The 29-year-old became the first British Olympic gold medallist to win a professional world title
James DeGale made boxing history on this day six years ago as he became the first British Olympic gold medallist to win a professional world title.
The Londoner achieved the feat as he secured a unanimous points victory over American Andre Dirrell in Boston to claim the vacant IBF super-middleweight belt.
The 29-year-old’s victory capped a rise through the professional ranks which began after he won middleweight gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
It was a gruelling 12-round contest which sparked into life in the second when DeGale was cut but recovered to knock his opponent down twice.
Despite struggling to make the count following one of those knockdowns, Dirrell responded well and controlled the bout in the middle rounds.
It took a strong showing from DeGale in the closing stages to sway the judges in his favour. One scorecard did show victory by a wide margin but the other two were close. The final…
