James DeGale has insisted that he will become a world champion when he takes on Andre Dirrell on May 23 in Boston for the vacant IBF super-middleweight title.
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DeGale was speaking after it was confirmed that the bout would be aired on Sky Sports after the purse bid was lost by promoter Eddie Hearn as Warriors Boxing came in with a significant offer to take it Stateside.
The 29-year-old insists that although it would have been nice to fight in front of his home fans for the belt, it doesn’t matter where it takes place as he is adamant that he will become a world champion regardless.
The Londoner is coming off the back of two impressive outings with wins over Brandon Gonzales and Marco Antonio Periban, and he is supremely confident that he will extend that winning run on May 23.
“My time is here and I am going to be crowned the IBF world champion,” DeGale told Sky Sports.
“Travelling doesn’t worry me – I like it.
DeGale added that a win over Dirrell would undoubtedly open doors for him in the division with the likes of Carl Froch and George Groves possible opponents further down the line.
However, he believes that he would also be able to target huge unification fights against the likes of Andre Ward and Arthur Abraham, although he remains fully focused on the task in hand first before looking ahead.
While DeGale has the opportunity to create history by becoming the first Olympic gold medallist from GB to go on and win a world title in the professional ranks, it also represents his chance to break out as one of the leading fighters in the super-middleweight division.
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