By Cihat Gemici

As announced last week, Olympic gold medal winner James DeGale will defend his IBF super middleweight title against Caleb Truax on December 9 at the Copper Box Arena in London.

DeGale last fought in January when he went to a twelve round draw with Badou Jack in their super middleweight unification. DeGale underwent surgery on his right shoulder in June to repair a 180-degree tear, a rota-cuff tear and an ACJ stabilisation, an injury that had been troubling him for around two years, and is now fit and ready to defend his world title on home soil for the first time.

In the past, Truax (28-3-2) fought with, and lost, when taking on Daniel Jacobs for the WBA "regular" title and former WBC super middleweight world champion Anthony Dirrell.

The fighter from Minnesota, Truax, is well aware of what he is going to face in the UK.

The challenge did not shake him up, as he jumped on the offer to face DeGale and knew what he should expect from the fight.

"DeGale is a hell of fighter so I’ll have to be at my absolute best to beat him. I will go to the UK fully prepared and I'll put on a show for the British boxing fans… I got the offer about a month ago and to fight for the IBF title was too good of an opportunity to pass up," Truax said.

At 34 years old, the experienced Truax has found a golden opportunity to show himself to boxing world on an international stage. His performance against DeGale will play a big role in the future of his career.

Also on the show, Welshman Lee Selby will make the fourth defence of his IBF featherweight world championship against undefeated Mexican Eduardo Ramirez, both fights will be shown live on BT Sport and BoxNation.