Hearn: DeGale Has Looked Sensational, Dirrell Has Not

By Edward Chaykovsky

Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport is confident Olympic gold medal winner James DeGale (20-1, 14KOs) will overcome any adversities by capturing the vacant IBF super middleweight title on May 23rd when he travels to the United States to face Andre Dirrell (24-1, 16KOs) in a Premier Boxing Champions main event from Boston.

Hearn, who wanted the fight to take place in the United States, was beaten at the IBF's purse bid by Warriors Boxing, who appeared on behalf of manager/adviser Al Haymon.

Hearn is not worried about the setting, stating that Dirrell is not exactly a popular fighter in the States.

"James has boxed in Canada and as an amateur he won gold in Beijing, so he's boxed all over the world," Hearn told MailSport. "I think, because of that experience, he'll be in good stead. Andre Dirrell is not the most hugely-supported fighter in America so there'll be plenty of Brits out there. There's already a lot of Brits in Boston anyway so I think James will have great support and he won't feel like an away fighter. But he's so focused that when he gets in there and the bell goes, everything goes out of the window in that respect. He's got a great chance."

Hearn also gives his fighter the edge based on momentum. DeGale has been flawless in his recent fights and blew out opponents who were picked to cause difficulty at the very least.

"A lot of decent fighters have won gold medals and James is a very talented fighter – this is a great fight," said Hearn. "I think the bookies have made him a slight favourite going in and he's got good momentum."

"He fought at Wembley last year on the Carl Froch v George Groves bill and he had a good performance against Marco Antonio Periban in Liverpool. Dirrell, a couple of years ago, was a top, top fighter. He had a great fight with Arthur Abraham and many thought he'd beat Carl Froch when they fought in Nottingham, but over the last year or so he hasn't been as active. In his last fight, he looked good but he got caught badly in the 12th round and he was all over the place. James has looked sensational and Andre Dirrell quite frankly hasn't.

"So I think, from a momentum perspective, which is very important in sport and boxing, James has got the edge over Andre Dirrell."