James DeGale, 40, is planning a comeback of sorts more than seven years after he looked a shell of himself while losing to Chris Eubank Jnr.
The former two-time IBF super middleweight champion, 25-3-1 (15 KOs), is scheduled to take on 45-year-old Marcus Portman on September 26 in Wolverhampton, England.
Portman, 20-8-2 (3 KOs), hasn’t fought professionally since losing in three rounds to Jamie Cox in 2011. The former English welterweight champion – a title won in 2004 – has been active on the unlicensed circuit but his bout with DeGale is unlikely to be a British Boxing Board of Control-sanctioned fight.
The event is being staged by Andy Sahota of ShowFighter UK, who doesn’t hold a promotional licence with the Board.
DeGale – beaten widely over 12 rounds by Eubank in 2019 – was last seen in combat last September when he fought a bare-knuckle draw with Matt Floyd.
DeGale has told TalkSport that he is not coming back to reclaim world titles.
“I can’t go out how I went out against Eubank,” he explained.
“I’ve stayed in shape, and after Floyd, I want to have one more in boxing.
“Boxing has changed since I left. There is Misfits, and the Saudis have come in.
“My world title days are done but there are fights out there like Jake Paul, Darren Till, Ty Mitchell, KSI and Tommy Fury.”