James DeGale confident of thriving under pressure against Piotr Wilczewski – Boxing news
The 2008 Summer Olympics gold medallist and former British champion, James ‘The Chunky’ DeGale, is geared up ahead of his European title clash against the current European Boxing Union’s European super middleweight champion, Piotr Wilczewski.
The 25-year-old Britain pugilist, DeGale will take on the 33-year-old Polish warrior, Wilczewski, for a shot at the European title in September 2011 with a yet-to-be-decided date and venue.
DeGale recently tasted the first defeat of his professional career, as he lost his British championship belt to the reigning British and Commonwealth super middleweight champion, George ‘The Saint’ Groves, on May 21, 2011 at the O2 Arena in London and this
is DeGale’s first fight since then.
Therefore, the super middleweight contender, DeGale, who has won 10 of his 11 professional fights, with 8 of his wins coming by the way of a knockout, knows losing is not an option for him.
DeGale admitted there will be a lot of pressure on him as this fight is coming on the back of his career’s first defeat but on the same note the boxer claimed he has the tools to deal with the pressure.
DeGale stated he is an Olympic gold medallist and has been under pressure situations before. DeGale also declared he will win against Wilczewski as he is aiming a world title shot.
While speaking on his inclusion, he said, “I don’t fear pressure, I thrive on it, and in this fight I’m looking to go out there and prove that I’m good enough to fight for a world title.”
“For the majority of my fights, from the Olympic final all the way through my professional career – from the four and six-rounders to going into the lion’s den and fighting for the British title [against Paul Smith] – there’s been pressure. Hopefully I’ll
win this, will be European champion – champion of three quarters of the world – and then I’ll go and get that other quarter,” added DeGale.
Wilczewski has won 29 of his 30 professional fights, with 10 of his wins coming by the way of a knockout. However, all that is left to see is whether DeGale will be able beat the Polish or not.
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