By Matt Flanagan: The latest Super 6 bout ended in controversy last night when Arthur Abraham was disqualified for landing an illegal shot on Andre Dirrell. At the time the fight was on a knife-edge – Dirrell ahead on points with Abraham coming on strong looking for the knockout.
Going into the fight, I had contradicting thoughts about Dirrell. He is clearly talented, with his speed and his technical ability. The big question mark that hangs over him is his courage in the ring. Against Carl Froch – his lack of courage clearly cost him the fight. Had he gone to Nottingham to fight, then he most probably would have won. As it happened, he ran, clinched and faked slips every time Froch got near him and left the arena with his first defeat.
Last nights fight did nothing to change my thoughts as Dirrell showed himself at his best and worst.
Firstly let me say that Dirrell boxed very well, and was very effective at neutralizing the dangerous Abraham. He worked his jab, threw combinations and his movement prevented Abraham pinning him down and unloading.
As the fight wore on, Abraham came more into it and began to get to Dirrell, at which point we saw the worst of the American. Knowing he was ahead on points, and fearing he was going to get knocked out, he reverted back to the cowardly tactics that lost him the fight with Froch. Each time Abraham pinned him down and didn’t allow him to run, Dirrell would force the referee to intervene and protect him by pretending to slip over or clinching with Abraham. The sweet science, is all about hitting and not being hit, but Dirrell applies this in the most cowardly way possible.
The fight ended when Abraham was disqualified for an illegal shot on Dirrell. While there is no doubt that Abraham was wrong to throw the punch, Dirrell’s reaction proved one thing – that he has very little heart and will never be considered a truly great fighter because he consistently takes the easy way out.
After he was hit, Dirrell stayed still for a couple of seconds, touched his face a couple of times and then went down and pretended to be knocked out. If I had never seen someone get knocked out, I might have believed that it was genuine however that is not the case and it was obvious that Dirrell was acting. There were a number of factors that indicated that this was not a genuine KO:
Red flag #1: It wasn’t that big a punch from Abraham
Red flag #2: After the punch had landed, Dirrell sat still for a couple of seconds – not typically the reaction of a boxer who has just taken a knock out punch
Red flag #3: Dirrell touched his face with his gloves – not typically the reaction of a boxer who has just taken a knock out punch
Red flag #4: The rate at which Dirrell went from sitting down to laying ‘knocked out’ on the canvas was very slow. He went down slower than the titanic – not typically the reaction of a boxer who has just taken a knock out punch.
Nobody will ever know how the fight would have ended. A Dirrell UD or an Abraham KO were both distinct possibilities. Abraham had already knocked Dirrell down (regardless of the referee’s ruling) and there is no doubt that he was coming on strong. Dirrell was way ahead on points.
The only conclusion we can definitely come to is that future Oscar nominee Andre Dirrell faked it and chose to take the easy option. I think after his antics last night, he will have lost the respect of a lot of people – boxers and fans alike.
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