James DeGale tells skysports.com that opponent Nathan King's calibre will only make victory even sweeter on December 5.
'Chunky' says toughest test will bring the best out of him
James DeGale is ready for the toughest test of his fledgling career.
The Olympic gold medallist takes on Nathan King on the Amir Khan-Dmitriy Salita undercard, on December 5, live on
Sky Box Office.
King, a veteran of 26 (12-14-0) fights who has fought for the WBU super-middleweight title, is by far the most formidable opponent on the Londoner's five-fight professional record.
The match-up has already raised plenty of eyebrows around British boxing, but DeGale is convinced he is in line for a victory that will raise his stock even further.
"Yes, Nathan King is a big step up," he told
skysports.com.
"Everyone keeps asking me who I'm boxing next and I say Nathan King, so they say Nathan King? But he took Kenny Anderson 10 rounds! That ain't gonna be easy, mate!
"Yes, he's tough, but being tough ain't enough; you need a bit more than that in this game. I'm looking forward to beating him up for six rounds - it'll just look better on my record when I beat him.
"One thing he'll have that I haven't faced before is experience. He's been 10 rounds with Anderson; been in with Tony Quigley; went over to France to face the French boy (Jean Paul Mendy) who was a good amateur and is 25-0 as a pro; he's been the distance with Tony Dodson
"These are all good super-middleweight names, among the best in Britain, some of them. But once I get in there, that won't matter."
Skills
King may have lost 14 times in that impressive list, but has only been stopped twice and has boxed up at light-heavyweight, taking former British champion, Tony Oakey, the distance in 2006.
And DeGale, whose four victories so far have taken up little more than 26 minutes of his time, is also fighting over six rounds for the first time in his life.
But he says that will simply give him longer to work out his opponent and provide ample opportunity to showcase the skills he has been working on under trainer Jim McDonnell.
"The win may not be a stoppage, but it will be good for my confidence," he said. "I'm going to be going in there, looking good - and six rounds gives me that little bit more time.
"Sometimes you just can't get people out of there if they've got too much of a good chin, but even then it's a chance to show - and work on - different skills.
"Then again, like Joe Calzaghe says, I don't get paid overtime, so if I can get him out of there, believe me I will. But he's durable and if I don't, I will still box nice and look good."
Power
DeGale admits to having gone back to basics to rebuild his game since turning pro and being booed on his debut, a points win over Vepkhia Tchilaia in Birmingham in February.
His last win, a slick three-round demolition of Ally Morrison in October was, he says, by far his best performance and the result of gruelling workouts under the guidance of taskmaster McDonnell.
"I was very, very pleased with it," he said. "It was the best out of the four (wins to date).
"I showed power, I was composed, calm and collected - and I showed the killer instinct I hadn't showed before.
"We have been doing a lot of strength work, Jim has got a lot of drills designed to get my hips turning and my feet planted - and that's where the power comes from.
"That was the plan, to bring more power into that fight and throw combinations, and that's just what I did.
"You are going to see more of the same in Newcastle on December 5, believe me."
