Even in his worst nightmares, James DeGale could not have imagined his first fight on British soil in three years playing out like this. In front of a near sell-out crowd in east London, the 31-year-old was meant to retain his IBF super middleweight title with something to spare against the American Caleb Truax. Instead he ended the evening defeated via a majority points decision and ultimately dethroned and dejected, his face red from a beating. He has to contemplate where his career goes now.

Certainly talk of unifying the division can be shelved; that contest against the WBC champion, David Benavidez, next spring is a practical non-starter and the hope of then going on to face the WBA champion and bitter rival George Groves is a distant dream. DeGale has made no secret of his desire to get in a ring again with Groves after his points defeat to the 29-year-old in May 2011, but as he admitted himself he must first “go back to the drawing board” and figure out how he was undone here. Certainly Groves has no desire for a rematch judging by his tweet after the judges’ scores of 114-114, 115-112 and 116-112 in Truax’s favour had been announced. “Call it a day mate, you ain’t got no more,” he wrote, no doubt with a grin spread across his face.

DeGale looked severely out of sorts here, consistently pushed back by his more aggressive opponent, and when given the opportunity to attack he rarely threw a jab, let alone anything that was going to seriously hurt Truax. Ring rust may have been an issue given this was DeGale’s first bout since his draw with Badou Jack in Brooklyn 11 months ago. The long absence was largely down to the fact that the 2008 Olympic champion tore his right shoulder in the contest, an injury that required surgery and months of rehabilitation, and left DeGale “doubting myself”.

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Those doubts appeared to still be haunting him at this 2012 Olympic venue, as did the physical effects, given his lack of willingness to throw the right arm in particular. “Perhaps I rushed back too soon,” conceded DeGale, whose last domestic bout was the knockout win over the Mexican Marco Antonio Peribán at the Echo Arena, Liverpool, in November 2014.

Credit should be given to Truax. The man from Minnesota arrived on these shores with a 28-3-2 record, never having beaten anyone of note. But he was on the front foot from the outset, setting the pace and leaving DeGale with nowhere to go. The champion’s nose was cut open during an explosive fifth round, when his head was also rocked back by a straight right and sharp uppercut from the challenger.

Truax scented blood and continued to force DeGale back. He pinned the 31-year-old on to the ropes with his jab in the 10th and also landed on the bottom of his jaw with a close-range uppercut. DeGale did come back in the 11th, changing angles and connecting with an uppercut of his own, before exerting more pressure in the final round, but ultimately it was not enough. DeGale’s record now stands at 23-2-1, he is no longer a world champion and his future looks decidedly uncertain.

Earlier, the IBF world featherweight champion Lee Selby overcame the Mexican Eduardo Ramirez via a unanimous points decision to extend his record to 26-1 and put a positive end to what has been a miserable year for the Welshman.

Selby has had to endure the deaths of his mother and grandfather in 2017, as well as seeing his dream of fighting in Las Vegas ruined when Jonathan Victor Barros failed a blood test before their contest in January, although Selby did come out on top when they eventually met at Wembley Arena in the summer.

The build-up to this fight had also been difficult, with Ramirez going missing before Thursday’s press conference and then coming in eight pounds over the 126lb limit prior to Friday’s weigh-in, making him ineligible for Selby’s belt even with a win here.

If the 24-year-old’s pre-fight behaviour was unprofessional, in the ring he proved a serious test for Selby, relentlessly coming at the champion and pinning him on to the ropes in the 11th round with a barrage of punches. But Selby was always on top, outclassing Ramirez with his movement off the back foot and regularly stopping the man from Sinaloa, who was taking part in his first world title fight, with the cleaner, harder shots. That’s how the judges at ringside saw it, too, scoring the fight 118-110, 119-109, 116-112 in Selby’s favour.

Prior to Selby’s triumph, there were also impressive, knockout victories for two rising domestic talents, heavyweight Daniel Dubois (6-0) and light heavyweight Anthony Yarde (14-0).