It was another successful night tonight for Lee Selby but not James DeGale tonight in London, not by a long shot.
Welshman and general all-round boxing wizard Lee Selby showed just how technically gifted he is again tonight with a solid 12 round points decision win over Mexican Eduardo Ramirez.
The victory saw him defend his IBF featherweight world title.
A slick performance overall ensured he ran out a unanimous points decision winner over twelve rounds and improve his professional boxing record to 26-1-9KO.
Starting off in the fight Selby showed excellent footwork and use of the jab, but Mexican Ramirez pressed the pace when he could – intent on showing he was not just there for a payday.
As the bout progressed into the middle rounds however Selby showed his class.
His distance control and boxing at range made him an elusive target for the most part for Ramirez, who didn’t seem to have enough defensive ability about him to avoid Selby’s cleaner work on the outside.
Having said that, the Mexican showed just how tough he was down the stretch to make Selby stay on his guard and not to take his eye off the ball – which he didn’t though and won a deserving unanimous decision in the end.
In the main event of tonight’s action at the Copper Box in London James DeGale also recorded a points decision to defend his IBF super-middleweight world title against Caleb Truax, but was made to work for it.
Starting off the bout DeGale got away from his usual southpaw stance and turned orthodox, perhaps taking his American opponent off guard.
This didn’t set the tone for what was to come though, as Truax pushed the pace in the early to mid rounds to bloody the mouth of DeGale who looked like he was shaking off some ring rust, in a close and competitive bout.
As the mid rounds progressed it was a classic boxer vs hunter fight, with DeGale on the back foot using his boxing skills and Truax looking to hunt him down.
As the fight came down the stretch Truax looked like he was starting to tire a bit, with the champion DeGale landing some good counters on him.
Truax didn’t give up though and rallied very well in the final rounds, enough so to get the decision in many fans’ eyes on the night.
Indeed, that’s what happened in the end:
Official scores:
114-114 | 115-112 | 116-112
Caleb Truax MD12 James DeGale
CT the new IBF super middleweight title holder. #DeGaleTruax— Undisputed Champion Network (@UCNlive) December 9, 2017