DeGale certain of silver after storming win

BRITISH middleweight James DeGale turned the form book on its head as he ended a losing streak against Irishman Darren Sutherland in his bronze medal showdown at the Beijing Olympics.

The 22-year-old Londoner, who had lost four of his previous five fights against Sutherland, is now guaranteed at least a silver medal after his 10-3 win.

DeGale has gone from strength to strength in Beijing after seeing off pre-Games gold medal favourite Bakhtiyar Artayev from Kazakhstan in the previous round.

"The dream is coming true – like I said this is fantastic," said DeGale.

"The pressure was on me but 11,000 people crammed in to see me fight – this is me, this is my time.

"Darren Sutherland is so strong – his strength is so horrible – but I did what I needed to and now I'm in the Olympic final."

Sutherland, who hails from Dublin, admitted his defeat against DeGale would be his last amateur bout, and accused the Londoner of "dancing" his way to victory.

"I may have lost but I've stayed true to my values," said the 26-year-old.

"I'm not going to criticise him but he's a runner and I'm a fighter.

"Good luck to him but that's not what I'm about."