Olympic Champion James DeGale is taking inspiration from pound-for-pound best Manny Pacquiao as he looks to bounce back by winning the European Super-Middleweight title.
DeGale lost a close points decision to fierce rival George Groves last time out, but is aiming to get back to winning ways against the champion Piotr Wilczewski, from Poland, on October 15th at the Liverpool Echo Arena, live on BoxNation, Sky platform Channel 456.
“A majority of the great fighters have a loss on their record, Manny Pacquiao is a good example, some even have a couple of losses,” he said at yesterday’s BoxNation launch at the Indigo in London’s O2 Arena.
“It’s a part of the game and it’s how you deal with those losses, when you get a loss on your record what matters is how you bounce back, look at Pacquiao now,”
“There couldn’t be a better opportunity for me to bounce back by winning a European title fight, and that in turn could put me back on course to win a world title next year.”
The 25-year-old London boxer has admitted he hasn’t seen much of his opponent, but from what he has seen knows he has a tough task against Wilczewski.
“To be honest I’ve not seen to much of Piotr,” DeGale continued. “However from what I have seen he’s a good fighter and he’s record speaks for itself with only one loss,”
“He’s been there and done it, he’s tough, he’s durable and he can box when he wants to and he won’t come to Liverpool and let go of his titles easily,”
“I’ve been sparring with Darren Barker and have had some great rounds with him, camp has gone fanatically well and the fight is only three weeks away now and I can’t wait.”
Now ‘Saint George’, the British and Commonwealth Super-Middleweight Champion has joined Frank Warren’s promotional banner, he feels the pair will definitely cross paths again.
“Straight after our last fight I said ‘let’s get it on’ but Geroge didn’t want it,” he added. “We are on a collision course again for sure, hopefully he carries on winning and defending his titles and when I win the European title, it’s sooner rather than later when we fight again,”
“It’s the fight everybody wants to see and the boxing fans want to see, so we’re going to have to do it again.”
See James DeGale v Piotr Wilczewski for the European Super-Middleweight title and the WBO World Light-Heavyweight Championship between Nathan Cleverly and Tony Bellew on October 15th live from the Liverpool Echo Arena; then live from the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, the WBC World Light-Heavyweight title between the legendary Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson, live and exclusive onBoxNation on Sky platform Channel 456.
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