James De Galeposter _lx

James DeGale retained his European super-middleweight title in Kent on Saturday night but didn't have it all his own way against tough Frenchman Hadillah Mohoumadi.

In his first fight on Channel 5 'Chunky', a 2008 Olympic gold medallist, had to dig deep before being rewarded with judges scores of 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112.

"I knew this guy was going to be durable but I didn't know it was going to be that tough," the 26-year-old told The Sun.

"He hung in there so I am so pleased I put in all the work in training. The future is bright." 

He is now hoping to square off with former world middleweight ruler Kelly Pavlik before the end of the year.

15/10/2012 13:35:34