BOXING DeGale warned not to 'go to war'

If James De Gale goes to war in his professional debut on Saturday week - he'll pay for it big time.

And the fighter sounding the warning should know - he was the last one to fight the bloke who will be in the opposite corner to the Olympic hero at the NIA in Birmingham.

Sam Horton fought and won his sixrounder against Vepkhia Tchilaia from Georgia last November at the Cafe Royal in Piccadilly. But Midlander Horton soon gave up his plan to try and stop the hard-man from Tbilisi.

Horton said: "He's one of those boxers that keeps on coming at you no matter how hard you hit him.

"At times, it felt like I was hitting a sledgehammer. I know I was hurting him, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference."

Horton reckons the former Dale Youth champion should stick to the silky ringcraft that saw him to Olympic gold in Beijing and just pile up the points of their scheduled four-rounder.

He said: "Picking Tchilaia off shouldn't present massive problems, and James is just the person to get in and out. If he stays in too long - he'll be sorry."

**ROBBIE SHIPLEY's opponent got SIX warnings from the ref for holding in their London semi-final of the National Boys Club bout on Sunday - but still survived to win the bout.

Raised eyebrows didn't just extend to the Dale Youth Club corner either when they learned the ref was from the other boy's club.

However, Stevie Newland for the North Kensington outfit, reckoned his lad's majority defeat was about right.

He said: "Every time Robbie came forward he got tied up. But even though the ref was from the Dagenham club where the other fighter, A McCarthy, comes from, we can't complain too much."

On a day of some 'strange' refereeing at York Hall in Bethnal Green, Newlands was glad to just to get last year's finalist, Paul Fanneran, home in the U66 kilo bout against Mark Osborne from Finchley.

Sixteen-year-old Fanneran dominated the fight, but still only got a majority decision to make it through to the final.

Connor Maclaren was likewise too good for Manny Essex from Danson Youth in south London.