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 Super middleweight contender James DeGale, the 2008 British Olympic gold medalist, is sitting in a mandatory position for the next shot at one of unified titleholder Carl Froch's belts.
DeGale wants the fight badly, and the fight between countrymen would be a big event in England, but Froch is in no hurry to sign up for the bout. It's not because Froch is afraid to fight DeGale. That's silly talk. Froch has fought everyone and never backed away from a challenge. But he is nearing the end of his career and his greatest motivation is to have a major fight in Las Vegas, where he has never fought but has wanted to, to follow in the footsteps of other U.K. greats who have played Las Vegas, including Naseem Hamed, Lennox Lewis, Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton. DeGale put his mandatory status on the line Saturday by staying active against Marco Antonio Periban, a battle-tested former title challenger known for being in tough fights, on the Nathan Cleverly-Toney Bellew II undercard in Liverpool, England. DeGale (20-1, 14 KOs) looked very good as he surprisingly dusted Periban by third-round knockout. Then he called for the fight with Froch, who was there working on the Sky Sports pay-per-view broadcast. "I am the mandatory for the IBF title. I want to make history," DeGale said. "I like Carl but it feels like he doesn't want to fight me. I respect him, but I think he's being a bit of a coward not fighting me. Fight me or vacate the title." Froch heard DeGale's postfight remarks and said he will take his time deciding what he will do next, be it to fight DeGale, find a big Las Vegas fight or perhaps something else. His ideal fight would be to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in Las Vegas, but promoter Eddie Hearn and Chavez promoter Top Rank have been unable to finalize it because of the issues between Top Rank and Chavez, who claims he is a free agent. Top Rank is suing Chavez to compel him to honor what it claims is one more fight on the contract. "It was a great performance by James," Froch said. "He was landing a lot of big shots and switching, and he did the job with what was in front of him. Boxing is a business. I have a promoter [Matchroom Boxing's Eddie Hearn] and if the fight [with DeGale] makes financial sense, it will happen. I want to fight in Las Vegas, and if anyone has the right to pick and choose where they fight, it's me." Hearn said Froch would probably decide what he wants to do by the end of the year but added: "He has got to make a decision. The Froch fight is a great fight [for DeGale], the [George] Groves fight is a great fight [for DeGale], but James will fight for a world title in his next fight whomever there is."
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