Andre Dirrell defeats Blake Caparello, looks poor

By Boxing News - 04/29/2016 - Comments

dirrell4(Credit: Dave Nadkarni/Premier Boxing Champions) By Jim Dower: Coming off an 11 month layoff, former super middleweight title contender Andre Dirrell(25-2, 16 KOs) was forced to get up off the deck from a 2nd round knockdown to come back and defeat former light heavyweight title challenge Blake Caparello (22-2-1, 6 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision on Friday night at the Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The final judges’ scores were 98-91, 98-91 and 98-91. Caparello knocked Dirrell down hard in the 2nd round with a big left hand to the head. Dirrell was clearly hurt by the punch, but he was able to survive due to Caparello not having the proper finishing skills.

For the remainder of the fight, a tired looking Caparello spent most of the time with his back against the ropes covering and looking to pot shot. Dirrell smothered his own power by standing in close and doing a lot of leaning and wrestling. It’s unclear why Dirrell didn’t stay at a distant and box because he has more power when he’s on the outside.

Compared to the way Dirrell looked in 2014 and before, he doesn’t look like the same fighter he once was. Dirrell has had several long layoffs of a year or more since 2010, and he’s missed better part of four years out of the last six years of his career. The combined layoffs seems to have eroded Dirrell’s once impressive skills. Dirrell’s brother Anthony Dirrell is now unquestionably the better fighter of the two. It used to be the other way around.

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This was the second consecutive fight Dirrell has been knocked down in the 2nd round. He was dropped by James DeGale last May in the 2nd round in an attempt to win the vacant IBF 168lb title. Dirrell looked as bad in that fight as he did tonight.

At this point, Dirrell looks like a gatekeeper type contender by not someone capable of winning a world title. He’s lost too much from his game from the fighter he was back when he was competing in the Super Six tournament six years ago. Dirrell no longer seems capable of throwing combinations without falling forward and smothering his work with a lot of wrestling and weak shots on the inside. We saw the same thing from him tonight over and over. He would throw one or two shots on the outside and then fall forward to lean, smother and throw weak shots in close. Dirrell wasn’t using his reach to jab. He was just throwing pot shots and not looking good.