Horton out to stun DeGale... Plus DeGale Interview

[Faulks]

STOURBRIDGE fighter Sam Horton says he is ready to rock the boxing world this Saturday night by beating Olympic champion James DeGale.

 

The pair meet at West Ham United’s Upton Park ground for the WBA international super-middleweight title with the Londoner the overwhelming bookies’ favourite.

 

But 24-year-old Horton believes he has the skills and the game plan to beat DeGale, who himself has confidently predicted an early stoppage.

 

Horton said: “It’s a massive opportunity for me, it’s one that I have got to grasp with both hands.

 

“I’ve got to stop him boxing to his game plan.

 

“His speciality is his finishing, he likes to get people in the corner and force a stoppage.

 

“I’ve got to get on top of him from the off and not let him control the fight.

 

“He keeps saying he is going to take me out in four rounds.

 

“I’m thinking that if I can take him past four rounds, what’s he going to be thinking then?”

 

Horton has lost only one of his 16 professional bouts but has struggled in his last two visits to the ring, which included a brutal second round knockout by Cello Renda last September and a scrappy win over journeyman Jamie Ambler in January.

 

But he says the prospect of facing DeGale has re-ignited his desire, a fact demonstrated by his decision to take five weeks off from his job as a bus driver to train for the fight.

 

He said: “I had let things slip, I wasn’t putting in the work I needed to.

 

“With the Ambler fight I arrived at the venue six pounds over the weight limit and had to skip it off.

 

“I needed this to get back my motivation and in the right frame of mind.

 

“When I wake up in the mornings the first thing I do is go out and run, I’m doing five hours in the gym a day and I’m feeling as fit as I have ever been.”

 

Horton expects to take around 70 supporters to east London though few others in the crowd will give him a chance of victory.

 

But if he does pull off the unexpected, Horton knows the chance to make a career out of the sport he loves will be within his grasp.

 

He explains: “There are only a handful of boxers in the world who can focus entirely on the sport, only a few who can make a living solely out of it.

 

“When I tell people I am a professional boxer they ask why I drive a bus too - but that’s the reality of life for most of us.

 

“This is my moment. The chance to fight someone highly rated around Britain and around the globe.

 

“The opportunity to box him is unbelievable. To beat him will be out of this world.”

 

http://www.stourbridgenews.co.uk/sport/local/8163048.Glory_in_his_sight___Horton_out_to_stun_DeGale/?ref=rss

[Faulks]

As this is from his local rag i wouldnt expect anything else.

 

Sorry you wont, DeGale love him or loath him is highly talented and im expecting to blow this gut out the ring.

 

For the record im not a massive Fan of the man Degale just putting things into perspective

[Faulks]

James DeGale insists that he will be British super-middleweight champion by the end of the year.

 

Unbeaten DeGale challenges for his first title on Saturday night, the WBA International super-middleweight crown against Sam Horton.

 

But his thoughts are already turning to the Lonsdale belt.

 

"Domestically, I am the best out there," said DeGale. "Obviously Carl Froch is doing his thing at world level, but I'm the best operating at British level.

 

"Minimum, I want the British title by the end of the year. This WBA belt is a great stepping stone, but I want more titles by the end of 2010.

 

"There is a great little scene going at the moment at 12 stone with the likes of Paul Smith, Kenny Anderson and that ugly ginger kid George Groves, and I'd like to fight them all.

 

"Whoever Frank Warren tells me to fight next, I will fight."

 

DeGale, who won Olympic gold in China in 2008, is confident of victory at West Ham's Upton Park.

 

"I've got plenty of respect for Sam Horton, and he's got a great record on paper," said DeGale. "But to be honest, I can't see this fight going beyond four rounds. I'll just be too strong and too fast for him."

 

Meanwhile DeGale's Olympic team-mates, Frankie Gavin and Billy Joe Saunders, are both in a dilemma over which weight to fight at.

 

Gavin says he can compete at light-welterweight and welterweight, while Saunders is more comfortable at middleweight but could make the division below.

 

"The boys have got some choices to make when they start fighting for titles, which is going to be very soon," said Warren.

[Wheelchair]

DeGale wants more titles does he? He's got one, the title of most odious git since Amir Khan! mlol/

[iamasadlittleboy]

I hope Horton lands "that one punch" but i doubt it v_v