James DeGale steps back into a boxing ring on Saturday night for the first time in more than seven years, and the 40 year old former world champion is not shy about where he wants this second act to lead. DeGale faces Marcus Portman at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton on the inaugural “Reign” card, a fight that marks his first genuine professional style boxing return since a unanimous decision loss to Chris Eubank Jr in February 2019.
From bare knuckle detour back to the ring
DeGale’s exit from boxing in 2019 was not the ending he wanted. Floored twice by Eubank Jr at The O2 for the vacant IBO super middleweight title, he retired soon after citing the toll the sport had taken on him, mind and body. That result has clearly stayed with him.
“I can’t go out how I went out against Eubank,” DeGale said of his decision to return. “I’ve stayed in shape, and after Floyd, I want to have one more in boxing.”
The reference to Floyd is not Floyd Mayweather. It is Matt Floyd, the opponent DeGale beat on points last September in his one previous comeback outing, a bare knuckle bout for Conor McGregor’s BKFC. That experiment did not stick, with DeGale’s team eventually deciding bare knuckle boxing was not the right path for him. Gloved boxing, evidently, still is.
Portman and a card built for new audiences
Saturday’s opponent, Marcus Portman, is himself a 45 year old former English welterweight champion from West Bromwich, so this is a veteran testing himself against another veteran rather than DeGale being fed a novice. The six round bout headlines the first “Reign” show, promoted by Andy Sahota’s ShowFighter and broadcast on TalkSport Boxing, with 14 bouts on the bill blending former professionals with social media and crossover fighters.
“James believes in what we’re trying to build,” Sahota said. “We want Reign to create opportunities, bring new audiences into boxing and, importantly, put something back into grassroots boxing.”
The undercard carries its own slice of British boxing history. Frankie Gavin, the first Englishman to win a world amateur title, faces 50 year old Steve Saville in a rematch of a fight the pair had back in 2009. As with DeGale’s bout, the Portman fight is expected to go ahead without British Boxing Board of Control sanction, reflecting how much of this landscape now sits outside the sport’s traditional regulatory structure.
Eyes on Paul, KSI and the crossover circuit
DeGale is candid that Saturday is not really about Portman. It is about what a win, or simply a good showing, could open up next. “My world title days are done but there are fights out there like Jake Paul, Darren Till, Ty Mitchell, KSI and Tommy Fury,” he said, naming the exact kind of crossover opposition that now dominates the sport’s biggest gates. “Boxing has changed since I left. There is Misfits, and the Saudis have come in.”
It is a frank assessment from a fighter who once operated at the very top of the traditional game. DeGale remains the first British boxer to win an Olympic gold medal and a professional world title, having taken middleweight gold at Beijing 2008 before winning the IBF super middleweight belt from Andre Dirrell in 2015. He successfully defended it against Lucian Bute before losing and then reclaiming the title in a rematch with Caleb Truax in 2018, finishing his career with a 25 win, 3 loss, 1 draw record that includes 15 knockouts.
What Saturday actually decides
None of DeGale’s old world title credentials will be on the line at the Civic Hall. What is at stake is simpler: whether a fighter who has not thrown a competitive punch in a boxing ring since 2019 still has enough left to make the names he is chasing take him seriously. A clean, comfortable win over Portman will not by itself land him Jake Paul or KSI, but it keeps the door open in a market that has shown repeatedly this year that recognisable names, more than rankings, are what sell tickets. DeGale vs Portman is scheduled for six rounds on Saturday, 26 September, live on TalkSport Boxing.
