James DeGale: “I’d rather Floyd Mayweather box someone young and fresh like Danny Garcia than Manny Pacquiao again”

The British boxing landscape has been on the rise in 2016. This year has seen the continued rise of fighters from the UK, with boxers like Anthony Joshua, Kell Brook and Amir Khan getting worldwide attention in their fights. James DeGale is among those fighters, as he has been fighting over in the US and Canada, growing his profile.

In Part 2 of my interview with James DeGale, he talks about the biggest fight so far in 2016, Saul Alvarez vs. Amir Khan. DeGale shares his thoughts on Amir Khan’s performance and also gives his views on a potential Alvarez-Golovkin bout. James also speaks on Floyd Mayweather’s future and what fight he would like to see Mayweather come back for. Additionally, DeGale talks about his fans and gives his final thoughts on a DeGale-Jack fight. Here is what James DeGale had to say.

Jenna J: How do you feel about the way your career has gone with the fact that you didn’t get Carl Froch, even though you wanted to fight him?

James DeGale: Yeah I’m pretty easy with that now, obviously at the time I was a bit of frustrated, because that’s the fight that I wanted him, and that’s the fight that would have been massive. As my career has gone on, obviously I’ve become world champion, I’ve had couple of defenses, I signed with Al Haymon, and I am flying at the minute. I think my career is doing extremely well. I think I’m doing extremely well and I’m happy where I’m at.

Jenna J: How do you think that fight would have gone? If you did face him after he had fought Groves, how do you think it would have played out?

James DeGale: Carl Froch is a very good champion, he’s a proven champion, he’s a two time world champion, but I think styles makes fight. He had the option of fighting me, but he refused and he vacated the belt to not fight me. I got huge respect for him, he’s achieved a lot in the game, but I think I would have beaten Carl Froch.

Jenna J: Recently we saw Amir Khan vs. Canelo Alvarez. Amir Khan fought well early but went out in pretty devastating fashion, what did you think of the fight?

James DeGale: Yeah I think you got to give a lot of credit to Amir Khan because he dared to be great. He went up two weight classes and fought one of the best fighters around in Canelo, so you got to give Amir a lot credit. But to jump up two weight divisions and put on that kind of weight on and fight someone like Canelo, to me it’s a bit too much and it proved it on the night where he got knocked out.

Canelo is an unbelievable fighter, you got to give Amir Khan credit for doing that and being brave enough to do that. Amir can come back, he can come back down in weight and there’s some big fights out there. Being fellow Brit, I’m disappointed that he got knocked out and didn’t win.

Jenna J: In terms of where Canelo goes, a lot of people want to see him face Gennady Golovkin. I’m wondering, if that fight happens, how do you think it plays out?

James DeGale: I think that’s a real intriguing fight, if I’m being honest, I think it’s a real good fight. Golovkin has looked like a monster, he’s looked like a beast the past couple of years, and he’s finding it hard to get opponents. I think him against Canelo is probably one of the biggest fights in boxing at the minute, so I think if that happens, it would be great fight. I’d probably edge towards Golovkin, but it’s boxing and they are two skilled warriors, so its a good fight.

Jenna J: FloydMayweather Jr. is talking about coming back for another possible nine figure payday, and that could only mean Manny Pacquiao. Do you have any interest in seeing that rematch after that the first one?

James DeGale: If I’m being honest, no. I rather him box someone like Danny Garcia, a young, fresh, unbeaten a champion. I’d rather him box someone like that than Manny Pacquiao. We’ve seen the first fight and Mayweather won that pretty convincingly, so if he was gonna comeback, I’d rather see him against another champion.

Jenna J: Back to you, when you expect to return to the ring? When do you expect that fight with Badou Jack to happen?

James DeGale: I’ve got to speak to my adviser, Al Haymon, but it looks like September time. I want to be out in September. I’m going to have couple of weeks off but I’m ready to go man, August or September time. I just got to speak to Al and discuss what the next move is.

Jenna J: The fight with Jack has a lot riding on it, because most people conceded that if the fight happens, the winner should really be considered the super middleweight champion of the world. Do you see it that way?

James DeGale: Yeah I do. I honesty think me and Badou Jack are the best 168lb champs out there if you look at who we’ve all beat. Look at me, I beat Andre Dirrell and I think he’s one of the best as well. We both beat Bute, I beat Medina and he beat Dirrell, so we’ve all beat probably the best in the division. It’s me and Badou Jack, whoever wins that is basically the best in the division.

Jenna J: Is there any message you want to pass along to your fans?

James DeGale: Yeah, just keep on supporting, I appreciate it, and believe me, I won’t let you down. I want to keep on winning, keep on progressing and making everyone proud, so thank you.

Jenna J: Well in closing, what is your official prediction for the fight with Badou Jack when it goes down?

James DeGale: I’m going to stop making predictions because my last three predictions have been wrong, so I am going to stop making predictions. But listen, James DeGale wins, I’m going to win, I’m going to unify the division and be the number one super middleweight.