Dirrell and Froch Disappoint

By Boxing News - 10/29/2009 - Comments

froch563454By Glen Anglin: Saturday’s Super six level one match in Nottingham was a disappointment both stylistically and for entertainment value. Both men failed to produce a solid performance and the fight devolved to a dissatisfying spectacle lacking drama.

The highly-touted (in the USA, at least) Dirrell showed tantalizing flashes of the ring skills that have made many boxing pundits see him through rose glasses. He demonstrated very fast hand and foot speed; excellent head movement and reflexes; and a rare ability to shift stances smoothly and punch well from either stance, left-handed or right-handed. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the young Californian also threw too few punches, and even fewer with real conviction, despite having almost every physical advantage over his tough English adversary. With his hand speed, size and reflexes, I believe he could have stood in with Froch and successfully swap leather with him more than he did. Dirrell’s skills would have given him the edge, even in hot exchanges. Evidence of this could be seen when Dirrell clipped and hurt Froch as the Englishman waded in. Froch just does not have the technique and speed to catch up to Dirrell. True, it is a riskier strategy, but one that I believe would have given Dirrell a clear victory. If Dirrell truly is the heir apparent to Leonard, Whitaker and PBF, then he needs to show some of their moxie.

Instead, until late in the contest, Dirrell seemed content to pose, run, hug, talk, complain and fall his way to an unsatisfying decision.

Froch, on the other hand, was a disappointment for completely different reasons. His gifts of stiff whiskers, heavy hands and iron-willed determination did not enable him to dominate his less experienced foe. Not for lack of trying, mind you. No, for the majority of the fight, Froch marched forward with purpose. He also landed a fair number of good jabs. However, with only a few exceptions late in the fight, he could not force Dirrell into fierce combat. He seemed to freeze at times, for fear of receiving one of the American’s laser counter shots. At other times his frustration resulted in wild, amateurish flailing and excessively rough tactics. He was unable to do any real damage to the elusive Dirrell. He missed with a ton of punches while chasing Dirrell around only to be bound up by Dirrell’s holding when he closed the gap.

All that said, I did not see the decision as a poor one. Many of the rounds were close and often difficult to judge. In a close fight, I am satisfied when the man who pressed the action has his hand raised in the end. JGA



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