James DeGale suffers perforated eardrum, loses teeth against Jack

DeGale is hoping for a rematch, but will move on if he doesn’t get one.

James DeGale left last night’s battle with Badou Jack still holding the IBF super middleweight title thanks to a debated draw, but also left it without some teeth and with a perforated eardrum, according to Sky Sports.

DeGale (23-1-1, 14 KO) isn’t expected to miss any significant time with the injuries, and is happy that he’s still got hold of his belt.

The 30-year-old fighter is hoping for a rematch with Jack (20-1-3, 12 KO), but Jack and promoter Floyd Mayweather are seemingly putting the kibosh on that right now, with Jack, 33, looking to move up to light heavyweight, which to be fair may be an entirely legitimate move if he’s having trouble making 168 anymore.

If DeGale doesn’t get a rematch with Jack, he says he’ll simply move forward with his career. The current No. 1 ranked contender by the IBF is Jose Uzcategui, an opponent DeGale was supposed to face last year before an injury prevented Uzcategui from taking the bout, leading to Rogelio Medina getting the shot instead.

Other top rated IBF contenders include Andre Dirrell, Callum Smith, Jesse Hart, Zac Dunn, Medina, J’Leon Love, George Groves, and Avni Yildirim.