James DeGale came to the Beijing Olympic Games with the intention of going one better in boxing than Amir Khan and his silver medal in Athens four years. Today DeGale came a step nearer to his objective as he took his challenge into the quarter-finals.
DeGale beat the American Shawn Estrada, a 23-year-old from Los Angeles, by 11-5 in their middleweight contest to maintain his medal bid at a high level.
It was clear from the start that DeGale, a 22-year-old who fights out of the Dale Youth Boxing Club in London, was in for a demanding test against Estrada because neither boxer could score a point in a tight first round with neither prepared to concede anything.
But DeGale's balance and control began to gain rewards in the second round when he opened up a 3-1 lead and the British fighter pulled ahead 6-3 in the third as a clear indication that he wanted to maintain clear control.
The final round underlined DeGale's persistence as he outscored the American 5-2 for his best round and a dominant finish. "Train hard, fight easy" is DeGale's maxim - and today he lived up to that.
The win set up a quarter-final against Bakhtiyar Artayev (KAZ) – the Athens 2004 welterweight gold medallist and middleweight bronze medallist at the 2007 World Championships.
That contest takes place on Wednesday (20th August).
And DeGale is looking forward to it. “There’s more to come,” he said.
Go to www.teamgb.com and click on 'Results' to view all the latest Team GB results. Click on 'Team GB' to view profiles of all Team GB athletes.
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