Former Olympic champion James DeGale has switched to Matchroom Sport and will fight on the undercard of Carl Froch’s rematch against George Groves on May 31.
‘Chunky’ will face Brandon Gonzales in a final eliminator for the IBF World Super Middleweight title at Wembley Stadium on the undercard of Froch v Groves II, which will be broadcast exclusively live on Sky Sports Box Office.
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Gold medal hero made the surprising decision to terminate his contract with Hennessy Sports, who promoted all his UK-based fights televised live on Channel 5, after only 18 months, having joined from Frank Warren’s stable in September 2012.
While his move could lead to Hennessy Sports pursuing legal action against him, in the ring DeGale will now take on unbeaten American fighter Gonzales for the right to face the winner of Carl Froch and George Groves, as the Brit rivals do battle on the same night in a rematch for Froch’s WBA and IBF belts.
DeGale is on the cusp of his first World title challenge, but the 28-year-old knows Gonzales brings a great threat from across the pond, and he is excited to be facing the 29-year-old at the national stadium in his first fight with new promoter Eddie Hearn.
The London-born fighter’s move to Matchroom Boxing also sees him return to Sky Sports screens after more than two years away.
DeGale’s early professional fights were all broadcast by Sky Sports when he was fighting for Frank Warren, before the veteran promoter decided to end his Sky deal and launch his own boxing channel BoxNation in autumn 2011.
Speaking of his switch to Eddie Hearn’s stable, DeGale said: “I’m back and I’m back big. The last year or so has been frustrating but that’s all in the past and the future is looking extremely bright.
“The fights out there for me are crazy. But I can’t look past Brandon, he trains with Andre Ward and Amir Khan so he’s got great training and he’s a good fighter, he can do a lot of things well so I cannot overlook him.
“I need these massive fights to motivate me to perform at my best and I feel energised and I cannot wait until May 17 to show the best James DeGale.
“I’m not fussed who wins out of Carl and George. I think Carl is an easier fight as he is made for me, but with George and I it is personal – I get angry talking about him. I’m ready for whoever is there but I’m concentrating on Brandon Gonzales.”
Eddie Hearn said: “We’re delighted to welcome James to the Matchroom Boxing team.
“There was a huge amount of interest from a number of promoters to add him to their roster, so I am delighted to win that race.
“The timing of the fight against Brandon Gonzales couldn’t be better with the winner set to face the winner of Froch vs. Groves 2.
“The 168 pound division is buzzing and this just adds a new dimension to the potential of mega-fights for British boxing.”
DeGale had recently been made mandatory challenger for the prestigious WBC world super middleweight title and had also been named in a final eliminator to become mandatory challenger for the IBF world super middleweight title, a path that would have led to a domestic super-fight against the winner of Carl Froch and George Groves.
But despite being unbeaten in six fights for Hennessy Sports and receiving prime time exposure on terrestrial television, DeGale has expressed personal frustrations that his career has not moved on significantly enough since his narrow defeat to George Groves in a bitterly-fought contest in 2011.
DeGale’s decision to end his association with Mick Hennessy, who is credited with rebuilding his career, could lead to him being sued by his former promoter over his decision to terminate their multi-year contract.
Hennessy commented: “We are extremely surprised and disappointed that DeGale has terminated his long term contract with us.
“The agreement had several years to run and we had put him into an excellent position on the world super middleweight stage.
“Unfortunately the company has been given no alternative but to put the matter into the hands of its lawyers and we are currently considering our legal options against DeGale.
“We are also extremely concerned about the possible involvement of any other parties in DeGale’s decision to terminate our contract and if necessary we will take the appropriate legal action against any other promoter, broadcaster or sanctioning body that is found to have been involved in this decision.”
DeGale’s fight on the Froch v Groves II undercard will be broadcast exclusively live on Sky Sports Box Office, which will be the only place to see the main event on May 31.
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