The bloke that spotted the crisp-munching James DeGale knew he was onto a good thing as soon as the 10-year-old boy, who quickly got labelled 'Chunky', stepped into a ring.

"His movement and awareness was there right from the start - even then," remembers coach Mick Delaney. "He was a little fat roly-poly kid. But you would show him something - and he got it straight away.Other kids struggled, but James on the floor, working with the pads, or in the ring was a natural."

But there will be no jumping on James DeGale's bandwagon at the club that made the middleweight Olympic champion famous.

There's just not enough room down at Dale Youth's gym in the shadow of the Grenfell Tower on Lancaster West Estate to accommodate the instant wannabes, despite the club's phone ringing non-stop during the last week.

However, DeGale's current coach, Steve Newland, hinted promising newcomers should give the club a call. He said: "Kids are going to want to come back, but those that called it a day, have done just that as far as I'm concerned. But we have a beginners class, and there might be room in that."

Senior Coach Mick Delaney warned his secretary Ernie Harris to go steady on the welcoming noises to those who see themselves as the next DeGale (pictured here on the right at 15 with John O'Donnell and Simon O'Donnell)

The coach said: "The amount of phone calls Ernie's taken has been unbelievable. I told him: 'behave yourself, Ernie. I'm not getting any younger - and the gym's not getting any bigger.'"

Meanwhile the Dale Youth boxer has been texted a number of  times about his launch into the professional ranks by a well-known star.

Those closest to DeGale reckon he is '99 per cent' certain to cash in on his fame, not least because he will go from a reported £1,500-a-month sport lottery grant to a 10-fight minimum earning him close to a £1million.

His Dale coach Steve Newland admitted the promised land of the pro gamemight be too hard to turn down. He said: "In boxing you never know what's around the next corner. Nevermind all those you have to skirt over a four-year period to the next Olympics."