Super middleweight contender James DeGale is on the verge of a world title fight. He became one of unified titleholder Carl Froch's mandatory challengers by knocking out Brandon Gonzales in the fourth round of a final eliminator on May 31.
A fight between DeGale, a 2008 British Olympic gold medalist, and countryman Froch would be a big fight in England. But DeGale also knows the fight, if it ever happens, is still several months away, at the earliest.
So rather than sit around and wait for a fight that might not materialize, DeGale (19-1, 13 KOs) has elected to stay busy. Instead of fighting a no-hoper, he will take on tough Mexican brawler Marco Antonio Periban (20-2-1, 13 KOs), a former world title challenger, ont on Saturday (AWE, 1 p.m. ET) at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England on the Nathan Cleverly-Toney Bellew II undercard.
Periban, who lost a debatable majority decision for a vacant world title to Sakio Bika in a brutal fight in June 2013, said he is planning to derail DeGale's title shot.
"Bika was a more difficult challenge than anyone DeGale has ever faced," Periban said. "He was very difficult. To have a fighter like him in front of you who is so strong and so resilient is hard. Bika is also considered one of the best punchers in the division at this moment. I did a good job after a good training camp and it made me realize that I'm at the level of the division's strong fighters.
"This division is the hardest one at the moment. A lot of experts believe that. That's an added motivation knowing that I'm up there fighting the best. That speaks well of me, it shows that I'm doing a good job and I just need to work harder to win a world title."
Periban is 0-2-1 in his last three fights with the loss to Bika starting the winless streak. He fought a draw with favored Badou Jack 14 months ago and also lost a competitive decision to J'Leon Love in May, although he had Love hurt.
"I should have knocked Love out in the fifth round but then the referee made a big mistake," Periban said. "He pushed me when I was going for Love and I almost went out of the ring. Floyd Mayweather [Love's promoter and mentor] had mentioned in the pre-fight press conference that Love was almost like his son. Perhaps there was a lot of favoritism towards him.
"I don't feel like I'm undefeated because unfortunately the records show that I lost. It's harder to impress the judges away from home. I do feel like I have a lot of experience now, in terms of catching the judges' eyes in other countries. This is really important."
DeGale said he wanted a quality opponent even though he is close to a title shot.
"A lot of people are saying, 'Why are you taking this fight, James?' The guy is a former world title challenger, he’s boxed Sakio Bika, he has boxed some good opponents. Why are you taking this fight because you’re so close now to a world title,'" DeGale said. "The simple answer is that I want to box the best that I can. Fighting Periban and beating him, I'm going to get some credit after. I don’t have to take this fight, I could have taken a routine eight-rounder against a journeyman but I told [promoter] Eddie Hearn, 'I don’t want that, get me someone I’m going to get credit for after. This guy is going to come to fight but the better the opposition the better I’ll box."
The card, which is on Sky Box Office pay-per-view in the U.K., also includes junior featherweight titlist Quigg defending against Hidenori Othake; bantamweight titlist Jamie McDonnell defending against Javier Chacon; super middleweight contender George Groves against Denis Douglin; Callum Smith squaring off with Nikola Sjekloca in a super middleweight title eliminator; and heavyweight prospect Anthony Joshua, a 2012 British Olympic gold medalist, facing journeyman Michael Sprott.