Arthur Abraham vs Piotr Wilczewski

I was interested in this fight as I thought it would have been a good fight to have a look at what Wilczewski was made of and how much of a challenge he really was for Degale. Abraham is not the best but he is world level and is a handful for any world level fighter.

While PW was soundly beaten by Abraham I did think he proved to be very durable and tough and did not stop fighting for 12 rounds and I think his short comings were more down to failing to get to grips with Abraham's boring and defensive style, while most of the fight covering up.

So for me Degales win over Wilczewski was a little bit more credible than some gave him credit for. Despite Degale leaving him self open and getting caught a few times by PW (which is to be expected after 11 pro fights) he still out boxed him in the end and there was no doubt over the result. Also Degale went forward in his fight being more open giving PW more chance to get inside.

I also think Degales power is not as bad as some say as Abraham is a heavy puncher and he caught PW allot but he never looked like it was going to be stopped although still visibly hurting him at times. While Degale also caught him a few times and looked to have hurt him.

What do you guys think?. For me PW is a very worthy Euro level fighter just short of enough tools to be at world level and Degale's win was a positive result and I also think if he had a rematch with him he would do even better.

Give Degale 3 or 4 more Euro level fights and I see him being ready to compete against the big boys.

Degale haters need to apply.

I'm not sure I agree with you on that, not through any lack of talent on degales part - but he seems to have become disillusioned and doesnt seem to be pushing his career in the direction it ought to go. Think he needs some motivation to move on from Groves and fight his way back up. Just keep him in the back of his mind and deal with him when he arises again. Just needs to learn that lesson and get on with it or I fear he might lose match fitness as it were.

ShahenshahG wrote:I'm not sure I agree with you on that, not through any lack of talent on degales part - but he seems to have become disillusioned and doesnt seem to be pushing his career in the direction it ought to go. Think he needs some motivation to move on from Groves and fight his way back up. Just keep him in the back of his mind and deal with him when he arises again. Just needs to learn that lesson and get on with it or I fear he might lose match fitness as it were.

Hmmm since he lost to Groves he has fought for the euro tile and is currently Euro champ and has a defense lined up, not sure how that's not moving on from the Groves defeat..

I think his relationship with Warren is a bit unhealthy, but if your not happy you need to move, simple..

I don't think the Groves defeat effected him that bad other than his pride hit and of course you are going to want to stick a few "w"s on the list asap... it was a close fight and most people think he won anyway, so its not as if it was a disaster..

I just think people are making him out to not be the real deal or effective because of the groves loss and the hard fought win against PW, but Groves is a decent fighter and so is PW...

He's not though, he has a signed contract with warren and he isnt getting out of it. He might be unhappy with him but Warren has done good for him so far so I don't think he has anything to complain about. Just think he is trying to force the rematch and groves doesn't want any part of it.

I've said all along - DeGale is actually decent and only has himself to blame for his loss to Groves. When DeGale went forward and threw punches - he looked much, much better. His switch hitting style looked hopeless - but there were flashes of class throughout from DeGale.

As it happens, I had DeGale winning - and I think he got a bit unlucky with judges. Reasoning? All 3 - or 2 of the 3 - I misremember - gave the last round to Groves - a round that DeGale landed the better punches in - and more of them. Had that round gone the other way - DeGale would have won by a point - as it was he lost by a point. I've often wondered whether that was a case of judges looking at the balance of the fight and awarding the last round to the man they thought had done better overall - rather than scoring it round by round.

Yes - there are rumours of arguments with Warren - if the relationship is irreparable DeGale should leave - simple as. If he wants exposure - Hennessey can offer him Channel 5 and Hearn can offer him Sky sports. Either of which should be appealing for a 12/13 fight novice Olympic Gold medallist.

Sadly - his inactivity, his personality and the close nature of the Wilczewski fight have matured to create this myth that he was never actually that good and that Groves shut him out. The way that fight has passed into the popular consciousness - you'd think DeGale didn't land a punch all night. You'd also think it was a classic fight - which it wasn't. It was an absorbing, tense affair - but in some of the round - like the 8th and the 9th - only 8 punches were landed all round. Ibeabuchi-Tua it wasn't. The way you hear tell now, Groves hammered him without opposition.

DeGale can still go on and win his dream of a world title. He can even go on to be a decent champion. He needs to be fighting a little more often, however if he's going to achieve that dream.

My opinion is that Degale most certainly has the talent to become a very strong World Level fighter and become a big player in the SMW division.

To put it bluntly, I just think he's extremely thick, don't really think he quite has the mentality to take things on board and seriously learn, this for me will stop him from becoming a top fighter and why George Groves will always be ahead of him.

Why do people who like a fighter always have to say silly things 'most think he won anyway' when in fact opinion is split down the middle, I favoured Groves but only by a round or two.

In the year since he lost to Groves he's fought once and has one fight lined up which isn't really active enough for a novice of 12 fights while he still seems obsessed with that loss, he needs to move on and quickly or he'll waste the talent he does have.

Agree Ghosty, it was most certainly very much split.

He does need to be more active but not really his fault that his fight fell through late last year.

Would also say, I really struggle to see Degale as a novice. Yes, he only has 12 fights, but the level he has fought at, high domestic level and a clearly very good Euro level fighter means that he isn't a novice, and hasn't really been for a while. With the level he's fighting at, I don't think he has been incrredibly inactive.

I think the Wilczewski bout is probably a reasonable reflection of the level DeGale is at now. Euro level.

Abraham was found wanting considerably at the highest level of the division but still, by the reports I have read, beat Wilczewski fairly comfortably just doing the basics. So I think that highlights the distance DeGale has still to go before he can really mount an effective challenge at world level.

I usually adopt a more conservative approach with prospects at the beginning and then take it on a fight by fight basis. DeGale is young and still learning but for me the jury is out on whether he will realise world level potential until I have watched a few more fights with him. He needs more fights and I would be hesitant to rush him into world level too quickly. He needs to be able to beat the likes of Wilczewski by more than a couple of rounds to compete successfully at world level.

Don't think Wilczewski is that good if i'm honest, shows a bit of durability against Abraham and suddenly has Degale apologists making out he's better than he is. The comparative ease with which Abraham beat him shows that Degale is still very much a novice with much improvement to be made, he's still a long way from fringe world level.

Hasn't AA been shown recently to be out of his depth at SMW? He's not big enough and that high guard only makes things worse. So he dealt with some tough bum? So what? Nothing to see here in my opinion, Degale dealt with him too.

All that said and done, Degale vs AA could make good viewing.

AA may not be the best in the world, but anyone who says he is not world level would have me scratching my head.. He is a world class fighter, and was a world champion, simple as that even if at a lighter weight.

And in the super 6 he was not out of his depth.. against Dirrell he was piling on the pressure before he threw that silly illegal punch..

Froch boasts his best performance against him, where many predicted Froch would lose..

And against Ward the first few rounds he Gave Ward some problems, more than most did in the super 6.

As for PW, point is, he is obviously a very durable tough opponent, one that not even a world level hard puncher was able to come close to stopping.

So for me Degale not stopping him is not a fail... and in the end he out boxed him... and in fact probably rocked him a bit more than AA did.

So for me, give Degale 3 or 4 more decent level fights to iron out a few things in his pro game.. I cant see why he cant challenge at world level..

My only "?" for Degale is his trainer, Im not convinced he has the right people around him and his fall out with Warren also does not look good, he needs a good team around him and maybe he needs someone to clip him round the ear and put some discipline into him.

As for Groves, I think PW would give him a very hard fight.

Just to clarify how I see world level..

If Froch and AA fought again... AA would have a chance of beating him..

If Dirrell and AA fought against AA would have a chance of beating him..

If Froch and Dirrell fought again, then Dirrell would have a chance...

And so on..

point is, none of them can take for granted that they would win as the other guy is a big threat...

Now PW could fight AA another 5 times and I doubt the result would change..

Paul Smith could fight Froch 5 times and the result would be a Froch win ..5 times..

This is how I see it.

So AA is a world level fighter.

And when you look at Ward, well he is an exceptional fighter above world class IMO, and would beat all those that were in the super 6 every time..

Everyone of the others could beat each other on their day.