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James DeGale made boxing historical past on today six years in the past as he grew to become the primary British Olympic gold medallist to win knowledgeable world title.
The Londoner achieved the feat as he secured a unanimous factors victory over American Andre Dirrell in Boston to say the vacant IBF super-middleweight belt.
The 29-year-old’s victory capped an increase by way of the skilled ranks which started after he received middleweight gold on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
It was a gruelling 12-round contest which sparked into life within the second when DeGale was lower however recovered to knock his opponent down twice.
Regardless of struggling to make the depend following a kind of knockdowns, Dirrell responded nicely and managed the bout within the center rounds.
It took a powerful exhibiting from DeGale within the closing phases to sway the judges in his favour. One scorecard did present victory by a large margin however the different two had been shut. The ultimate scores had been 117-109, 114-112 and 114-112.
“I’ve lastly completed it,” mentioned DeGale afterwards. “It’s an unbelievable feeling, I’m world champ. I made historical past!”
DeGale went on to defend his title with victories over Lucien Bute and Rogelio Medina earlier than a unification try towards WBC champion Badou Jack led to a draw.
He misplaced his IBF crown to American Caleb Truax on the Copper Field Area in 2017 however regained it in a Las Vegas rematch the next 12 months.
He efficiently defended towards Fidel Munoz however then introduced his retirement after dropping on factors to Chris Eubank Jr in February 2019. He had received 25 fights with three defeats and one draw.
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