Heading into the Super Six tournament last Fall, unbeaten American Andre Dirrell was the one fighter with probably the most question marks surrounding him. Despite sporting a 18-0 record with 13 knockouts the man nicknamed ?The Matrix? had yet to work his craft on a championship stage and it was thought that undoubtedly when the dust had settled from the round robin style tournament we were going to know a lot more about him.
In Dirrell?s Stage One matchup in the tournament he locked horns with awkward and resilient WBC Super Middleweight champion Carl Froch on his opponent?s native United Kingdom turf. The bout was sloppy throughout with neither man seeming to leave a resounding mark on the contest. Dirrell showed himself to be the superior talent in the ring but often seemed passive and ending up losing a controversial split-decision.
Heading into his Stage Two showdown with undefeated Arthur Abraham, Dirrell was looked at as a clear underdog. Abraham had starched American Jermain Taylor in his Stage One fight and as a result was deemed as the favorite to win it all due to his tight defense and punishing power. While some felt that Dirrell had the talent to carry the day the vast majority of people eyeing the fight weren?t confident enough to side with him.
But regardless of anyone?s assumptions or beliefs heading into the contest, Dirrell would break those notions by putting on a thoroughly convincing boxing lesson for the better part of ten-plus rounds. The bout was marred in the 11th round, however, as Abraham clocked Dirrell when he was on his knees, knocking the fighter out cold with an immediate disqualification coming seconds later. It may not have been the ending that the Flint, Michigan native was seeking but when looking back over the fight there is much that stands out about Dirrell?s performance and his future.
A newfound focus
The knock on Dirrell?s performance against Froch was the fact that he seemed to suffer from lapses of concentration during the contest. It was unknown as to whether he would be able to pull everything together against Abraham but from the early going it was obvious he had his mind in the right place.
Dirrell repeatedly beat his older foe to the punch, often switching from southpaw to conventional, and his advantage in speed was striking. Abraham is always a slow starter but after suffering a knockdown in the 4th round it was obvious that Armenian was in for a serious fight. Over the first six rounds the fight appeared to be solely in Dirrell?s favor and Abraham was beginning to get desperate.
In rounds nine and ten the German based fighter began to finally break through his American opponent, often tagging him along the ropes and scoring a knockdown that was instead ruled a slip by referee Laurence Cole. But just as things began picking up for Abraham he would let things slip away in the 11th. In this round Dirrell would slip along the ropes and fall to his knees, where he was greeted by a sweeping right hand from Abraham mere seconds later. Dirrell had a delayed reaction to the punch and sprawled on the floor, appearing to be unconscious. Since Dirrell was on his knees when the punch was thrown Abraham was immediately disqualified and Dirrell captured the victory, again shaking up the tournament.
While the ending was disappointing, with some even claiming that Dirrell was acting just to get out of the situation, it was obvious from taking in the first ten rounds that Dirrell had taken his game to a new level. His determination, focus, and willingness to lead were refreshing signs to see and he has gotten a wealth of experience in his past two encounters against Froch and Abraham.
On to the next one
Dirrell is slated next to fight good friend Andre Ward in Stage Three of the tournament. The WBA Super Middleweight champion has a June 19th showdown lined up with dangerous Allan Green and if he emerges victorious he will be tied for the lead in the Super Six, at worst. Ward was originally scheduled to face off with Green on April 17th, with the bout later being pushed back a week, and had to again change things up, citing a leg injury while in training.
A Dirrell-Ward matchup would be very intriguing. Both men possess outstanding talent, with Dirrell being a little bit faster while Ward has shown himself to be more assertive and commanding, as seen in his title-winning effort against Mikkel Kessler last November. Dirrell trained for his clash with Kessler at the IMMA gym in Las Vegas, Nevada and it was obvious he was in tremendous shape, as he will surely be for Ward. By the time the two men meet a lot will be riding on the result of their fight.
It?s unknown as to whether Dirrell can emerge as the winner of the tournament or what his future afterwards holds but for now he can take comfort in knowing he stepped his game up on a world class stage.
To see images of Andre Dirrell’s fights against Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch as well as other pictures from his career please click on the collage below…
