Dirrell has learned from past mistakes – he’s ready to school Abraham

By Scott Gilfoid: Losing the controversial 12 round split decision to WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch was perhaps the best thing that could have ever happened for Andre Dirrell (18-1, 13 KO’s). Although I think Dirrell easily defeated Froch by an eight rounds to three with one even margin, I think a loss for Dirrell was actually a good thing for him. It showed Dirrell how he needs to be more aggressive, a more judge-pleasing fighter if he wants to eventually win the Super Six tournament.

It’s not enough that Dirrell has arguably the best talent, the best speed and the best boxing moves compared the other fighters. He has to put more leather on his opponents and let loose with more punches to get the attention of the judges. Dirrell fought the perfect fight against Froch last time out. I’ve never seen a fighter look as good as Dirrell did in that fight. He literally had Froch punching at air for 12 rounds, angry and frustrated at his inability to land anything cleanly.

Froch had problems landing anything period until he started throwing punches while clinching with Dirrell. I thought Froch should have been penalized over and over again and eventually disqualified for his punching and holding, but I still see it as a good thing for Dirrell. Because it showed him different tactics that slower fighters will be using against him in the future and it’s good that Dirrell got to see this up close. Again, I thought Froch should have been penalized until he eventually stopped or was disqualified, but it’s still good for Dirrell to see this kind of strategy. I think Dirrell will be mentally stronger because of what he learned in the fight with Froch. This was the ideal first opponent for Dirrell in the Super Six tourney.

Abraham is like a shorter, more powerful version of Froch, only a little cleaner on the inside. Abraham is just as rough as Froch on the outside, capable of throwing a misplaced elbow or two every now and then. Dirrell will have to be on his toes at all times against Abraham, because unlike the fouling that occurred in his fight with Froch last time out, Dirrell can get hurt if he gets hit with some of Abraham’s elbows or forearms.

Those shots are lethal. But the same lesson applied in the fight with Abraham. Dirrell has to be really busy, make sure he throws a lot of punches to pick up points. It’s especially important that Dirrell stay busy during the first two minutes and forty five seconds of every round because that’s when Abraham generally just covers up and hides behind his gloves.

Abraham comes alive during the last 15 to 20 seconds of the round and goes wild with wind-milling amateurish looking punches. Needless to say, Abraham is very predictable with what he does in each round. I’m surprised that the judges in Germany haven’t picked up on what Abraham does in each round, and score the rounds for his opponents.

I’ve seen a ton of Abrahams’ fights where he does zero until the last seconds of the round where he throws 10 to 15 punches, missing almost all of them, and yet wins the round. I never understood how the judges could give Abraham rounds when he did so little. The good thing is Dirrell won’t be fighting Abraham in Germany on March 27th, because otherwise I just don’t know how he could win unless he knocked him out or danced away from Abraham when he does try to open up at the last part of the round.

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