DeGale looking to impress against tough King
James "Chunky" DeGale is full of confidence ahead of his toughest test to date. The Olympic gold medallist fights Welshman Nathan King on the Sky Box Office undercard of Amir Khan's first world title defence against Dmitriy Salita in Newcastle on Saturday night. King has far more experience in the professional game than DeGale and has been in with some of the top domestic fighters in the division, including Tony Quigley, Tony Dodson, and Kenny Anderson amongst others.
It's an impressive step up for DeGale in only his fifth pro fight but the young Londoner isn't fazed.
"Yes, Nathan King is a big step up," he told skysports.com.
"Everyone keeps asking me who I'm boxing next and I say Nathan King, so they say Nathan King? But he took Kenny Anderson ten rounds! That ain't gonna be easy, mate!
"Yes, he's tough, but being tough ain't enough; you need a bit more than that in this game. I'm looking forward to beating him up for six rounds - it'll just look better on my record when I beat him."
DeGale will be boxing over six rounds for only the second time in his career, having been scheduled to fight over the same distance in his last fight, a third round stoppage of Cumbrian Ally Morrison. That fight was his third stoppage in a row, an impressive run that shows some excellent progress from the Olympian after a disappointing debut performance. However, this time out it may well be a different story for DeGale against durable King. The Welshman has only been stopped twice in some 26 fights and has held his own up at light-heavyweight in the past. In this sense, DeGale should have the chance to put some rounds under his belt and showcase his ever improving professional style.
"The win may not be a stoppage, but it will be good for my confidence," DeGale said.
"I'm going to be going in there, looking good - and six rounds gives me that little bit more time.
"Sometimes you just can't get people out of there if they've got too much of a good chin, but even then it's a chance to show - and work on - different skills.
"Then again, like Joe Calzaghe says, I don't get paid overtime, so if I can get him out of there, believe me I will. But he's durable and if I don't, I will still box nice and look good."
Certainly, this fight is a great one for DeGale to be taking at this stage of his fledgling career and should prove an interesting gauge of the Olympian's progress so far after nearly a year as a professional.
Also on the bill, Kevin Mitchell takes on Khan conqueror Breidis Prescott in a WBA lightweight title eliminator, Frankie Gavin fights Frenchman Samir Tergaoui, Billy Joe Saunders faces Lee Noble, former cruiserweight world champion Enzo Maccarinelli returns to action and highly touted prospect Ronnie Heffron makes his professional debut.
