{"id":703830,"date":"2026-07-21T18:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T18:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/703830\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T18:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T18:46:13","slug":"james-degale-40-set-for-boxing-comeback-seven-years-after-retiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/703830\/","title":{"rendered":"James DeGale, 40, set for boxing comeback seven years after retiring"},"content":{"rendered":"

James DeGale will don the gloves once again on September 26.<\/p>\n

The two-time IBF super middleweight champion is set to square off against former English welterweight titlist Marcus Portman in Wolverhampton, seven years after calling time on his career.<\/p>\n

\"DeGale<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

DeGale returns to boxing seven years after hanging up his glovesCredit: Instagram – ShowFighter UK<\/p>\n

DeGale, 40, hung up his gloves in the aftermath of a punishing unanimous decision defeat to fierce rival Chris Eubank<\/a> Jr in February 2019.<\/p>\n

At the time, DeGale declared that he had ‘nothing left to prove<\/a>‘ following a glittering career that saw him become the first British boxer to win both an Olympic gold medal and a professional world title.<\/p>\n

However, with the ghost of his loss to Eubank Jr still haunting him, DeGale returned to the ring for a bare-knuckle boxing bout last September in the hopes of rewriting the final chapter of his career.<\/p>\n

DeGale picked up a unanimous decision victory over Australia’s Matt Floyd in a bad-tempered BKFC bout<\/a> that saw four points deducted for foul play. <\/p>\n

READ MORE ON BOXING <\/p>\n

Before that contest, DeGale told talkSPORT.com that he also intended to box again.<\/p>\n

The writing was already on the wall<\/p>\n

“I can’t go out how I went out against Eubank,” said DeGale.<\/p>\n

“I’ve stayed in shape, and after Floyd, I want to have one more in boxing.<\/p>\n

“Boxing has changed since I left. There is Misfits, and the Saudis have come in.<\/p>\n

“My world title days are done, but there are fights out there like\u00a0Jake Paul<\/a>,\u00a0Darren Till<\/a>, Ty Mitchell,\u00a0KSI<\/a>, and\u00a0Tommy Fury<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Thankfully, DeGale hasn’t fallen into the same trap as Mike Tyson<\/a> or Chris Byrd by being lured back into the ring by a significantly younger opponent.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DeGale<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

DeGale returned to the ring last September to beat Matt Floyd in a BKFC boutCredit: BKFC<\/p>\n

While DeGale’s dance partner Portman remains active on the unlicensed boxing circuit, he is five years ‘Chunky’s’ senior. <\/p>\n

As of right now, it appears that the fight will not be professionally sanctioned.<\/p>\n

The event is being staged by Andy Sahota of ShowFighter UK, who doesn’t hold a promotional license with the British Boxing Board of Control.<\/p>\n

DeGale and Portman will lock horns at the 3,000-capacity University of Wolverhampton Halls.<\/p>\n

The weight they intend to compete at and the duration of the contest are yet to be announced.<\/p>\n

Watch Boxing on DAZN<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

*If you click a link in this boxout, we will earn affiliate revenue<\/p>\n

Sign up to DAZN<\/a> to access the definitive subscription for boxing fans.<\/p>\n

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Click here to sign up<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James DeGale will don the gloves once again on September 26. The two-time IBF super middleweight champion is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,6102,35978,15283,56186,15923,233541,15920,207997,5468,101,56,54,55,70252,11555,15921,904],"class_list":["post-703830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-news","tag-comeback","tag-date","tag-james-degale","tag-location","tag-marcus-portman","tag-next-fight","tag-opponent","tag-return","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-venue","tag-when","tag-where","tag-who"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}