One side of Dirrell’s face is very sore, but he’s Ok – News

By Boxing News - 03/29/2010 - Comments

Image: One side of Dirrell’s face is very sore, but he’s Ok – NewsBy Jim Dower: Andre Dirrell (19-1, 13 KO’s) was released from the Detroit Receiving hospital on Sunday morning after undergoing a CT scan and other tests to identify if there was any damage from the punch that Dirrell received from Arthur Abraham (31-1, 25 KO’s) last Saturday night in the Super Six tournament at the Joe Louis Arena, in Detroit, Michigan. In that fight, Dirrell has slipped on the canvas and was on knee when Abraham teed off on him with a hard right hand that appeared to have knocked Dirrell cold.

Abraham was subsequently disqualified by referee Lawrence Cole, giving the 26-year-old Dirrell his first win in the Super Six tournament and giving Abraham his first loss of his career. According to the Detroit Free Press, Dirrell says “The side of my face [where he was struck by Abraham while on the canvas] is very sore. But I’m feeling pretty good. Abraham’s camp thought I was acting. Well, you get hit by a 165 pound guy in the head while you’re on the ground and see how you feel.”

Abraham said later that he wasn’t aware that Dirrell was down when he hit him. He wanted to finish Dirrell off and wasn’t looking at his feet when he threw the punch. That may be. However, on instant replay of the episode, it shows Abraham looking downward appearing to look at Dirrell’s feet and then loading up and hitting him with full force to the side of Dirrell’s left jaw.

The punch caused a delayed reaction from Dirrell, who instead of toppling over immediately, he had time to touch his own face, wince in pain and then fall in the direction of where the punch had come from. Critics of Dirrell feel that he faked it because they feel that if he was really hurt, he would have fell over immediately, not had time to touch his face and would have fell in the opposite direction going away from the punch. Unless Dirrell is a superb actor, he looked to be badly hurt.

When Dirrell fell over, one of his legs twitched in the same manner that many fighters do when they’re knocked out. And upon getting up, Dirrell seemed to have no idea what had happened, talking as if he had lost his senses.

Dirrell, speaking about Abraham’s power, says “The strongest guy I’ve ever fought. But the warrior side of me came out, like Tommy Hearns. And the sweet science of Sugar Ray Leonard took over. I’m proud of my performance. “The win could have been so much bigger had Dirrell not been hit while on the canvas. Because of the way the fight ended, it has left boxing fans to wonder whether Dirrell faked being hurt to escape with the win.

Fans also wonder whether Dirrell would have been able to make it to the end of the 12th round, because Abraham was coming on, and had hurt Dirrell with a big right hand in the 10th. Abraham was very desperate and loading up with every shot. Dirrell was still proving to be elusive in the 11th, but Abraham was still finding limited success in connecting with his shots. As tired and as hurt as Dirrell looked in the moments before he was hit on the canvas, there’s a possibility that Abraham would have caught up to him and taken Dirrell out at some point in the 11th or 12th rounds.



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