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DeGale visits Floyd as coach proves a point to critics

James DeGale needed only five rounds to stop Sam Horton © Getty Images

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James DeGale's coach, Jim McDonnell, has rejected claims that he is overtraining the Olympic middleweight champion, and he even took his charge to the gym of Floyd Mayweather Jnr to prove it.

DeGale recently won his first professional boxing title, the WBA International super-middleweight crown, beating Sam Horton in the fifth round. The May encounter was his first scheduled for 12 rounds, although the boxing world is still yet to see him go the distance.

What was once an Olympic tapper has now become a professional with power in his hands, yet criticism is levelled at McDonnell - who is said to overwork his fighters. The accusation dates back to the coach's work with Danny Williams, who was asked to push a Volvo up a hill, but McDonnell insists DeGale only needs to look at Mayweather Jnr to understand the need for hard work.

"I've always said you can't over-train, but you can under-rest," he told the Times. "But I told James to ask Floyd what he thought.

"He said when his opponents were sleeping he was working. That's why he was the best in the world. Mayweather said he'd go from the gym to a strip club at 4am and then go straight to the gym from there. He said he'd sleep when he retired."

McDonnell is currently training DeGale to build the inner strength required to withstand the moment when he gets knocked down, which once again involves a hill. When it was suggested that a boxer could not be trained for such a moment, the coach snapped: "You're wrong.

"We go on a run and there are 11 hills. At the bottom he does explosive squat thrusts. Then he runs to the top, dragging someone behind with the harness. The lactic acid builds up.

"11 hills later his legs are shot. We're building an inner strength so when he gets dropped, he won't panic. He'll walk behind the ref to buy three seconds. Then he'll look at me and I'll say, 'James, get up the hill'."

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