Still no venue for Dirrell vs. Ward bout

By Jim Dower: World Boxing Association super middleweight champion Andre Ward (22-0, 13 KO’s) says he doesn’t know where the venue will be for his September 25th Super Six stage 3 fight against fellow American and Olympian Andre Dirrell (19-1, 13 KO’s). In an interview at Eastsideboxing.com, Ward said “I can’t say much. Just waiting to hear right now. I don’t worry about that. My goal is to be ready and avoid slipping at all times.” Ward, 26, has fought twice at home already in his two fights in the Super Six tournament, whereas Dirrell has fought once at home and once away.

Because of that, Dirrell and his promoter Gary Shaw want the September 25th fight to take place in Dirrell’s home state of Michigan, in Detroit. However, Ward’s promoter wants the fight to be held in Oakland, where Ward has been drawing huge crowds of over 10,000 for his two fights in the Super Six tourney. In contrast, Dirrell drew only a small crowd of less than 5000 for his fight against Arthur Abraham last March. The best chance of making good money is if the fight takes place in Oakland, California.

However, Dirrell doesn’t like the idea of fighting in front of a huge pro-Ward crowd and you can’t really blame him for that. If the fight takes place in a neutral venue, whether New York or Las Vegas, it will likely draw far fewer fans because Dirrell and Ward still aren’t likely well known enough to draw huge crowds outside of their home states.

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