James DeGale has shared the ring with some of the best super middleweights of his generation, but none of them hit harder than Piotr Wilczewski.Four years before DeGale broke out onto the world stage by defeating Andre Dirrell for the IBF 168lbs title, ‘Chunky’ met Poland’s Wilczewski in October 2011 for the European strap.GettyWilczewski pushed DeGale all the way to the final bell[/caption]It was DeGale’s first outing since dropping his British title to George Groves earlier in the year, and he was made to dig deep.Wilczewski pushed the pace throughout the fight and rocked DeGale badly with a clubbing right hand in the fifth stanza.DeGale showed bags of character to rally in the second half of the fight, while his early investment to the body paid off in the championship rounds as Wilczewski’s output lowered considerably.Breathing heavily, the tough Pole managed to stun DeGale a couple more times before the final bell, but the Brit’s higher work rate and superior speed won him the fight by a narrow margin.In the end, one judge had it 114-114 even, while the other two edged the fight to DeGale by 115-113 to hand him the majority decision victory.14 years on from their encounter, DeGale paid his former foe the ultimate compliment during a recent interview with talkSPORT.com.“I got hit hard by a lot of people, but the hardest was in my European title fight with Piotr Wilczewski,” said DeGale.“People probably forget that fight because it wasn’t one of my big ones, but it was a good learning fight.“I was hit on the top of the head and wobbled, and I had to work hard to win it.“Badou Jack obviously stood out as well because he dropped me, but that Polish guy hit really hard.”DeGale retired after losing to Eubank Jr in 2019Getty Images - Getty What did James DeGale and Piotr Wilczewski go on to achieve?After having his European title snatched from him by DeGale, Wilczewski went on to lose a lopsided unanimous decision to Arthur Abraham in 2012.He fought twice more over a six-year stretch before eventually hanging up his gloves in 2018 with a 32-3 record, 10 of those wins coming inside the distance (28 per cent KO ratio).By contrast, DeGale would become the first British Olympic gold medallist to win a world title in boxing when he overcame Dirrell for the IBF’s version of the super middleweight crown.Back-to-back defences over Lucian Bute and Rogelio Medina followed before he landed a unification clash with WBC champion Badou Jack.DeGale was leading on the scorecards heading into the 12th and final round, but he was dropped with less than two minutes left on the clock to concede a majority draw.He was subsequently dethroned by Caleb Truax in his next outing before regaining his IBF belt in a rematch.GettyDeGale also lost to Groves but went on to win the IBF super middleweight title twice[/caption]DeGale would eventually close out his career in February 2019 by losing to Chris Eubank Jr on points in a domestic dust-up.However, he has since announced a shock return to the ring to fight bare-knuckle.James DeGale is backDeGale faces 15-2 pro boxer Matt Floyd on Saturday night at the Manchester Arena under the BKFC promotional banner.The 39-year-old admits his best days are now behind him, although he is hoping to land one last payday in the crossover boxing sphere before hanging up his gloves for good.“I can’t go out how I went out against Eubank,” added DeGale. “I’ve stayed in shape, and after Floyd, I want to have one more in boxing.“Boxing has changed since I left. There is Misfits, and the Saudis have come in. “My world title days are done, but there are fights out there like Jake Paul, Darren Till, Ty Mitchell, KSI, and Tommy Fury.”The talkSPORT Boxing YouTube channel broadcasts live bare-knuckle boxing action courtesy of leading European promotion BKB. Follow this link to watch a replay of the last event.