James DeGale retires from boxing: 'I’m proud to say that I’ve made history'

John Dillon28 February 2019

James DeGale has announced his retirement from boxing, proudly declaring that he had done things the hard way to become a double world champion and Olympic gold medallist.

Londoner DeGale’s official decision to step down at 33 comes after his unanimous points defeat by Chris Eubank Jr at the O2 Arena last Saturday.

It coincides with the 10th anniversary of the first professional fight of his career – in which he twice reigned as IBF super-middleweight champion.

DeGale, from Harlesden, was the first British boxer to win an Olympic gold – in Beijing in 2008 - and go on to win a professional world title.

In Pictures | James DeGale vs Chris Eubank Jr plus undercard

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He won huge admiration and respect for winning his first world title belt in the USA in 2015 before successfully defending it three times in some gruelling battles across the Atlantic.

He also won it back abroad in Las Vegas last year in a rematch which avenged a shock defeat by little-known Caleb Truax in December, 2017.

“Chunky” has admitted that time had caught up with him but that he “had made history the clean, honest and hard way.”

DeGale retires a two-time world champion.
Getty Images

He said: “There’s nothing left to prove. A majority of the greats go out on a loss and for me, it’s time to hang up the gloves and to move on with my head held high

“I’m proud to say that I’ve made history as the first ever British Olympian boxer to turn professional and win a world title. And I am also proud to have been a road warrior – to have travelled wherever I needed to be to fight and to win.

“Looking back, if someone had told me at the start of my boxing career, when I was in the England amateur squad, that I would become an Olympic gold medallist, a British and European champion and a two-time world champion, I would never have believed them.

“But I did it and I’d like to think I did it the clean, honest and hard way with discipline and respect for the sport I love.

“It’s hard to admit that I’m not the fighter I once was. But I’m human and along the way, my injuries have taken a toll – both on mind and body. These things have contributed to impact upon my performance in the ring.

“I lost the fight last Saturday but I’m touched to have a good send off from the fans in my home city.

“The day after the fight, someone said to me that one fight does not determine a legacy.

“It’s been an unbelievable journey and I’ve had an amazing decade – if I’m honest, the best years of my life.”

DeGale beat Andre Dirrell to win his first world title in 2015.
Getty Images

Eubank Jr paid tribute to DeGale after his win last weekend, saying: “He showed the heart of a champion and a great chin. He was hurt but he kept coming.”

However, it was clear southpaw DeGale was well past his best and the decision to retire has come at the right time.

The talkative fighter made a compelling double act with popular trainer Jim McDonnell and he will head into retirement winning praise for both his impressive technical skill-set and his toughness and tenacity.

One notable photograph captured him missing his front teeth following a hard-fought draw against Badou Jack in 2017 in which DeGale also suffered a damaged ear drum.

He won the vacant IBF belt by defeating Andre Dirrell on a unanimous points decision in Boston in May 2015.

DeGale and Badou Jack fought out a thrilling draw in 2017.
Getty Images

He then scored a unanimous win against Canadian-Romanian Lucien Bute in his hometown of Quebec in November that year and made a second successful defence against Rogelio Medina in Washington DC in February 2016.

The attempt to unify his IBF belt with Jack’s WBC prize ended in a draw in New York in January 2017, with the boxers each retaining their belts.

After a shock defeat by little-known Truax in London in December 2017, DeGale won the title back in a rematch in Las Vegas.

He finished with a professional fighting record of 25 wins, three defeats and one draw, having been defeated by fellow Londoner George Groves in 2011.

He held the European and British super-middleweight titles between 2010 and 2012.

At the Olympic Games in China in 2008, he progressed through four rounds before winning the middleweight gold medal by defeating Cuban Emilio Correa

He won a bronze in the same weight class at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

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