Rafael says Dirrell and Ward are trying to get out of September 25th fight

By Boxing News - 09/04/2010 - Comments

Image: Rafael says Dirrell and Ward are trying to get out of September 25th fightBy Scott Gilfoid: In Dan Rafael’s recent chat on ESPN, he had this to say about the still scheduled September 25th Super Six tournament fight American’s Andre Dirrell and Andre Ward: “I know it’s not happening on September 25. From what I am told by good sources both camps are trying to get out of the fight and Showtime is threatening legal action because if the fight goes not come off, the tournament goes down the drain.” I simply can’t believe Dirrell and Ward would be trying to get out of this fight knowing what it would do to the Super Six tournament. Those guys would never do this.

But even if they did, it shows how good their friendship is that they would choose not to fight rather than risk messing things up between them in a battle over the Super Six prize. This is really a fight that should have been saved for the final, and not the semifinal. The timing for this fight is horrible. Dirrell and Ward should be matched up against two surviving Super Six tournament guys Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham. Dirrell already beat Abraham, but lost a questionable decision to Froch in his hometown of Nottingham.

Ward still hasn’t fought either Froch or Abraham. But Rafael is right about the Super Six tourney going down the drain if Ward and Dirrell leave. There’s not point in having the Froch-Abraham fight other than to watch the spectacle of two crude sluggers bludgeoning each other to pieces. Hopefully, Showtime can persuade Dirrell and Ward to stick it out and make the September 25th. They stand to gain a lot if they in the tournament, because the winner of the Dirrell-Ward fight is practically a cinch to win the entire Super Six tournament.

It gets easy after this fight. This is really the Super Bowl of the Super Six tourney. Froch and Abraham are certainly fine fighters but the lack of hand speed and boxing ability would put them at a severe disadvantage against Dirrell or Ward.



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