Legendary super-middleweight, Joe Calzaghe, endorses James DeGale ahead of the latter’s fight with Lucian Bute, during an in-depth interview with George Gigney in this week’s issue of Boxing News.
“YEAH, I like James, he’s a pal of mine. I can sympathise with him as well because he gets criticism like the criticism I used to get for years. People like him, he’s got fast hands, he’s a little bit spicy like me. I like him. He’s a bit brash but that’s a good attitude to have, it does good business and as long as he doesn’t lose again now he has the title, I think he’ll do really well. Obviously he needs to beat Lucian Bute in style [this weekend] but he’s a work in progress. Like me when I fought Chris Eubank, I was gassed after seven rounds and I struggled a bit. Although he’s world champion, the experience of fighting 12 rounds with top-quality fighters doesn’t come overnight. I fought Eubank in ’97 and then beat [Jeff] Lacy nine years later – I was a completely different animal. He’s learning all the time, but I’ve always been impressed with him. He can go on to big things.”
