By Alexey Sukachev
Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland - The new British fistic sensation James DeGale (now 10-0, 8 KOs) has continued his rise in super middleweight ranks with a horribly one-sided beating of rather durable and exceptionally brave but also severely limited Frenchman Alpay Kobal (7-13-2, 5 KOs).
The fight was more like a sparring session with Kobal slowly coming forward behind a tight block to receive a lot of punishment from the 2008 Beijing gold medalist than he had ever planned to dish out himself. DeGale (who was ranked #5 by the WBO, #11 by the IBF and #13 by the WBC coming into this fight) mixed in nice uppercuts from both hands and used his sharp jab to create a bloody mess of Kobal's face.
The Frenchman landed a couple of flush power punches himself but the British master failed to notice any of them. Finally, another combination landed on the already reddened face of Kobal, prompting referee Victor Loughlin to step in at 1:37 of the fifth round to save the guest fighter from further punishment. Kobal never went down in this fight.
