James DeGale made boxing history on this day seven years ago as he became the first British Olympic gold medallist to win a professional world title.
The Londoner achieved the feat as he secured a unanimous points victory over American Andre Dirrell in Boston to claim the vacant IBF super-middleweight belt.
The then 29-year-old’s victory capped a rise through the professional ranks which began after he won middleweight gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
It was a gruelling 12-round contest which sparked into life in the second when DeGale was cut but recovered to knock his opponent down twice.
Despite struggling to make the count following one of those knockdowns, Dirrell responded well and controlled the bout in the middle rounds.
It took a strong showing from DeGale in the closing stages to sway the judges in his favour. One scorecard did show victory by a wide margin but the other two were close. The final scores were 117-109, 114-112 and 114-112.
“I’ve finally done it,” DeGale said afterwards. “It’s an unbelievable feeling, I’m world champ. I made history!”
DeGale went on to defend his title with victories over Lucian Bute and Rogelio Medina before a unification attempt against WBC champion Badou Jack ended in a draw.
He lost his IBF crown to American Caleb Truax at the Copper Box Arena in 2017 but regained it in a Las Vegas rematch the following year.
He successfully defended against Fidel Munoz but then announced his retirement after losing on points to Chris Eubank Jr in February 2019. He had won 25 fights with three defeats and one draw.
