JAMIE Cox has urged Olympic gold medalist James Degale to turn professional after warning the “dirty amateur sport” could ruin any London 2012 dreams.

The Swindon southpaw turned his back on Olympic glory when he signed professional with Frank Warren after winning gold in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and insists Degale now has to follow in his footsteps.

Degale, pictured, is expected to be inundated with offers from a number of the sports top promoters after a stunning series of wins to claim gold in China and Cox believes it is time for him to “name his price”.

“James was one of my closest friends when we were in the amateur game together,” he said. “I haven’t spoken to him yet because I expect everything is crazy for him, but I will text him when it all calms down.

“He has done more than Amir Khan did in the amateur sport. He beat the Cuban and that is massive because not many people beat the Cubans. It was a scrappy fight but the result is all that matters.

“He has to turn professional now. He can basically write his own cheque now. It is a great position to be in and he has to take advantage of it.”

Cox, who is preparing for his next bout in London on September 12, admits before Beijing 2008 he had started to fear he should have stayed amateur to realise his won Olympic dream – but after watching the last few weeks’ events he believes his decision was more than justified.

He said: “I didn’t know whether I had done the right thing because I want to box in everything all the time. Obviously I wanted to fight in the Olympics but I think Beijing has proved that nothing is guaranteed.

“Some of the judging in the Games was absolutely terrible and robbed some people of their dreams.

“I could have hung on until the Olympics got knocked out in the first round because of a bad decision and I would have been nowhere.

“It has eased my mind a bit because I am further up the ladder.”