Sunday 1 November 2009

James Morrison: James DeGale shows his potential after breezing to early finish


Produced of James DeGale another sensational finish for his personal highlights reel as he dispatched Ally Morrison for his fourth win as a professional last night. The night the Olympic champion was booed on his professional debut seems a long time ago now.
In the 6mins 45sec Morrison lasted with the Olympic middleweight gold medal winner, the Cumbrian proved he was brave, but DeGale showed he has the style to make it to the top of the paid code.
"I told people I had the style to make it as a pro and I showed a bit of it there,” said DeGale, who trained with Floyd Mayweather Jr, the five-weight world champion, in Las Vegas this summer. “I have been sparring with the best in the country already and I know I can go all the way.”
DeGale - who dedicated the win to Darren Sutherland, his Olympic semi-final opponent, who died last month - looked aggressive and mixed his punches well, but his third-round finish at the Echo Arena, Liverpool, was out of the top drawer. He landed four successive left hooks before standing Morrison up on his toes with a right hook and landed another left, which prompted the intervention of Howard Foster, the referee.
There was no one who denied Frankie Gavin’s ability as an amateur. The only British boxer to win a gold medal in the history of the World Amateur Championships had no peers in the unpaid code, but plenty of doubters when he turned professional after failing to make the weight for last year’s Olympic Games.
Well, he is doing just fine, judging by the style of his fourth win in the paid code over Steve Saville last night.
Saville, 33, a stocky, rugged battler is good enough to have won a Midlands Area title, but he could not live with the speed and accuracy of Gavin and was stopped after 2min 32sec of the second round as he rose from a knockdown.
Gavin, 23, still has breathtaking speed and a fine array of punches, but under the training of Anthony Farnell he is starting to add power. Against Saville he seemed faultless, keeping his distance and picking his shot with such accuracy, Saville looked dispirited after barely a minute.
“I felt I boxed well, but I will wait to see what Arnie (Farnell) says,” Gavin, a light-welterweight, said. “He always finds something to be improved on.
“I think I’m adapting to the pro game quite well. In the amateurs there is a lot of pitter patter stuff, but I’ve been working on putting more weight into my shots."

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