Showtime World Championship Boxing Results: Badou Jack and James DeGale Grind Out Tough Decision Victories
By: William Holmes
Mayweather Promotions in association with Interbox Promotions televised two world championship fights in the super middleweight division on Showtime live from the DC Armory in Washington D.C.
The undercard featured some high level prospects such as Chris Pearson in the middleweight division and Sharif Bogere in the super lightweight division, and both were successful in their undercard bouts.
The winners of the two televised bouts will likely face each other in a super middleweight unification bout in the near future.
Surprisingly, there was a lot of empty seats in the DC Armory despite the fact two legitimate world titles were on the line.
The first televised fight was between James DeGale (22-1) and Rogelio Medina (36-6) for the IBF Super Middleweight Championship.
DeGale, a former Olympic gold medalist, showed his boxing technique was superior in the first round by sticking and moving well and connecting with quick combinations while easily staying out of the range of Medina. DeGale’s defense was also on point early on as his head movement made him a difficult target for Medina.
The second round was close, but DeGale’s punches were slipping in between the high guard of Medina and he was landing more combinations than Medina. Medina, to his credit, continued to press forward and was able to land some punches on DeGale when his back was against the ropes in the third round, but the combinations of DeGale appeared to hurt Medina.
DeGale looked extremely confident in the fourth round and was able to land punches from awkward angles, including lead uppercuts and over the top left hands. Medina started off strong in the fifth round and was able to dig in some hard body shots when DeGale was trapped near the ropes, but DeGale ended the round strong with some heavy lead right uppercuts to the chin of Medina.
Medina had a strong sixth round and tagged DeGale with more head shots than previous rounds, but DeGale had the best combination of the round. Medina’s pressure continued in the seventh round and DeGale’s jabs weren’t acting as much of a deterrent. DeGale however, still had the higher connect percentage.
The eighth round was a close round and Medina’s pressure may have won him the round as he had DeGale stuck by the ropes taking some punishment. DeGale was able to end the round with a hard flurry.
DeGale dominated the ninth round and played it safe in the tenth round as Medina was never able to mount an effective offensive combination or hurt his opponent.
DeGale simply needed to stay on his feet In the championship rounds to win the fight, and he did so despite the fact Medina never stopped coming forward and tried his best to go for the knockout.
James DeGale was able to retain his title with a decision victory with scores of 115-113, 117-111, and 117-111.
DeGale was in a tougher match than expected, and afterwards stated, “The boxing skills are too good. If I’m being honest, he’s a very strong fighter, but skills pay the bills. I watched this guy years ago and this guy didn’t have the engine like that. He’s gotten better and stronger in the last year and a half.”
The main event of the night was between Badou Jack (20-1-1) and Lucian Bute (32-3) for the WBC Super Middleweight Championship.
Even though the DC Armory had a large number of empty seats there was a large contingent of vocal Lucian Bute fans in attendance.
Both boxers spent most of the opening round trying to feel each other out, but Bute was the more active fighter and was pressing the fight. The action didnt’ pick up in the second round with each boxer landing an occasional straight cross, but neither boxer committed to throwing combinations.
The crowd was starting to get restless at the start of the third round, and Jack was able to quiet them with a straight right to the chin after two crosses to the body. Bute was able to answer with a hard left hook, but he appeared to have a small cut near his eye from the earlier exchange with Jack. Bute ended strong with a crowd pleasing straight left.
Jack focused his attacks to the body of Bute in the fourth round, but Bute was able to land several clean straight left hands that pleased his fans in attendance. However, Jack dominated the fifth round as his connect rate increased and he momentarily stunned Bute with a hard overhand right.
Jack’s momentum continued in the sixth round as he was able to land some hard body shots. Bute was able to connect with a few combinations, but they lacked the power and pop of Badou Jack. The seventh round featured several good exchanges from both men, but Jack appeared to land the cleaner and harder punches.
Jack looked like he was wearing Bute down in the eighth round, but Bute was able to pick up his activity in the ninth round and may have stolen it on the judges’ scorecards. Bute scored with some of his best punches of the night in the tenth round, including a few head snapping uppercuts.
Bute appeared to have hurt Jack in the eleventh round with a good combination in the middle of the ring and Jack looked like he was starting to fade. Bute went for the knockout in the final round to win the fight and he kept up the pressure on a visibly tired and worn down Jack, but he lacked the power to send Jack to the mat.
It was a close bout that many felt Jack felt had won, but the judges scored the bout 117-111 Jack, 114-114, and 114-114 for a majority draw.
Undercard Quick Results:
Moshea Aleem (4-0-1) fought Martez Jackson (2-0-2) to a draw in the junior middleweight division with scores of 38-38 on all three cards.
Keegan Grove (1-0) defeated Antoney Napunyi (10-16) by decision in the lightweight division with scores of 40-36 on all three scorecards.
Latondria Jones (3-0) wins by TKO at 0:18 in the first round over Kamika Slade (0-1) in the junior middleweight division.
Carlos Gongora (7-0) defeated Zacharia Kelley (5-13) by TKO at 1:50 of the second round in the light heavyweight division.
Sharif Bogere (28-1) defeated Samuel Amoako (17-10) by in the super lightweight division with scores of 100-90 on all three scorecards.
Chris Pearson (17-1) defeated Joshua Okine (22-6) in the middleweight division by decision with scores of 98-92 on all three scorecards.