The British super-middleweight division is thriving with talent, money and big fights -- but James DeGale is itching to get out.
The current IBF champion takes on relatively unknown Caleb Truax (28-3, 18KOs) in a keep-busy fight on Saturday Dec. 9. But for DeGale -- having turned professional in early 2009 -- the weigh-ins, the training camps and the media duties are all just routine.
And it seems as though, by professional fight No.26, the London-born fighter may have had enough.
"Can you do a quick interview with ESPN please, James?" I asked him, after the pre-fight press conference on Dec. 7 (which is standard procedure for all fighters and media personnel).
"No, what's it for?" he replied, waving his arms. "Go and chat to the other prospects instead, I don't want to, I'm done with it." And then he then left.
That's about as far as ESPN's 'guaranteed' interview with DeGale went.
The chance to get some British publicity and increased exposure after boxing solely in America since 2014, seemed -- to most -- a golden opportunity.
Yet 30 minutes before the press conference began, DeGale was walking about the room, appearing agitated -- though this may also have something to do with the delayed start due to Eduardo Ramirez, Lee Selby's opponent, who had 'gone missing'.
Before Frank Warren eventually got the press conference underway, I was sat behind Jim McDonnell -- DeGale's trainer -- who had his two sons alongside him, Jim and Tom.
"Why don't you get all your one-on-one interviews done now?" One asked the London boxer. "I'm not doing them," DeGale replied, and walked off. No one with a McDonnell surname batted an eye lid, and given his usually-outgoing personality, no one genuinely thought he was being serious. He was.
It's been an exceptionally fruitful year for DeGale's natural weight division with the creation of the World Boxing Super Series and if it wasn't for the damage he suffered during his draw with Badou Jack in January, he could well have been involved. But a savage shoulder injury left him "in bits" after the fight and forced him to watch the lucrative WBSS -- with George Groves, Chris Eubank Jr. and Callum Smith -- take place without him.
His absence from the eight-man series has meant an even more diluted profile --11 months is a long time to be absent in this sport. He has some rebuilding to do and the media is a platform to do it on.
"I want Groves to win the Super Series for the rematch, it's massive," DeGale announced to the full press conference.
"Even if it isn't those three next [Groves, Eubank or Smith], worldwide there are some fantastic fights out there. There's [David] Benavidez and [Gilberto] Ramirez and those fights can be made. I only want the big fights."
Why do fighters want big fights? For big cheques. With his three British rivals tied up until roughly May next year in the tournament, DeGale is in an awkward situation. He can't waste anymore time, so unifying against Benavidez and Ramirez are his only options if he wants the big money. But he'd much prefer a British opponent.
After a frustrating year, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist could feasibly -- and understandably -- be seeking his escape route from boxing.
He lost teeth and perforated his ear drum against Jack as well as aggravating his long-standing shoulder issue, and at 31 years old, with a professional career almost a decade old, he is easily forgiven if his aim is to cash out now from this brutal sport.
DeGale's latest demeanour suggests he's simply not here to wait around in boxing anymore. He's here to win, make money and get out.