James DeGale - Think before you speak

"After a couple of 12-rounders I'll be ready to mix with Froch and [WBO champion] Arthur Abraham," said DeGale.

" Andre Ward [the WBC and WBA champion] is by himself out the front but the rest of them I'd box next week."

"I'm so excited, I'm looking forward to the future. This time next year I want to be mixing it with the big boys and hopefully a world champion."

To me he hasn't really put in an assured performance since he beat Paul Smith which I think was a very good win, especially as it was in Smith's own backyard in Liverpool. He's lost to GG and has looked shaky in his last fight. To me he needs to give himself time, not say silly things like this to put himself under pressure. He needs 4 to 5 fights to instill the required changes he needs to fight for a world title.

If he doesn't learn to sit on his punches and develop a defence he will not be going anywhere near the top tier. Even that small euro bum he fought last time out was tagging him up aainst the ropes. Need to see improvement from Degale in those areas

I like his confidence. Unlike Price who ran a mile when the name Klitchko was mentioned.

azania wrote:I like his confidence. Unlike Price who ran a mile when the name Klitchko was mentioned.

Price simply said he didn't feel he had enough experience, how is that running a mile? I think Price has had 13 fights, seems a pretty logical response to me.

He should have said that in a year or so he will be ready. He came across as being scared. Granted I agree that he needs more experience. But he's a little thick the way he went about it. The guy is on par with Bruno in the stupid stakes.

azania wrote:He should have said that in a year or so he will be ready. He came across as being scared. Granted I agree that he needs more experience. But he's a little thick the way he went about it. The guy is on par with Bruno in the stupid stakes.

You prasied Amir Khan yesterday after he said he needed time and fights before fighting top level opposition at welterweight and that everyone hates Khan and so on. This is despite the fact he has topped American bills as a world champion. Price says he needs time after 13 fights and is scared.

Have I got that right yes?

azania wrote:He should have said that in a year or so he will be ready. He came across as being scared. Granted I agree that he needs more experience. But he's a little thick the way he went about it. The guy is on par with Bruno in the stupid stakes.

azzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzania

Pedro147 wrote:

azania wrote:He should have said that in a year or so he will be ready. He came across as being scared. Granted I agree that he needs more experience. But he's a little thick the way he went about it. The guy is on par with Bruno in the stupid stakes.

You prasied Amir Khan yesterday after he said he needed time and fights before fighting top level opposition at welterweight and that everyone hates Khan and so on. This is despite the fact he has topped American bills as a world champion. Price says he needs time after 13 fights and is scared.

Have I got that right yes?

Nope. I don't recall saying Khan should have an easy fight.

Price is of course correct in what he says. But he is a boxer. He's supposed to say it in a way that didn't come across as though he was running scared.

two_tone wrote:

azania wrote:He should have said that in a year or so he will be ready. He came across as being scared. Granted I agree that he needs more experience. But he's a little thick the way he went about it. The guy is on par with Bruno in the stupid stakes.

azzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzania

Wake up!!

azania wrote:I like his confidence. Unlike Price who ran a mile when the name Klitchko was mentioned.

Like Fury did when Price was mentioned....

azania wrote:

Pedro147 wrote:

azania wrote:He should have said that in a year or so he will be ready. He came across as being scared. Granted I agree that he needs more experience. But he's a little thick the way he went about it. The guy is on par with Bruno in the stupid stakes.

You prasied Amir Khan yesterday after he said he needed time and fights before fighting top level opposition at welterweight and that everyone hates Khan and so on. This is despite the fact he has topped American bills as a world champion. Price says he needs time after 13 fights and is scared.

Have I got that right yes?

Nope. I don't recall saying Khan should have an easy fight.

Price is of course correct in what he says. But he is a boxer. He's supposed to say it in a way that didn't come across as though he was running scared.

But that's what Molina is, a lightweight with a woeful KO ratio. Khan is working on things as he has a new trainer. That's fine and I've no problems with that but you can't knock Price for it and not Khan.

It also didn't, in my opinion, come across as running scared. Just a sensible statement.

Pedro147 wrote:

azania wrote:

Pedro147 wrote:

azania wrote:He should have said that in a year or so he will be ready. He came across as being scared. Granted I agree that he needs more experience. But he's a little thick the way he went about it. The guy is on par with Bruno in the stupid stakes.

You prasied Amir Khan yesterday after he said he needed time and fights before fighting top level opposition at welterweight and that everyone hates Khan and so on. This is despite the fact he has topped American bills as a world champion. Price says he needs time after 13 fights and is scared.

Have I got that right yes?

Nope. I don't recall saying Khan should have an easy fight.

Price is of course correct in what he says. But he is a boxer. He's supposed to say it in a way that didn't come across as though he was running scared.

But that's what Molina is, a lightweight with a woeful KO ratio. Khan is working on things as he has a new trainer. That's fine and I've no problems with that but you can't knock Price for it and not Khan.

It also didn't, in my opinion, come across as running scared. Just a sensible statement.

Have you not met Az before..?!

When Degale beat WP for the euro belt apart from a couple rounds where he was quite open and got caught with a good shot which he came back from very well he won the fight and when Abraham beat him it was not anymore convincing other then WP punching AAs guard all night.. So if Degale does get two or three
Tricky fights under his belt and improves further i cant see why he would not beat AA.. Styles make fights and that but still..

i like DeGales attitude when it comes to taking on decent level opposition. hes ambitious and why not. i dont think hes good enough to beat froch or abraham, but thats for him to try and prove people wrong. he has tested himself more in 13 fights than brook or cleverly have combined. warren never held him back as hes blamed for with cleverly, just goes to show he had higher hopes for james. problem is i dont think he has enough power to realise his ambitions, and was probably better suited to the amateurs

Pedro147 wrote:

azania wrote:He should have said that in a year or so he will be ready. He came across as being scared. Granted I agree that he needs more experience. But he's a little thick the way he went about it. The guy is on par with Bruno in the stupid stakes.

You prasied Amir Khan yesterday after he said he needed time and fights before fighting top level opposition at welterweight and that everyone hates Khan and so on. This is despite the fact he has topped American bills as a world champion. Price says he needs time after 13 fights and is scared.

Have I got that right yes?

You should know that "Price is scared of the Klitschkos and has no chin" and "I feel that people give Amir Khan a hard time so I defend him to the hilt (even in circumstances where I might criticise another boxer)" are two of Azania's classic lines of rhetoric. It doesn't really mean anything. It's just that Azania seems to get a kick out of taking a minority/controversial stance and then doggedly arguing with people over it.

TopHat24/7 wrote:

Pedro147 wrote:

azania wrote:

Pedro147 wrote:

azania wrote:He should have said that in a year or so he will be ready. He came across as being scared. Granted I agree that he needs more experience. But he's a little thick the way he went about it. The guy is on par with Bruno in the stupid stakes.

You prasied Amir Khan yesterday after he said he needed time and fights before fighting top level opposition at welterweight and that everyone hates Khan and so on. This is despite the fact he has topped American bills as a world champion. Price says he needs time after 13 fights and is scared.

Have I got that right yes?

Nope. I don't recall saying Khan should have an easy fight.

Price is of course correct in what he says. But he is a boxer. He's supposed to say it in a way that didn't come across as though he was running scared.

But that's what Molina is, a lightweight with a woeful KO ratio. Khan is working on things as he has a new trainer. That's fine and I've no problems with that but you can't knock Price for it and not Khan.

It also didn't, in my opinion, come across as running scared. Just a sensible statement.

Have you not met Az before..?!

Pedro147 wrote:

azania wrote:

Pedro147 wrote:

azania wrote:He should have said that in a year or so he will be ready. He came across as being scared. Granted I agree that he needs more experience. But he's a little thick the way he went about it. The guy is on par with Bruno in the stupid stakes.

You prasied Amir Khan yesterday after he said he needed time and fights before fighting top level opposition at welterweight and that everyone hates Khan and so on. This is despite the fact he has topped American bills as a world champion. Price says he needs time after 13 fights and is scared.

Have I got that right yes?

Nope. I don't recall saying Khan should have an easy fight.

Price is of course correct in what he says. But he is a boxer. He's supposed to say it in a way that didn't come across as though he was running scared.

But that's what Molina is, a lightweight with a woeful KO ratio. Khan is working on things as he has a new trainer. That's fine and I've no problems with that but you can't knock Price for it and not Khan.

It also didn't, in my opinion, come across as running scared. Just a sensible statement.

If this guy pulls out and Garcia offers a rematch in Dec, Khan would jump at it. My point is that Price came across as a little bit thick in his response. He more or less said K2 would beat him. He is of course correct. Most top 20 boxers would beat him. He is still a novice despite being a pro for 4 years.

Boxtthis wrote:

Pedro147 wrote:

azania wrote:He should have said that in a year or so he will be ready. He came across as being scared. Granted I agree that he needs more experience. But he's a little thick the way he went about it. The guy is on par with Bruno in the stupid stakes.

You prasied Amir Khan yesterday after he said he needed time and fights before fighting top level opposition at welterweight and that everyone hates Khan and so on. This is despite the fact he has topped American bills as a world champion. Price says he needs time after 13 fights and is scared.

Have I got that right yes?

You should know that "Price is scared of the Klitschkos and has no chin" and "I feel that people give Amir Khan a hard time so I defend him to the hilt (even in circumstances where I might criticise another boxer)" are two of Azania's classic lines of rhetoric. It doesn't really mean anything. It's just that Azania seems to get a kick out of taking a minority/controversial stance and then doggedly arguing with people over it.

Well Price more or less said so. He's not ready for K2 and he acknowledged it. I never take a controversial stance. I have said many times that Khan has many weaknesses. Its just the "Khan's poo smells worse than others" attitude which gets on my goat.

Froch was annihilate Degale, as would Arthur Abraham.

azania wrote: I never take a controversial stance

I don't find them controversial. They're common sense! Its all y'all who are the controversial ones.

HWs do tend to be older, but I agree, he needs to ramp it up soon. He needs a 12 round fight or two.

Maybe Price vs Chisora after Audley? Then I'd like to see him against a couple of the fringe contenders: Helenius, Adamek, Povetkin, etc Then, by that time, Vitali will be retired and he can take on Wlad (who by that time may be a bit slower, or just downright bored with his lack of opposition). In a couple of years and with 3 or 4 higher quality fights under his belt Price will be as ready as he ever could be.

The difficulty for Price is going to be finding a HW of sufficiant calibre who is
A/ Willing to take a risk on a tall, powerful NOVICE pro and risk losing their ranking and a payday against the K's

B/Someone who is going to be able to take him the full 12 rounds.

Price's size and power (or if you're Azania, his Royal Doulton chin) is going make it very difficult for him to gain 12 round experience. If he WAS to fight either of the K's he's be looking at trying to go the distance as opposed to going for the Hail Mary punches and getting lucky.

Vitali's chin is always going to mean you're in for a long night and Wlad has improved sufficiently to ensure he's unlikely to get cold-cocked again therefore Price's only option if he is to face either of them is to have that 12 round exerience under his belt.

So, who's the fighter to give it to him?