Degale goes pro

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DeGale, who won gold at middleweight in Beijing, has signed with promoter Frank Warren, along with Olympic team-mates Billy Joe Saunders and Frankie Gavin. The 22-year-old Londoner claims the ABA owe him money and have failed to deliver on their promises.

"They owe me a very, very big bonus, but they've tried to tell me that because I'm turning pro I'm not going to get it," DeGale said.

He added: "They are a bunch of jokers. They promise you this and that and they don't give nothing.

"They are a joke and they need to be shown in their true colours. They go on like they give us everything but they don't give us nothing.

The Amateur Boxing Association of England strongly refuted the claims made by Degale, which echoed those of bronze medallist Tony Jeffries when he became the first Beijing Olympian to turn professional on Saturday.

ABAE chief executive Paul King told PA Sport: "The medal bonuses were withdrawn in December 2007 and that was based on the premise that the ABA only now receives funding for the grass-roots elements of the sport.

"All of the elite programme is funded by the government through UK Sport. We have nothing to do with that programme as such. Our remit is to grow the sport as the ABA of England.

"The medal bonuses were something the ABA made available out of the goodness of their heart prior to the Melbourne Commonwealth Games to try to stimulate the England team at that time.

"Then it went to a GB programme, as did the funds to pay any medal bonuses to the elite athletes. It is wrong that the ABA is having to bear the brunt of all this right now."