The real James DeGale: British boxer’s mum, sister and trainer open up to talkSPORT ahead of crunch Chris Eubank Jr showdown
marvelbet369.com went inside the 33-year-old's inner sanctum to find out more about the misunderstood Harlesden man ahead of the super-middleweight fight at The O2
James DeGale's career to the top has been far from straightforward.
In 2008, it had been eight years since Great Britain last had a boxer at the top of an Olympic Games podium.
Then the fresh-faced lad from Harlesden, north-west London, turned up and against all odds secured an historic gold medal in Beijing.
DeGale was just 22 and fought off some outstanding competition in the middleweight division to hit the jackpot, something he still reminisces about fondly to this day.
The feat remains one of the best gold triumphs in any sport - not that Brent council ever truly recognised the incredible achievement. The Freedom of Brent would have sufficed.
You'd think after then becoming the first ever British boxer to win an Olympic gold and world championship title, his historic homecoming would arrive. Nope. That story can wait for another day.
DeGale, otherwise known as 'Chunky', has been used to overcoming various adversities during his career anyway.
He was booed on his professional debut in Birmingham in March 2009 and when he lost to his arch-rival George Groves two years later the knives were out for the Harlesden boxer.
FIGHT NIGHT ON talkSPORT
James DeGale vs Chris Eubank Jr is live on talkSPORT, February 23 from the O2 Arena, including a stacked undercard featuring fellow British fighters Joe Joyce and Lee Selby
There were many calls for him to ditch his trainer, Jim McDonnell, and go down a new route to fulfil his potential, but DeGale remained loyal.
In May 2015, he achieved what every boxer dreams of - that elusive world title - when he defeated the talented Andre Dirrell in Boston to become IBF super-middleweight champion.
DeGale and McDonnell had an emotional embrace in the dressing room afterwards as they had finally achieved what they set out to do all those years previously.
For McDonnell, a former boxer himself, it was a dream come true after coming agonisingly close to securing a world title in his well-esteemed career.
DeGale held that IBF title until December 9, 2017 - when disaster struck.
Even in his worst nightmares, DeGale would not have envisaged his first fight on British soil in three years would play out the way it did.
American Caleb Truax came out on top in one of the biggest shocks in boxing history.
The truth was DeGale should never have taken the fight at short notice, rushing back from shoulder surgery to fight Truax, ignoring the advice of medical professionals in the process.
In that respect the maverick, DeGale, can sometimes be his own worst enemy.
He has learnt the hard way from this demoralising defeat, and despite bouncing back to regain his belt in Las Vegas four months later, it was far from a vintage display.
Many say DeGale's best years are beyond him, but the eccentric and colourful character looks fitter and sharper than ever.
A day spent at his gym in Wembley last week demonstrated that.
His training methods have had to be altered as a result of Achilles tendonitis, with DeGale taking to the water in preparation for his latest fight as the running tracks are now a no-go.
DeGale has achieved all he set out to in boxing, but has billed his grudge match against Chris Eubank Jr this Saturday at The O2 as a "retirement fight".
The 33-year-old remains a misunderstood and complex character, who has never got the true recognition he deserves for everything he's achieved in a fiercely competitive and demanding sport.
A convincing win against Eubank Jr may end that once for all.
Ahead of that bout, marvelbet369.com caught up with some of the people closest to him to get an insight into who the real James DeGale is.
Diane DeGale (mother)
"Loving. Funny. Misunderstood. That’s how I’d describe my son.
"James is misunderstood because he’s himself. When he first turned professional he was very young and thrown into this limelight and all the exposure that came with it.
"He was inexperienced, but as he’s got older he's matured a lot. His problem is that he's too honest. He’s not a yes man like other boxers you see. He is himself. What you see is what you get.
"He trains so hard and when I see that as a mother, his focus and dedication, that’s what upsets me when he gets called all sorts of names.
"He’s been training so hard since August. He’s had two nights out since then. If that’s not what dedication is, I don’t know what is?
"People call him a ‘party boy’ and all this. What’s he meant to do in his downtime?
"Is he not allowed to go out and socialise with his friends? Or is he expected to sit at home like a hermit?
"He always says if it wasn’t for me and his dad (Leroy) he’d have nothing. James is a family boy. He’s a creature of comfort. His family are his life.
"I see him every day. I speak to him two or three times a day. He’ll pop over for a cup of tea, he’ll see how I am and we’ll talk. If he needs anything or any kind of advice he’ll come to me.
"People say, 'oh, he’s a bit of a mummy's boy', but that's rubbish. What we've got is called a relationship. I haven’t just got that with James, I’ve got that with all my kids.
"James already has his legacy - that much can't be questioned.
"He’s come up through the amateurs and went to the Beijing Olympics and got that gold medal. That was the pinnacle of his career. Professionally, he’s got to the top of the British and European division.
"He’s a two-time world champion, so his legacy is already there and it goes way beyond the credit people give him.
"If he said to me after this next fight I’m finished, I’d respect that. Personally I think he’s got a little bit more to give.
"I know he wants to go and win another world title if the opportunity arose. There’s fights out there that he wants. He wants the Badou Jack fight.
"He’s prepared to go up to light-heavyweight. He’s had lots of injuries. His shoulder and Achilles were huge concerns.
"He was thinking of packing it in then as he was told his shoulder might never return to normal. We call it the 'bionic shoulder' now because its so good!
"At the end of the day people just think James and all the rest of the guys are prize fighters. They have all this money, but they don’t realise the physical and emotional demands these people have to put themselves through. The sacrifices, the pain, the hard work.
"Yes, they earn very good money - but it isn't an easy pay day like some make out it is.
"That night against Truax was one of the worst nights of my life. Having to go and see my son in hospital was bad enough but then when I looked up at him he was just broken.
"As his mother that absolutely broke my heart and was devastating to see. All he kept saying was ‘sorry mum, I’ve let you all down’.
"I told him 'you haven’t let me down, look at what you've achieved'. That's what he’s like though. He always thinks of others before himself.
"I just want him now to have a great end to what has been a hugely successful career - and I'm sure he'll do just that. He deserves it.
"I hope one day he gets the recognition he truly deserves. I'm so proud of him."
Eloise DeGale (sister and PA)
"Fun, caring and generous is what comes to my mind when I think of my brother. We’ve always been so close.
"We had it instilled into us from a young age by my mum and dad that family is everything. We stick together and help each other out.
"James loves having [me and mum] around, and we love being around him - most of the time! He understands us and we understand him. It’s a bond that has been there from day one.
"In this world you can’t please everyone. He’s not everybody’s cup of tea. He’s the raw article.
"He’s unedited. He is so real to the point that it's almost a bad quality - that's how real he is.
"He’s so authentic. There’s no filter on him, that’s why the people who know him love spending time in his company.
"What he’s like with you guys [journalists] is what he’s like at home. There’s no two faces with James. With James if he wants to talk, he’ll talk. You’ve got to know how to be with him.
"He is an open book, but around that time [after the Truax defeat] I felt that as his sister I needed to be positive.
"Yes, we spoke about the negatives, but sometimes you've got to accept that sometimes it isn't meant to be.
"For me it was all about how we were going to bring him back up, and believe me it wasn't easy doing that at that time as he was so low.
"Sometimes though James has to realise he's made mistakes and learn from them. That's what helps you build character and strength in life after all.
"As a child you’re told ‘don’t put your hand in that fire' but we go and put our hand in regardless.
"James was told not to fight Truax, but he went ahead and did that against medical advice. He learnt the hard way.
"He probably needed that loss to be honest though, just like he did against George Groves.
"Sometimes you need it to keep grounded, bring yourself back up and go again. Mind, body and soul - James is back now.
"I really hope over the next couple of fights he can really perform to the level he is capable of and go out with a bang.
"Then he can look in the mirror and say to himself, ‘you know what I’ve smashed it, I’m going out a legend in this sport.'
"You can only do so much and if people don’t recognise that fact - then that’s their problem at the end of the day. James won’t get his full recognition until he retires anyway. But I look forward to that day when I read all the tribute pieces to him online and in the paper - my little brother deserves it."
Jim McDonnell (long-time trainer and close friend)
"The best compliment I can give James is this. The. Most. Loyal.
"Our bond is unbreakable. After he lost to George Groves in 2011, everyone said to him get a new trainer. The same happened after the Caleb Truax defeat in 2017.
"The blame game is prevalent in boxing. It's never your fault, it's always sombody else's - and more times than not the trainer takes the brunt of it.
"James is the polar opposite of that. He accepts where he has gone wrong and where he can improve.
"Look at Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns. They all changed their trainers in an attempt to find something different.
"Then you have Gennady Golovkin, Joe Lewis and Muhammad Ali - the greatest fighter of all time. What do they all have in common? They've never changed their trainer.
"The fighters who stay with their trainers throughout their career are the ones who go on to achieve greater success in the sport more times than not.
"With James, we had a plan from day one. Winning that Olympic gold was special for him, it doesn’t get any better than that.
"What I had to explain to him after that - and he’s a good listener - is that you’ve got to make a transition.
"I said to him 'what you are now James is you’re a pure boxer'. Professional boxing is aerobic.
"It’s about endurance, stamina, longevity. It’s about drills he'd never done before.
"It’s a brutal sport so that means you’ve got to tick all the boxes. No-one can make someone else do something, you've got to want to do it.
"I said to him ‘James, what do you want to get out of this sport’? He went 'I want to be a champion' and I said ‘yeah, champion of what.’
"He said ‘I want to be world champion’. I said ‘we’ll that’s what we’ll do then’. We both smiled and shook hands. As they say the rest is history.
"It's about how bad you want it at the end of the day. Back in 1982 I was training nine times a day for the Commonwealth Games.
"I’ve been that close to becoming a world champion. I fought against the very best in my era.
"I won ABA titles, schoolboy titles, you name it. I know fighters who were far more talented than me, but never had the same type of work ethic.
"Talent with hard work equals a world champion. Talent without hard work quite simply equivalents to not a lot, bar a person who will look back on their life full of regrets.
"Before he had that low [against Truax], and it was a real low point, I said to him ‘it ain’t going to be rosey all your career James, at some point you’ll hit a bump. You’re on a journey after all.'
"If you stay undefeated all your career in boxing, winning every round, never getting hurt or knocked on the floor - then you're in the wrong sport'.
"I had a feeling it might happen - he rushed back from a serious injury and Truax is no mug.
"We had these conversations before it arrived, so we were prepared for the worst possible outcome.
"To train an Olympic gold medallist means you’re always under the spotlight, but I've always known that.
"One thing is for sure we've had a right good go together over the years and it hasn't worked out too badly, eh?
"I believe when he calls it a day James will get all credit in the world for his boxing ability.
"It's at the end of his career when I believe people will actually see that personal side to him and think 'you know what he’s actually a really nice lad'.
"He's a family boy who is very loyal, has had the same mates and the same trainer all his life! That tells you everything you need to know about James."
Jimmy McDonnell Jr (Cornerman and close friend)
"James has and always will be someone me and my family will be close with.
"When you get beat in this sport everyone automatically thinks change your trainer and the problem will be sorted. It’s never the promoter’s fault - it's always the trainer.
"Some fighters needs to take a hard look at themselves. James did that and he was man enough to admit it was his fault.
"He didn’t start blaming my dad. He always looks out for us all, and the fact he stood by my dad through everything sums up the type of person he is.
"When he lost against Truax, that was honestly the worst Christmas ever. We all sat down together to process what had happened and James said ’it’s my fault I rushed back too soon’.
"Even when he won his title back last April, he was nowhere near 100 per cent, but for James it was job done.
"It's ten months on now and this is the happiest I've seen James in a long time.
"He's in brilliant condition, he's super sharp and content with his life.
"I fully expect him to turn on the style and show everyone what a world class boxer he is on February 23 at The O2.
"It feels like everyone is on his side for this fight. We were talking about this the other day and he said himself it's going to be nice for a change to have that.
"It's going to give him a real buzz walking out and getting a nice reception.
"In life everyone wants to be loved, whether you're a football player, cricketer or a boxer. James might make out he's not bothered, but deep down he is.
"He's finally going to get his due this weekend and I'm very confident he'll put on a performance for them to remember for years to come."
Steve Newland (amateur coach)
"I’ve known James since he was nine years old when he first came down to the Trojan gym.
"That's where he picked up the nickname 'Chunky' from one of the other coaches, Phil Pearson.
"His ambition, desire and application to achieve his dreams has always been first class.
"There will always be a special bond between us. We had to overcome many hurdles together on his journey to Olympic gold - I still remember that day like it was yesterday.
"To this day he always gives me tickets to his fights, comes to our gym (Hooks ABC) and gives kits and T-shirts out to the young lads.
"He's on hand to give them advice about boxing or just have a general chat about life - he's always been really good with everyone.
"When James eventually retires I think only then people will look back and realise how great his achievements in the sport were.
"I can't wait to be there on Saturday to cheer him on to another victory.
"He's achieved everything he set out to do when he started off in the sport. I'm really proud of him."
Leroy DeGale (father)
"I’ll do my talking when James retires..."
In Leroy's words, James has already done his talking in the ring, his legacy has been defined.
However, defeat against Eubank Jr is unthinkable for 'Chunky' to even consider - especially after billing this all-British grudge match the 'retirement fight'.
This is all or nothing. A convincing win against Eubank Jr may give DeGale the perfect send off that he really yearns to make that tough decision, to hang up his gloves for good, all the more easier to accept.