Fight: James DeGale (23-1, 14 KOs) vs. Badou Jack (20-1-2, 12 KOs)
Location: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, New York
Date: January 14, 2017
Weight class: Super Middleweight (168 lbs)
Title(s) on the line: WBC and IBF Super Middleweight titles
TV: Showtime
Line: DeGale -242, Jack +247 (5 Dimes, 1/12/17)
Purse: DeGale: $750,000, Jack: $700,000
Ring Magazine Rankings: DeGale: #1-ranked super middleweight; Jack: #2-ranked super middleweight
Style: DeGale: Southpaw, Jack: Orthodox
Referee: Arthur Mercante Jr.
Why you should watch this fight
This is a unification title fight between two current world champions in James DeGale and Badou Jack whom most would consider, at this moment, the top two super middleweight boxers in the world. The winner of this fight will be the unified WBC and IBF super middleweight champion and be considered the top boxer in the world at 168 lbs.
DeGale vs. Jack is the first major boxing card of 2017 and - outside of Floyd Mayweather's own fights - is the most high profile card Mayweather Promotions has ever done the lead promotion on.
Whoever wins this fight will have earned the biggest win of his professional career. If the favored DeGale - a British former Olympic gold medalist - wins this fight, it will strengthen his claim as one of the elite, top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the sport that many consider him to be.
Why James DeGale will win
DeGale is the current IBF super middleweight champion of the world and is widely considered to be one of the top 10-15 pound-for-pound boxers in the sport.
DeGale had a distinguished amateur boxing career, winning the Olympic gold medal as a middleweight at the 2008 Beijing Olympics for the United Kingdom. As a pro, he's suffered only one loss - a highly controversial majority decision loss to the then undefeated George Groves. (A slight majority to this day feel DeGale won that fight.)
DeGale is a solid (-242) favorite coming into this fight for numerous reasons. Although not a name known to most casual boxing fans, DeGale is widely considered by boxing purists to be one of the more skilled boxers in the sport given his high boxing IQ and versatile fighting style. DeGale's ability to throw punches from unorthodox angles combined with very good hand speed and accuracy makes it very difficult for opponents to anticipate and cleanly block his punches. DeGale's almost ambidextrous ability to switch between southpaw and orthodox stances - even whilst in the middle of throwing combinations - makes it doubly difficult for opponents to prepare for and defend against his attack.
DeGale is also considered by many to be one of the best (some might even say the best) inside fighters in the sport with his instinctive ability to both land and defend against punches inside. DeGale, who has a career KO percentage of 58%, is not known as a big puncher but is adept at wearing his opponents down over several rounds with clean, tough-to-anticipate power punches.
I would anticipate DeGale having success landing vs. the slower, somewhat predictable Jack - a come-forward, pressure fighter who will be right in front of DeGale for most of the fight. Like Terence Crawford, DeGale has the ability to fight from either stance and (as many elite fighters are) is adept at adjusting to his opponent's tendencies over the course of a fight. DeGale can fight coming forward but, with his excellent footwork, is as good or better as a counter puncher fighting off his back foot - a style he will likely have to employ for large stretches of the fight vs. the pressure style of Jack. On his best nights DeGale is a master technician and is more mobile, quicker, and has a more varied set of skills than Jack; if he is on his game one would expect DeGale to outbox Jack both from distance and from the inside.
Although he has seemingly chosen to stand in and exchange more in recent fights, DeGale can be very elusive defensively with his movement and has never been knocked down (or even been in danger of being knocked down for that matter) or stopped as a pro. Jack is aggressive and a highly effective body puncher, but doesn't appear to have the knockout power or speed to pose as a serious knockout threat for DeGale.
DeGale is from the United Kingdom (London) but has not fought in the UK in over two years. (Saturday's fight vs. Jack will be DeGale's fourth consecutive fight outside the UK.) DeGale won, then defended his super middleweight title twice outside of the UK - establishing a reputation as a road warrior who thrives fighting away from home. DeGale didn't look particularly impressive in his last fight, a highly competitive unanimous decision victory vs. an opponent in Rogelio Medina who wasn't expected to be a serious threat - but it seemed DeGale overlooked Medina in anticipation of the already informally-agreed to fight vs. Jack (DeGale admitted as much in post-fight interviews). I would expect DeGale to be much more prepared, train harder, and look significantly sharper for what would be the biggest win of his professional career.
DeGale has a somewhat flashy, crowd-pleasing fight style that's a bit easier to score points for than the boringly basic, predictable style of Jack. (While unfair, Jack's inability to make an impression on the judges with his effective, yet basic boxing is probably at least part of the reason his last fight with Lucian Bute was scored a draw despite most feeling he won the fight decisively.) In the event of a close fight, I wouldn't be surprised if DeGale's flashier style and more engaging ring presence carries more favor with the judges in terms of scoring the closer rounds.
If DeGale is on his game and fully prepared for this fight it's tough to envision any outcome other than a clear victory for the British boxer, whether by a comfortable decision or by stoppage. DeGale is elite in terms of his talent and overall skills, and is the quicker, faster, seemingly more intelligent boxer; one would expect these advantages to manifest themselves into a likely win for DeGale during Saturday's fight.
DeGale had a distinguished amateur boxing career, winning the Olympic gold medal as a middleweight at the 2008 Beijing Olympics for the United Kingdom. As a pro, he's suffered only one loss - a highly controversial majority decision loss to the then undefeated George Groves. (A slight majority to this day feel DeGale won that fight.)
DeGale is a solid (-242) favorite coming into this fight for numerous reasons. Although not a name known to most casual boxing fans, DeGale is widely considered by boxing purists to be one of the more skilled boxers in the sport given his high boxing IQ and versatile fighting style. DeGale's ability to throw punches from unorthodox angles combined with very good hand speed and accuracy makes it very difficult for opponents to anticipate and cleanly block his punches. DeGale's almost ambidextrous ability to switch between southpaw and orthodox stances - even whilst in the middle of throwing combinations - makes it doubly difficult for opponents to prepare for and defend against his attack.
DeGale is also considered by many to be one of the best (some might even say the best) inside fighters in the sport with his instinctive ability to both land and defend against punches inside. DeGale, who has a career KO percentage of 58%, is not known as a big puncher but is adept at wearing his opponents down over several rounds with clean, tough-to-anticipate power punches.
I would anticipate DeGale having success landing vs. the slower, somewhat predictable Jack - a come-forward, pressure fighter who will be right in front of DeGale for most of the fight. Like Terence Crawford, DeGale has the ability to fight from either stance and (as many elite fighters are) is adept at adjusting to his opponent's tendencies over the course of a fight. DeGale can fight coming forward but, with his excellent footwork, is as good or better as a counter puncher fighting off his back foot - a style he will likely have to employ for large stretches of the fight vs. the pressure style of Jack. On his best nights DeGale is a master technician and is more mobile, quicker, and has a more varied set of skills than Jack; if he is on his game one would expect DeGale to outbox Jack both from distance and from the inside.
Although he has seemingly chosen to stand in and exchange more in recent fights, DeGale can be very elusive defensively with his movement and has never been knocked down (or even been in danger of being knocked down for that matter) or stopped as a pro. Jack is aggressive and a highly effective body puncher, but doesn't appear to have the knockout power or speed to pose as a serious knockout threat for DeGale.
DeGale is from the United Kingdom (London) but has not fought in the UK in over two years. (Saturday's fight vs. Jack will be DeGale's fourth consecutive fight outside the UK.) DeGale won, then defended his super middleweight title twice outside of the UK - establishing a reputation as a road warrior who thrives fighting away from home. DeGale didn't look particularly impressive in his last fight, a highly competitive unanimous decision victory vs. an opponent in Rogelio Medina who wasn't expected to be a serious threat - but it seemed DeGale overlooked Medina in anticipation of the already informally-agreed to fight vs. Jack (DeGale admitted as much in post-fight interviews). I would expect DeGale to be much more prepared, train harder, and look significantly sharper for what would be the biggest win of his professional career.
DeGale has a somewhat flashy, crowd-pleasing fight style that's a bit easier to score points for than the boringly basic, predictable style of Jack. (While unfair, Jack's inability to make an impression on the judges with his effective, yet basic boxing is probably at least part of the reason his last fight with Lucian Bute was scored a draw despite most feeling he won the fight decisively.) In the event of a close fight, I wouldn't be surprised if DeGale's flashier style and more engaging ring presence carries more favor with the judges in terms of scoring the closer rounds.
If DeGale is on his game and fully prepared for this fight it's tough to envision any outcome other than a clear victory for the British boxer, whether by a comfortable decision or by stoppage. DeGale is elite in terms of his talent and overall skills, and is the quicker, faster, seemingly more intelligent boxer; one would expect these advantages to manifest themselves into a likely win for DeGale during Saturday's fight.
Why Badou Jack will win
Like DeGale, Jack is a current (WBC) super middleweight champion who has defended his title twice over the past year. Also like DeGale, Jack has just one loss on his record - a first round TKO loss nearly three years ago to journeyman Derek Edwards - though this loss appears to have been somewhat of a fluke (i.e., the result of a lucky punch landed by Edwards) given Jack's strong performances since then.
Jack seems to be fighting with a high level of confidence in what have been the best performances of his career in some of his recent fights. As a 4-1 underdog in April 2015, Jack won the WBC super middleweight championship with a solid majority decision victory over the then undefeated Anthony Dirrell. A few months later he put up another surprisingly impressive performance as a 3-2 underdog in a split decision victory vs. George Groves, a talented fighter who handed DeGale his only loss as a professional. And in Jack's most recent fight last April, he outboxed former longtime super middleweight champion Lucian Bute in a fight that was very controversially scored a majority draw. (The overwhelming majority of those who watched this fight felt Jack clearly won; it's also worth noting Bute tested positive for a banned substance shortly after the fight.) Jack has proven himself to be a hardworking overachiever in these recent fights; it would not at all be surprising if he outperforms expectations again on Saturday night - especially against an at-times lazy fighter in DeGale who is notorious for taking stretches of fights off (possibly due to issues with stamina).
Jack is a solid, well-rounded (think "jack of all trades, master of none") pressure fighter with decent power and above average mobility. He pops a good jab and counters well with hooks - which could be effective vs. DeGale in spots as DeGale has (perhaps by choice) not been as elusive in recent fights as he had earlier in his career, seemingly choosing at times to trade punches with his opponents from close range and against the ropes. DeGale also has a bad habit of keeping his hands down which may provide Jack with more opportunity for clean counters.
Jack's best asset may be his body punching, which was particularly effective in his two most recent fights vs. Bute and Groves. A durable fighter, Jack is certainly capable of wearing DeGale down with body punches in the middle to late rounds, where DeGale is more prone to getting outworked given his tendency to decrease his punch output during stretches of the latter stages of fights. One should not be surprised if the typically pressuring Jack outworks DeGale late in the championship rounds of this fight.
DeGale's performances in his last two fights since winning the IBF super middleweight title can best be described as mediocre; if DeGale is as lackluster in Saturday's fight vs. Jack as he was vs. Medina and Bute, I'd grade this matchup as at worst a 50/50 fight in favor of the underdog Jack.
While his connection to Mayweather didn't help him in his controversial draw this past April with Bute, Jack is the more "politically connected" fighter in this matchup as he is being promoted by Floyd's Mayweather Promotions firm in what is the most high profile card Mayweather Promotions has served as lead promoter for (other than Floyd Mayweather's own fights of course). This unification title fight is the biggest non-Mayweather fight Floyd has ever promoted and Jack is arguably the best fighter in Mayweather's camp; it would not be unreasonable to think that a close fight *could* get judged with bias in favor of Mayweather's fighter over the fighter from the United Kingdom.
DeGale is widely considered an elite, A-level talent but he's been inconsistent in recent fights and has a habit of fighting down to the level of his opponent. Jack is probably not quite as talented or skilled as DeGale but he is a world-class, top 2 super middleweight fighter in his own right and has arguably performed better than DeGale in recent fights, showing better stamina and putting forth a more consistent effort vs. comparable competition to what DeGale has faced in recent years. If DeGale does not improve from how he's performed over the past couple of fights, one should expect this to be a close, competitive fight in which Jack could very easily pull off the upset.
Jack seems to be fighting with a high level of confidence in what have been the best performances of his career in some of his recent fights. As a 4-1 underdog in April 2015, Jack won the WBC super middleweight championship with a solid majority decision victory over the then undefeated Anthony Dirrell. A few months later he put up another surprisingly impressive performance as a 3-2 underdog in a split decision victory vs. George Groves, a talented fighter who handed DeGale his only loss as a professional. And in Jack's most recent fight last April, he outboxed former longtime super middleweight champion Lucian Bute in a fight that was very controversially scored a majority draw. (The overwhelming majority of those who watched this fight felt Jack clearly won; it's also worth noting Bute tested positive for a banned substance shortly after the fight.) Jack has proven himself to be a hardworking overachiever in these recent fights; it would not at all be surprising if he outperforms expectations again on Saturday night - especially against an at-times lazy fighter in DeGale who is notorious for taking stretches of fights off (possibly due to issues with stamina).
Jack is a solid, well-rounded (think "jack of all trades, master of none") pressure fighter with decent power and above average mobility. He pops a good jab and counters well with hooks - which could be effective vs. DeGale in spots as DeGale has (perhaps by choice) not been as elusive in recent fights as he had earlier in his career, seemingly choosing at times to trade punches with his opponents from close range and against the ropes. DeGale also has a bad habit of keeping his hands down which may provide Jack with more opportunity for clean counters.
Jack's best asset may be his body punching, which was particularly effective in his two most recent fights vs. Bute and Groves. A durable fighter, Jack is certainly capable of wearing DeGale down with body punches in the middle to late rounds, where DeGale is more prone to getting outworked given his tendency to decrease his punch output during stretches of the latter stages of fights. One should not be surprised if the typically pressuring Jack outworks DeGale late in the championship rounds of this fight.
DeGale's performances in his last two fights since winning the IBF super middleweight title can best be described as mediocre; if DeGale is as lackluster in Saturday's fight vs. Jack as he was vs. Medina and Bute, I'd grade this matchup as at worst a 50/50 fight in favor of the underdog Jack.
While his connection to Mayweather didn't help him in his controversial draw this past April with Bute, Jack is the more "politically connected" fighter in this matchup as he is being promoted by Floyd's Mayweather Promotions firm in what is the most high profile card Mayweather Promotions has served as lead promoter for (other than Floyd Mayweather's own fights of course). This unification title fight is the biggest non-Mayweather fight Floyd has ever promoted and Jack is arguably the best fighter in Mayweather's camp; it would not be unreasonable to think that a close fight *could* get judged with bias in favor of Mayweather's fighter over the fighter from the United Kingdom.
DeGale is widely considered an elite, A-level talent but he's been inconsistent in recent fights and has a habit of fighting down to the level of his opponent. Jack is probably not quite as talented or skilled as DeGale but he is a world-class, top 2 super middleweight fighter in his own right and has arguably performed better than DeGale in recent fights, showing better stamina and putting forth a more consistent effort vs. comparable competition to what DeGale has faced in recent years. If DeGale does not improve from how he's performed over the past couple of fights, one should expect this to be a close, competitive fight in which Jack could very easily pull off the upset.
Prefight Analysis
It wouldn't be completely surprising if Jack wins this fight. He's a well-rounded, top-level fighter who's boxed well in recent fights. Since his career-hindering TKO loss to Edwards nearly three years ago he's bounced back with impressive performances as an underdog to win a major world title and earn consideration as possibly the best super middleweight in the world. DeGale on the other hand, has looked shaky at times in his recent fights with Medina and Bute and appears more likely than Jack to perform below expectations.
The fact is Jack is an underrated, hardworking fighter who absolutely is capable of outworking and wearing down DeGale, who has a reputation for getting lazy during the middle and late rounds of fights. Jack is a very effective body puncher and DeGale - as he's done in recent fights - may elect to stand within punching range and exchange with Jack, which could be to his detriment as the fight gets into the later rounds. At nearly 3.5-1 odds, there may be some value in taking Jack to win by 12 round decision.
But as solid as Jack is I do feel at the end of the day that DeGale - when on his game - is a level above Jack in terms of talent and overall skill and that this disparity will end up being the difference in the fight. DeGale's ability to switch stances and give different looks combined with his unorthodox punching style, hand speed advantage, and ability to box on the move will result in DeGale having consistent success landing clean power punches compared to Jack's straightforward, somewhat predictable approach which DeGale will likely have an easier time defending against.
I do feel DeGale has competed down to the level of his opponents in some of his recent fights but will rise to the occasion to perform well in a unification title fight that would be the biggest win of his career.
In terms of what the fight judges will see on the surface, DeGale has a flashier, more crowd-pleasing style and is much more adept at playing to the crowd than the mild-mannered, no frills Jack. (In a fight with a clash of styles such as these this could end up being a deciding factor.)
DeGale is one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the sport and is a hall-of-fame caliber talent; I expect his special talent to be on full display Saturday night at Barclays Center en route to a competitive but clear decision, if not a late stoppage.
Prediction: DeGale to win
Recommended bet: 1) DeGale to win (1 unit)
Recommended bet: 1) DeGale to win (1 unit)
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