What did degale do wrong?

[.G.]

[QUOTE=01samuelc;10579495]

george groves movement messed him up[/QU

goes to show how much i overrated degale......thought he had the skills to dismantle groves on the inside instead knowing groves moved well. but then again thats an advanced skillset that takes years

a lot of people overrated him after his win over paul smith. I think degale landed the better punches and had him in the later rounds.



bring on the rematch

[SpitBalla]

DeGale was too relaxed. LIke he thought he had won the fight before it even began.

When he applied pressure, he was able to push Groves around with his superior size and strength. But, it was a little late. DeGale should've fought like his life depended on it from start to finish.

[01samuelc]

DeGale was too relaxed. LIke he thought he had won the fight before it even began.

When he applied pressure, he was able to push Groves around with his superior size and strength. But, it was a little late. DeGale should've fought like his life depended on it from start to finish.

he fought like an old man who was content on winning the fight on a few well placed shots instead

[Uncle Sam]

My stream was very laggy so i couldn't see what was happening, but it seemed to me that on of james plans was to fight groves on the inside. I think he tried it in the first round but couldn't. Which leads to the question of what exactly their game plan was, wouldn't be surprised they degale thought he was a floyd mayweather/andre ward who could just adapt as the fight went on.

British parents

[mathed]

Never seen DeGale before but I have seen Grove before. Knew Groves would give anyone a hard, hard time.

[KnockUTheFukOut]

DIDN'T GO TO THE ***IN BODY ENOUGH! He would rock Groves, back him up into the ropes, swing at his head a few times and miss then he would pull back

seems like him and his Corner didn't have a Game Plan, seems like they wanted to just go out and beat him just on TALENT ALONE

I think not going to the Body and that weak Hit and Run Jab that he was using or what ever the hell that was...it was funny because when Groves would become the aggressor, for some reason DeGale would Freeze Up

he was too afraid to let his hands go sometimes because he didn't want to get countered I guess and it cost him, I had it a Draw or DeGale by 1 but it really could have gone either way

[01samuelc]

DIDN'T GO TO THE ***IN BODY ENOUGH! He would rock Groves, back him up into the ropes, swing at his head a few times and miss then he would pull back

seems like him and his Corner didn't have a Game Plan, seems like they wanted to just go out and beat him just on TALENT ALONE

I think not going to the Body and that weak Hit and Run Jab that he was using or what ever the hell that was...it was funny because when Groves would become the aggressor, for some reason DeGale would Freeze Up

he was too afraid to let his hands go sometimes because he didn't want to get countered I guess and it cost him, I had it a Draw or DeGale by 1 but it really could have gone either way

yeah i think they mostly banked on degale being able to get inside on groves and if not he would 'adjust' and prove just how good he is. The only 'adjusting ' i saw was him switch hitting

[Clegg]

Etlux made some good observations in his post above: he threw single shots too often while Groves threw more combinations, which is going to hurt you on the scorecards with so many close, cagey rounds.

I think style/approach is the main reason. DeGale spoke beforehand about Groves having more balls than brains and letting the red mist rule his head too often, and he continually tried to rile him up and get under his skin in the build-up (and then in the ring with a couple of fouls). I think he clearly wanted and expected someone who would come at him, make mistakes and get worn down. Instead Groves moved a lot and DeGale wasn't as prepared for that. He didn't cut the ring off well, and I wonder if the difference between them was Groves sparring with a fast guy who uses movement (Dirrell) while DeGale sparred with Cleverly, who is good but mainly an aggressive fighter. In fact the story posted on here a week or two ago said that their sessions were cut short because they were too intense. Brawling it out in the gym might toughen you up but it isn't ideal preparation for how Groves was fighting in most of the rounds.

His style is that of a counter-puncher, and his gameplan was geared towards facing a counter-puncher's dream opponent. His plan B/ability to change things mid-fight wasn't enough to clearly win.

To me, this fight most showed what we already knew: that both guys are still green. They have skill but it's still developing, and they haven't yet experienced enough styles to be complete fighters. Like when there was little action because neither wanted to risk getting countered. That will come in time, I expect. The tempo of the fight did change in the second half and DeGale landed better shots but I also didn't feel that either of them showed any particular ability to adapt, at least not that I noticed.

My opinion of DeGale is about the same as it was. Groves is better than I thought, or at least more versatile. Not sure how an immediate rematch turns out but if they fight in 2 years then I'd pick DeGale.

This was only his 9th fight though, it's not something that I read that much into and won't matter as long as he's strong enough mentally to make sure he attaches importance on what he needs to improve, rather than on no longer being undefeated. I think many boxers would've struggled with a Groves-quality fighter in their 10th fight. Chad Dawson is fighting at the moment and he seems to do a lot better with aggressive guys and I think Pascal's backing up caught him by surprise and is part of why he lost that fight. Not that JDG is as good as Chad, but my point is that even world class fighters can have stylistic issues against less talented, less talented boxers than themselves.

The decision easily could've gone the other way and there wouldn't be as many posters criticising DeGale and bumping old threads, yet his performance obviously would've been exactly the same.

After an underwhelming performance it's easy to say 'he should train with Roach/Steward etc.'. Maybe they wouldn't be his best option despite their track record and going to the US isn't the best choice for everyone despite the greater quality over there. But DeGale's style and strengths seem more in common with an American trainer, even Britain's best fighters tend to be aggressive rather than counter-punchers, and I don't think McDonnell perpared him the right way for Groves. Maybe Pernell Whitaker would be his best choice as his smaller stable means he'd have a lot of time to focus on him.