James DeGale created history in Boston on Saturday as he defeated Andre Dirrell on points to become the new IBF super-middleweight champion.
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The build-up to the fight had promised a great fight between two highly talented southpaws, as the pair battled it out for the belt that Carl Froch vacated earlier this year.
DeGale started strong and was on the front foot for the opening rounds as he clearly had a gameplan to unsettle his opponent and take control of the fight.
That resulted in a crushing left hand in the second round which had Dirrell on the floor, with the British star sending him to the canvas two more times before the bell sounded to rescue him.
Dirrell continued to get himself into trouble through to the sixth round as the Brit opened up a strong lead in the fight, but the American star gathered himself and responded down the stretch to ensure that it was an anxious wait for the results to come in.
However, DeGale had done just enough on two scorecards to take it 114-112 while the third judge had him winning by a huge margin which would undoubtedly have caused some anger in the Dirrell camp had it not been a unanimous decision.
Having now become the first British Olympic gold medallist to become a world champion as a professional, DeGale insisted after the fight that he considered himself the second best super-middleweight in the world behind Andre Ward and would welcome any fight as he will look to defend his title later in the year.
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