We will soon find out what the James DeGale grand plan is following his vacation of the IBF Super Middleweight Title earlier in the year, after he returned to action in the USA on Sunday. The widespread rumour is that he is soon to confirm a December pay per view fight with Chris Eubank Junior, seemingly making him more money than he would have earned defending his belt against lower profile, and potentially dangerous opponents.
Last night, in California , the Harlesden man returned to the ring following regaining the same IBF belt in a rematch with Caleb Truax back in April. DeGale was shocked in December 2017 at the Copperbox Arena in London in an unexpected points loss. His return was an extremely low key affair, with his fight not even making it onto the televised portion of the card. In an eight rounder, DeGale dominated Fidel Monterossa Munoz, knocking the Mexican based Columbian out in three rounds. Munoz challenged for the WBC Lightweight Title against Humberto Soto in 2010, and this match was five weight classes north of that, so he was never likely to trouble DeGale much. Munoz came into the fight as now nothing more than a trialhorse, having lost five of his last six contests, and was no match for “Chunky”. A brutal right uppercut dropped Munoz onto his haunches, and he was unable to beat the referee’s count.
Eubank Junior referred to a proposed fight following his tame victory over JJ McDonagh in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday night in his interview with ITV Box Office. One would imagine, with both being promotional free agents, that the fight will wind up on ITV’s box office platform. Personally this fight doesn’t excite, and I would much rather see DeGale pursue Titles at Super Middle, especially following Callum Smith’s victory over George Groves, or even a move to Light Heavyweight, where his former foe Badou Jack resides, as well as a host of good, intriguing match-ups that could be made.
A bout with Eubank Junior will be the now traditional domestic grudge match, with the usual unsavoury build up, but I don’t expect DeGale to slip up against a man whose frailties were exposed in February in Manchester against the aforementioned Groves.
