DeGale: “Jack agreed to fight only after my 'rubbish' performance”

James DeGale believes Badou Jack agreed to fight him only after watching his last "rubbish" performance. The super-middleweight rivals boxed on the same card in Washington in April, with James DeGale taken the distance by mandatory challenger Rogelio 'Porky' Medina. Jack, who held on to his title against Lucian Bute on the same bill, beat Medina in six rounds in December 2013 and will finally put his WBC title up against DeGale's IBF strap in a huge unification fight next weekend.

"If I'm being honest the only reason why this fight hasn't happened quicker is because Badou Jack didn't want it," DeGale said. "After the Bute fight he probably didn't want it. And then after the Medina fight he did, because I boxed rubbish, because Medina went full rounds on me. Badou Jack has got a lot of confidence, Leonard's got a lot of confidence. Mayweather's got a lot of confidence of seeing me go 12 rounds and it was lacklustre performance against Medina."