The curious case of Andre Dirrell

By Jamie Eskdale - 05/02/2013 - Comments

dirrell212By Jamie Eskdale: Back in 2009 two young American fighters by the name of Andre looked certain to take the super middleweight division by storm. They both entered the super 6 boxing classic tournament with high expectations of becoming the finest super middleweight on the planet. Andre Ward would accomplish this dream looking untouchable, but what has happened to Andre Dirrell?

Dirrell was a gifted amateur qualifying to compete at the 2004 Olympics by winning the AIBA American Olympic qualifying tournament. He would then go on and give a good account of himself at the Olympics, winning bronze at the 2004 Athens games.

Dirrell turned professional the following year. Over the next 3 years Dirrell would build an impressive record of 18 wins from 18 with 13 coming inside the distance. Although Dirrell wasn’t fighting anyone of note with possibly Anthony Hanshaw the pick of the bunch.

Dirrell was being noted for his awkward switch hitting southpaw style and also how slippery he was in the ring, getting on the inside landing punches and quickly getting away earning the nickname ‘the matrix’. While this style can be unattractive it was proving effective for Dirrell.

Andre entered the super 6 tournament very confident with lots of people claiming he could cause an upset. The favorite for the tournament was Danish warrior Mikkel Kessler who up until this point had only suffered one defeat to the retired undefeated former super middleweight king Joe Calzaghe. Britain’s Carl Froch was also highly fancied. While other American prospect Andre Ward also seemed quietly confident.

The first round would pit Dirrell against Froch for Froch’s WBC super middleweight chsmpionship in the Englishman’s backyard of Nottingham. The fight wasn’t much of a spectacle with Froch seemingly unable to get to grips with Dirrell’s awkward style. The fight would go to the scorecards with Froch getting the nod in a very contentious split decision with most people claiming Froch had benefited from a ‘home town decision’. Dirrell was vocal afterwards claiming he was robbed.

In the other first round matches Andre Ward dethroned Dane Kessler with the fight being stopped on cuts seeming to have been caused by Ward’s excessive use of the head although it should also be noted that it was an absolute clinical performance from Ward and he deserved his win for the WBA version of the title.

In the other first round matchup Jermaine Taylor lost in devastating fashion to a 12th round KO from Arthur Abraham. It would take Taylor 2 years before would step back between the ropes.
In the next round Dirrell would be pitted against the unbeaten and dangerous Arthur Abraham. The fight was going down a familiar path with Abraham seeming unable to get to grips with Dirrell’s awkward style.

Going into the 11th round Abraham was getting more of a foothold in the fight although it was apparent that Abraham would need a knockout and all Dirrell would have to do was stay out of range and see the fight out. While in the corner Dirrell seemed to slip and while he was down Abraham hit Dirrell with a devastating punch earning himself a disqualification.

Dirrell was out cold and eventually came back around seemingly unaware of what had happened or where he was. Some observers of the fight either those at ringside or those watching on TV seemed to be of the same opinion that Dirrell had overreacted.

If he did overreact it begs the question, why? He had just won a fight against an unbeaten opponent and was almost certain to have a world title shot in his next fight. He dropped out of the tournament citing neurological reasons and was out the fight game for 18 months. A lot of people claimed and still claim that Dirrell didn’t want to face Andre Ward either because he was scared or because he didn’t want to fight against his friend. Either way it would be a terrible reason to feign injury and drop out of a tournament that was on the way to making him into a superstar.

If as Dirrell has claimed he dropped out due to health reasons this would seem to be backed up by his inactivity in the years that have succeeded him leaving the tournament. Andre has only had two fights since, winning them both but recently cancelled a planned fight for April 12th.

If Andre Dirrell still wants it it would appear that he could still become a world champion. He is only 29 and the Abraham punch apart he hasn’t been significantly hurt in any fights. There could be underlying reasons or he may just not have the hunger anymore. Whatever the reason for his career collapse and inactivity it could be another case of wasted talent.



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