Prediction: Andre Dirrell will beat DeGale by a comfortable decision

By Boxing News - 04/16/2015 - Comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMohLcONdKM#t=68
By Scott Gilfoid: In what has been billed as a competitive fight between Andre Dirrell (24-1, 16 KOs) and Britain’s James DeGale (20-1, 14 KOs) could turn out to be little more than a sick mismatch when these two guys go at it 37 days from now on May 23rd in their fight for the vacant IBF super middleweight title at the Agganis Arena, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

I just don’t see how DeGale can pull off an upset in this fight and beat Dirrell to take the IBF 168lb strap. I wish there was a way that DeGale could make it competitive and somehow give Dirrell some problems, but I just can’t see it. DeGale hasn’t shown the kind of ability in the past that would indicate that he’ll be competitive with Dirrell when the two of them get in the ring in front of what should be a packed house in Boston.

This should DeGale vs. Carl Froch instead of DeGale-Dirrell, because DeGale was Froch’s IBF mandatory, and he was ready to face him for the strap. But with Froch pulling a whammy by suddenly vacating his IBF title, it leaves Dirrell and DeGale to fight for the vacant IBF title. DeGale’s promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport had been hoping to lure former two time world title challenger George Groves into taking the fight with DeGale in a rematch, but Groves said it was nothing doing. He preferred to break new ground by facing Dirrell’s younger brother WBC super middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell instead of getting back inside the ring against a DeGale for a second time.

DeGale is motivated for this fight and is coming into it with a ton of confidence following a long 10-fight winning streak. DeGale has not only come back from what could have been a career-wrecking defeat to against George Groves, but he’s also got a lot of fans jumping on board the bandwagon now believing that he’s the next guy to take over once Andre Ward and Carl Froch clear out of the sport in the future. The problem is the Dirrell brothers are standing in the way of DeGale getting to the next level, and unless DeGale can prove that he’s better than them, he’s going to have to be content with just being one of the many contenders that hanging around the 168 pound division.

Dirrell is certainly coming into this fight with a lot of self-belief, because he sees himself as undefeated due to his only loss coming by a controversial 12 round decision against Froch in Nottingham, England in 2009. Dirrell believes he won that fight, and he’s been backed up by a large amount of fans. They too saw Dirrell winning that fight, so they don’t see him as a fighter with one defeat on his resume. They see Dirrell as unbeaten, and they see Froch with three defeats on his resume from Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler and Ward.

DeGale is in a bad position here with this fight, because he’s not going to be able to count on maybe getting lucky and winning a contested decision if the fight were staged outside of the United States. It’s safe to say that if DeGale is going to win this fight, he’s going to need to prove it by showing that he’s better than Dirrell. I don’t know that DeGale can do that. In watching his recent fights against Marco Antonio Periban, Brandon Gonzales, and Gevorg Khatchikian, I just don’t see the talent there that would suggest that DeGale is going to be able to hang with a talent like Dirrell.

With the fight getting closer, I’m sure that DeGale is going to getting more and more motivated and perhaps nervous about the fight. But I don’t see his false courage being able to help him against Dirrell, because he’s slower, weaker, less mobile, and less skilled defensively and with lesser boxing skills than Dirrell in my view. Without the needed talent to get the job done against Dirrell, I don’t see DeGale getting lucky on May 23rd and pulling off a close decision or getting a stoppage on a home run punch. Dirrell will be ready for anything that DeGale brings to the table in this fight, and I see him winning by an easy lopsided 12 round decision.



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