Froch inflicts first defeat on Dirrell in uninspiring contest – Boxing Results
October 18th, 2009
By Matt Flanagan: Carl Froch successfully defended his WBC title against Andre Dirrell tonight in their opening fight of the Super 6 tournament. After reading all the repetitive articles on this site, that clearly lacked any objectivity, I was hoping that Froch would knock out Dirrell just to shut him, and a few other people up. This did not happen and in truth was not a pretty fight, but Froch took the fight by way of a split decision.
Dirrell’s style did not suit Froch who was not at his best, whereas Dirrell probably did the best he could. His hit and run style countered Froch’s stand and trade style, leading Froch to admit after the fight that it was not a very satisfying victory “Andre Dirrell is very fast, very skilful, very slick; if you couple that together with negativity, which is what he brought tonight, you’re going to get a bit of a dud fight.”
Froch said after the fight “A win’s a win, he can’t expect to come to Nottingham and beat me by running and holding and complaining.” While getting involved in a trading session with Froch would have been risky, I think that Dirrell’s negativity ultimately cost him. Firstly Dirrell was constantly running away from Froch, secondly numerous times he threw himself on the floor just as he was coming under attack. Thirdly was his constant spoiling – holding Froch all the time, which led to a point deduction. Lastly was his non-stop complaining during the fight – did anyone point out that it was a fight, not a tea party? Dirrell carried on his complaining outside the ring, saying that the point deduction was unfair and that he had no warnings. That is simply not true, the referee warned him several times about his holding and general complaining.
Dirrell’s reputation will have been enhanced despite the defeat, and it is clear that he is a talented fighter. He had never fought 12 rounds prior to this evening and answered a lot of questions that had previously been asked. That said, I still think Dirrell will struggle to make an impact in this tournament and do think he is overhyped and overrated. I say this despite the above praise because he probably fought the best fight he could tonight, but still came up short, when many pundits were predicting an easy nights work.
To succeed in fighting the best fighters in the division, Dirrell needs the ambition and bravery to match his talent. Maybe the decision would have been different tonight if he had approached the fight differently and been more positive. His next fight against Arthur Abraham could be a similar fight to this one with Dirrell trying his best to avoid the more powerful Abraham.
Froch, who arguably has the hardest draw of any of the fighters in this tournament (in that he is facing the 2 pre tournament favourites in the 1st round) now faces the prospect of a unification bout against Dane Mikkel Kessler, assuming Kessler beats Andre Ward next month. This fight will surely be more up his street in terms of styles because Kessler will not be afraid to slug it out with Froch and should make for an intriguing contest.
I can’t wait for the 3rd fight in the opening round, so far it is Europe 2-0 USA, can Kessler make it a hat-trick of wins for the untalented, over protected Europeans?!
Tags: 30 Responses to “Froch inflicts first defeat on Dirrell in uninspiring contest – Boxing Results”
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FAO ROOTS
Say what you want about Brits – at least were not deluded enough to have a ‘world series’ in a sport that only 2 countries play!!
BRITS WOULD TAKE CREDIT FOR ANY VICTORY IN SPORT,DON`T MATTER HOW TAINTED IT IS.REMEMBER THE LAST LIONS TOUR IN SOUTH AFRICA,THEY GOT MURDERED,S.A. FIELDED RESERVED TEAM IN THE LAST MATCH,THE LIONS WON,AND THE BRITS GOT ON LIKE THEY WON THE WHOLE TOURNAMENT.THEY DID THE SAME IN THE 7 ONE-DAYS IN CRICKET.YOU LOT EVEN HAVE AN EXCUSE FOR YOUR BUM FIGHTER GETTING KNOCKED OUT TWICE.DIRRELL MAY HAVE BEEN A RUNNER OR A COWARD,BUT HE HIT FROCH 2 TIMES MORE THAN FROCH HIT HIM,IN EVERY ROUND.HE WAS ROBBED.
Matt — fair enough, I took it the wrong way. My bad.
Stan when Derrill gets knocked out by Abraham that will a robbery also? Derrill came to run, cry, and hold!!! Froch looked awful missing several wild shots and using as many dirty tactics as Dirrell. And yet all Dirrell could do is cry because he definetly did not come to fight!!!
This is Kafka!!!!!!!!
Now, I’m blacklisted?
i was at the fight i can definetely say that froch deserved to win although it was a close fight… there was one occasion when froch was hurt but thats its.. you cant run for 12 rnds and expect to take the title from the champ! i dont blame dirrell for runnin though if he had traded shots all night he wud have got knocked out..
I’m a Brit and no question it was a close one and if i was scoring it Dirrell might just have nicked it. However, no pro fighter should expect to fight away from home, nick a close decision and take the title back home. It doesn’t work that way and everyone knows it – we don’t expect any favours for our fighters when they go across the pond. If Dirrell was that much better than Froch he should’ve forced the pace and left no doubt, which he didn’t do. He lacks confidence in the ring and power and he isn’t a world champion yet. Abraham would tear him to bits. Unlucky USA but you don’t take titles home unless you leave no doubt and that works both ways.
Stan – It was a boxing match my friend…not a race war! where did the black white thing come from? And as I said, no challenger can come to a champions backyard to spoil, fight negatively and expect to pick up a points decision….anywhere! They have to show a hunger and want it! Dirrell showed everyone some blinding skills….but no hunger to win, he was very negative and simply did not want to be in a fight. The constant clinching and complaining would have displayed a negative perception of him to the judges. Froch nicked it…just, based on pure aggression, he kept coming and tried to make a fight of it, Dirrell back peddled all night and occasionally threw the odd impressive flurry. That’s not enough to take a belt in any champs backyard. Anywhere..period.
Stan where the hell did you manage to sift through the aftermath of this fight and find a White vs Black undertone?
Froch won cuz he was more aggresive, didnt get up the refs back with constant holding, moaning and running.
Froch was using allsorts of rough house tactics but a refferee would rather see a fight get dirty like Froch tried than into some sort of sprint hugging that Dirrell chose to use.
On top of that he was the home fighter and tho by no means on purpose home fighters get the little decisions that mount up to make the big ones.
It’s obvious to me, you Froch supporters are interested in another sport. It’s called MMA! Froch was illegal tactics in that match. I counted 18 violations myself, and that referee needs to have his stripes taken. This was robbery, and if you can’t see it, this has set boxing back 10 years (Don King’s fixed fights). Also, Froch’s blatantly admitted to all of the dirty tactics he employed during the fight. Dirrell was robbed, and we can’t expect people to take this sport serious when fights are stolen. Froch’s smug demeanor screams of race superiority by default, but He got his A** Kicked in that ring by a Black guy! If this is what boxing has turned into, I don’t wanna be a fan. If this is what whites must do to show their superiority, I DON’T WANNA BE WHITE, EITHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dirrell won the crybaby and I don’t want to fight so I will run award!!!
I’m a Froch fan, but I can understand the anger coming from some of the Dirrell fans out there. However they need to be a little honest with themselves. As a challenger you cannot come to a champions back yard, put in such a negative display and expect to win a points decision, it just does not happen. Last night Dirrell showed that he has good skills, is quick and agile but clearly did not want to be in a fight. I gave it to Froch by one or two rounds (at most), purely because he showed signs of aggression and I think that’s how the judges scored it, as Froch was the aggressor for most of the fight. I will admit his performance was poor and needs to improve if he is going to progress in the tournament, however styles make fights and I think the likes of Kessler and Abraham will more suit Froch, Froch thrives on a war, Kessler and Abraham will bring this. I see these coming fights to be the complete opposite to last nights poor affair.
The last line was not an anti-american comment. It was a sarcastic comment aimed at some of the anti-european writers on this site – hence the exclamation mark (!).
thats more like an article much more accurate. I dont like to see the anti american comments however they have no place on any forum and it just ruins any kind of discussion.
froch won by a round for me, either dirrell will grow from this or it was the best he can achieve we will find out against arthur. If he boxes like he showed he can I pick him to beat arthur by a wide margin.
im a dirrel fan but the fight was close
i had it level going into the last round(which froch won)
Much better article (especially compared to the Gilfoid’s joke), but you spoiled it with your last line, which is partisan bullsh*t.
Kessler is more talented than any of the Americans in the draw, and would knock them out in America, let alone Europe. Abraham has already beaten Taylor, and will also beat Dirrell.
Same old biased whining from certain Americans in the comments, though.
Good article.
Let’s be clear on this, Dirrell boxed well and I can see why he was great in the amateurs! However in pro boxing if you want to fight on the back foot you will always suffer a bit of a penalty unless you are clearly dominating (Mayweather).
I had Froch winning by two rounds simply because of the fact he was forcing the fight and Dirrell was doing very little in many of the rounds.
If Dirrell had come forward more and taken the fight to Froch he could well have won however he would have left himself more open to getting into a Fight…..
got to say i had Dirrell a point or 2 up. Ive watched it again and Frock was hitting air most of the time, and in fact the only 1 close to getting stopped was Froch at the end of the 11th when he was covering up for dear life. I agree he was negative but slipping and countering very nicely, and when Dirrell did let his hands go Froch had little to no answer. I think Dirrell won 4 of the first 5, 1oth was even with Dirrell clearly winning 11th and 12th, So I think a very poor decision.
Btw this is just my opinon I am a Froch fan but I really think he was lucky with the decision.
froch lost name of the game hit and dont get hit any idiot can chase sum1 round swinging like that very poor.
Dirrell should have a good look at why he ran so obviously in the middle rounds, his footwork was that good he could of countered Froch instead of headin for a different part of the ring.
If hed got out of the trouble, used his quick jab while on the move and maybe a quick hook now and again hed of looked alot less negative.
And that negativity in the middle rounds has clearly cost him, he won the majority of the 1st 5, he certinly won 11 and 12.
I thought Dirrell won by 3, judging is objective tho. He needs to look at that fight and learn from it.
what fight were these people watching. IAM BRITTISH BUT WE NEED TO STOP BEING BIAS FROCH WAS GETTING SLAPED ALL OVER THE RING EVERY TIME FROCH THREW A PUNCH HE MISSED THE ONLY TIME I RECALL FROCH LANDING WAS WHEN HE RAN HALF WAY ACROSS THE RING TO HIT HIM U CANT SCORE FIGHTS FOR AGGRESION WHEN YER NOT HITTING YOUR OPONENT THE SAME HAPPEND IN THE HATTON AND MAYWEATHER FIGHT HATTON WAS SCORING FOR JUST RUFFING MAYWEATHER UP BUT NOT HITTING HIM THIS IS BOXING NOT WRESTLING.
Tough fight but i had Froch ahead by 2 points, Hopefully Dirrell has learned you cant take a champions belt from him by running and holding all night. Dirrell has good skills, he should look at Calzaghes fights and learn from it .
I think Froch should eat humble pie when it comes to him saying Hopkins won the calzaghe fight i think Froch has also learned a lesson and tasted this negative style that makes you look bad.
Froch was the agressor who came to fight and entertain. Hats off he stil won like a Champion as a chamion always finds a way.
MUZZA THE ONLY HYPE JOB ON PARADE LAST NIGHT WAS FROCH.HE IS AQBOUT THE MOST UNINTELLIGENT FIGHTER EVER TO HOLD A WORLD TITLE,HE JUST SWINGS WILD PUNCHES,MISSING ALMOST ALL OF THEM.IF YOU WATCH FROCH FACE JUST BEFORE THE DECISION,YOU CAN SEE THE MAN THOUGHT HE LOST.
Well done Froch put the hype job in his place.
mayweather jr. fights the same way. run and get points and if thangs get too heated he holds and gets a break he did it against de la hoya i didnt see anyone complain about his grabbing and holding when he beat de la hoya on points
Dirrell won this fight easily and was simply robbed. A disgrace.
What fight were you watching froch was being just as negatve by hitting dirrell behind the head and the round where dirrell lost a point he did enough to even out the round Carl the fraud froch had dirrell up against the ropes and in the corner alot in the fight but lacked the speed and skill to hit dirrell going into this fight I knew froch was in trouble the guy lacks skill I wish they showed a compubox stat to show how inaccurate he was dirrell was tagging him and if he was more aggressive could of ended that fight. Looks like the Juan Diaz/Paul malinaggi fight another horrible hometown decision!!!!!!
Dirrell probably did the best he could?? Yes I agree with that – he ran away all night, probably the most negative fighter i have seen few years, another overated american b1tch imho.
brilliant article matt, i think ive said a lot of the same things in my comments on scott gilfoids article. i think froch would have had more success if he had moved to his left more and cut dirrell off from circling to his right, as dirrell constantly avoided punches by doing this but didn’t look quite so comfortable circling out to his left. and froch would have forced dirrell towards his right hand more that way. but then again, im no boxing expert! lol