By Alexey Sukachev
Bluewater, Kent - He was often criticized for dull fights and for not backing his harsh words in the ring. But this time James DeGale, a flamboyant 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medalist, gave the fans what they really wanted in a bruising and gruelling encounter with tough Frenchman Hadillah Mohoumadi. DeGale also came out as a winner, retaining his EBU super middleweight title for the second time and scoring a beautifully fought unanimous decision over his tough foe.
Mohoumadi, a taller of the two, immediately tried to get closer to the British stylist but failed to do so without taking many unanswered punches in return. DeGale boxed brilliantly, avoiding bigger but a bit slower Mohoumadi, while landing his combos in frequent series. It continued for three rounds, and then Mohoumadi started to find his range. From round four and till the tenth stanza, a boxing lesson turned into horrific war, fought mostly at the ropes. The Frenchman was an aggressor but DeGale retaliated in style. He connected with cleaner, better punches but Hadillah delivered his portion of punishment too. It was only in the closing, championship rounds, when DeGale has finally pushed Mohoumadi back and punished him in the middle of the ring. Still it was a rather close fight.
At the end, all three scores were in favour of the WBO #4, WBC #5 and IBF #6 ranked fighter: 119-109 (Franco Ciminale), 117-111 (Pierluiggi Poppi) and 116-112 (Freddy Rafn). BoxingScene is an agreement with the latter score. DeGale is now 13-1, 9 KOs, and Mohoumadi falls down to 13-3, 9 KOs.
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