The James Degale Myth

[deathofaclown]

Absolutely bizarre to put DeGale and Top 5 p4p in the same sentence. That's not a dig at James, i think he is very talented but how can anybody possibly say that?

There are plenty of fighters with a lot of talent but you have to have the success to go with the talent if you're going to be considered a top p4p fighter. Even his opponent Dirrell has bags of talent, more than most, but it counts for nothing if you dont utilise it.

I'm not saying DeGale wont utilise it or ever become a top p4p fighter, who knows? he has his shot on Saturday to start showing if he has what it takes or not. He still has a long way to go before he could even be considered in the top 15 or 20. Natural talent alone is not enough.

[Tom Cruise]

Ive always stuck up for Degale because he seemed to get a lot of unwarranted hate, but it seems to have swung too far the other way now.

A lot of the improvement hype seems to be based on his 'stoppages' over Gonzales and Periban, both of which were very early (comically so in Periban's case) and against fringe world level fighters. He may have developed a bit more power in his left hand but as far as im concerned he has KD's in his recent fights not KO's.

He still has showed flaws as well, getting trapped on the ropes a few times and taking flush unnecessary shots.

Not saying he can't beat Dirrell, just that he hasn't proved himself at world level yet imo.