James DeGale

Full name James DeGale
Birth date February 3, 1986
Birth place Hammersmith
Current age 38 years 81 days
Height 6 ft 1 in

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Olympic champion James DeGale bounced back from the disappointment of a loss to rival George Groves by winning the European super-middleweight title in his next bout.

Following a middleweight gold medal in Beijing, DeGale had his first professional fight in February 2009, and soon established himself as a charismatic presence, given to lambasting opponents whenever he could.

In December 2010 against Paul Smith, he claimed the British title at 12 stone. Smith had all the experience, but DeGale was just too quick and too powerful, showing he had the ring craft to live up to his inflammatory rhetoric.

But six months later, DeGale was brought crashing down to earth when he came off worse in a tight points decision against Groves. He still managed to get a European title shot in his subsequent bout, triumphing against Piotr Wilczewski despite being in serious peril during the fifth round.

He successfully defended the belt against former world champion Cristian Sanavia in April 2012, stopping the Italian in the fourth, but elected to vacate the title in December after claiming the vacant WBC Silver super-middleweight belt with a points victory over Fulgencio Zuniga as he steps up his pursuit of a top world title.

Career high: Winning the 2008 Olympic gold medal

Career low: Losing to Groves

Quote: On the mixed reaction he has received from crowds: "I'm the Marmite of boxing."

Trivia: DeGale's dad won £11,000 when he bet on his son to win gold at the 2008 Olympics

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