By Scott Gilfoid: Yesterday, Andre Dirrell (20-1, 14 KO’s) chose to decline an August 11th IBF 168 pound eliminator bout against Canada’a Adonis Stevenson (18-1, 15 KO’s) in a fight that would have taken place in Montreal on the undercard of the Tavoris Cloud vs. Jean Pascal bout.

At hearing the news that Dirrell had said no to the fight against Stevenson, some boxing fans reacted negatively for the most part, many of them seeing it as cowardice on Dirrell’s part for not agreeing to take the fight. However, Dirrell would never back out of a fight because of fear. What actually happened is that Dirrell won’t have enough to train to get ready before August 11th if he were to agree to take the fight, and he’s not about to go into a fight unless he’s in tip top shape.

Dirrell’s trainer Leon Lawson Jr, said to the Flint Journal at Mlive.com “It wasn’t enough time for him to prepare, it was only a month out. We’re just looking for the next best thing. The only reason that this fight didn’t go through is because of the timing…We’re trying to figure out the next guy in line in enough time for him to get in a full training camp and then fighting.”

There it is. Dirrell didn’t back out because of fear of Stevenson; He chose not to take the fight because it would have given him only four weeks to train for the fight. Top quality athletes like Dirrell don’t agree to fight off of four weeks notice. Can you imagine a talent like Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao agreeing to fight a high level opponent with only four weeks notice? It’s not going to happen. So why do boxing fans want Dirrell to take a fight with only that small amount of time to get ready for the fight? That’s not fair to Dirrell, is it? I know Dirrell would win, but he’s a professional, and he’s not going to agree to be rushed into a fight with a top contender with so little time to prepare. After all, he’s not a journeyman. Dirrell is a prime athlete and he’s better than that.

Dirrell will be fighting before the end of the year. Who it will be against is still unknown but it’s likely to be a high level opponent, because Dirrell is ready to start making his move towards a world title shot so that he can be among the major players in the super middleweight division.