Who is Andre Dirrell?

By Mark Wright: On the 17th of October the inaugural bout of the ground breaking super six tournament will get under way. When the possibility of a series was announced I was in awe of the possibilities who would be involved Froch, Kessler, Pavlik possibly? Andrade, Bute and Taylor would surely be in the mix.

The final line up was eventually announced Kessler, Froch and their titles were certain inclusions. Abraham moving up in weight was an intriguing and exciting choice, Taylor was also a worthy inclusion with his athletic pedigree. Then the two Olympians were announced Andre Ward, a gold medallist in the 2004 Olympics, and Andre Dirrell a bronze medallist.

Both exciting unbeaten prospects, both American, both largely unproven. So we had to champions, two former middleweight champions (one undisputed) and two Olympians. Now it is with the latter of these Olympians that I have certain reservations about.

I understand the need for American interest in the tournament and the need for a range of different fighters to provide interesting and diverse fights. With it being an American broadcaster, in terms of politics I understand the need for there to be at least half American fighters to generate interest within the US. With that in mind I welcome the inclusion of an unbeaten prospect with potential who is ready to step up a level in terms of opposition. Andre Ward has shown a steadied level of progression over his career and though unproven, his step up in class can be seen as the next level in a progressive improvement in the opposition he has been facing and it could be legitimately argued that his is ready for a title shot.

Andre Dirrell is the supreme athlete a chiselled physique, lightning quick hands and the amateur pedigree to show for it all. His pro career however as of yet has not quite lived up to its full potential. It has been five years since Dirrell has turned pro and on paper his record is solid 18 wins no losses 13 ko’s. Look a little closer however at this impressive record and you begin to see that Dirrell is yet to achieve anything of note in his pro career. To put his eighteen fights into perspective he fought in the same Olympics as Amir Khan the now WBA light welterweight champion he has had five less fights and turned pro half a year earlier than Khan. In his eighteen fights as pro he has failed to challenge a former title challenger never mind fight a former title holder. His best opponent so far is probably Hanshaw who recently dropped a 12 round decision to RJJ. Joe Calzaghe embarrassed RJJ in his last outing and it will take skill equal to Calzaghe to win the super six.

On the 17th he is going to step into the ring with Carl Froch, a man who is the WBC title holder who has just come of the back of two very hard fought and well deserved wins against top class opposition in Jermaine Taylor and Jean Pascal who is now a light heavyweight title holder. Carl Froch is a man in the prime of his career a hardened professional and Dirrell an unproven prospect is going to Carl Froch’s backyard in Nottingham with nine thousand Froch fans baying for his blood. This does not mean to say I think that this will be an easy night for Froch I expect Dirrell to display flashy boxing skills and probably out box Froch. However just look at footage of Dirrell v Oganov and see how easy it is for Oganov to walk Dirrell down and how close he lets Oganov get. If Froch gets that close on the 17th and lets his bombs go it will be lights out for Dirrell.

I like Dirrell yes he’s shooting off his mouth that’s what young flashy talented American boxers do. I think he has the qualities to go a long way, just not right now. I fear that a bad loss to Froch would ruin a possible glittering future career for him. It is up for Dirrell to prove me wrong, if he does I will hold my hands up but until then I have to ask: Who is Andre Dirrell?

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