Olympic boxing champ bares all

Posing naked for a glossy women's magazine was tougher than winning an Olympic boxing gold medal, Britain's James DeGale said on Friday.
James DeGale
DeGale stands bare.


London-based middleweight DeGale, who turned pro in December after topping the podium in Beijing, bared all in a centrefold shoot for Cosmopolitan to raise awareness about testicular cancer.

"I was pretty nervous at first and it was definitely tougher than winning my gold medal at the Olympics--but it is a really great and worthwhile charity to be supporting so stripping off wasn't a problem," the 22-year-old said.

He said he hoped the extra exposure will sell a few more tickets for his professional debut in Birmingham on Feb. 28. "As a boxer, your support base tends to be male, but after appearing in Cosmo, fingers crossed, there will be plenty of young ladies at my fight as well!" he said.