James DeGale will undergo shoulder surgery which could rule him out until the end of the year



James DeGale still hopes to return to the ring before the end of 2017 
James DeGale has revealed he will undergo shoulder surgery which will push back the next defence of his IBF super-middleweight title.

The 31-year-old Londoner injured his right shoulder a few weeks before he battled to majority draw against Badou Jack in January, but is hopeful he will return to the ring before the end of the year after an operation on Wednesday.

DeGale had still been willing to take an all-British fight with Callum Smith at The O2 this summer, but the Liverpudlian instead switched his sights to a mandatory title bout with Anthony Dirrell for the vacant WBC super-middleweight belt.


 DeGale retained his IBF belt after a draw with Badou Jack despite the injury

"I was very close to fighting with Callum Smith this summer," DeGale told The Mirror: We had agreed to fight on July 1 at The O2, but in the end he decided to go down the WBC route and will challenge for the vacant world title later this year.

"I'm confident I would have won the fight, even with the injury, but it would have been his best chance of beating me.

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