramirez (20-0-3, 7 KOs) isn’t considered by many to be a threat, but that is more due to a lack of exposure than ability. Ramirez is a really good prospect on the Mexican domestic scene. In his most recent fight in the fall, Eduardo was robbed of a win over house PBC prospect Leduan Barthelemy, brother to Rances. That fight was scored a draw, but it was a clear Ramirez win in the view of anyone else who watched it.
Accordingly, at least when this fight was announced, I considered the young Mexican a real live opponent for Selby. Fight week has not been kind to that soft prediction, however. When media day came earlier in the week, Ramirez had vanished. Promoter Frank Warren and company couldn’t find him until later in the day. He is also having massive weight issues and has already been banned from competing for the title as the British Boxing Board won’t let him try to fully finish the cut over health concerns. As of now this fight is still on, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it ended up being called off sometime on Friday. Even if Ramirez does get in the ring, I am assuming at this point that he won’t be in good enough condition to compete.
In the end it does look like we are going to have two one sided fights. Or maybe just one if Ramirez can’t go. Top Frank Warren prospects Anthony Yarde (13-0, 12 KOs) and Daniel Dubois (5-0, 5 KOs) will also make the broadcast. Yarde, a 26 year old light heavyweight, is taking a minor step up here against Montenegrin fringe contender Nikola Sjekloca (32-4-1, 11 KOs). Sjekloca fought a badly faded Robert Stieglitz to a draw in March, but I think that speaks more to the state of the former titleholder than Sjekloca. I do expect Yarde to roll here. Dubois, a young 20 year old heavyweight, is still rolling over light competition as to be expected. His adversary will be Welsh club fighter Dorian Darch (12-5-1, 1 KO).
Box Nation and BT Sport will have the call in the UK. Thankfully and somewhat surprisingly, Showtime has picked up their feed to be streamed on their Youtube page for American audiences. Coverage will begin at 2:50 PM Eastern. It should be noted, however, that times for legal streams like this one are somewhat guesses and may not be exact.
