Does anyone think Dirrell looked good against Froch?

By Boxing News - 10/19/2009 - Comments

dirrell3423433By Al Francis: Showtime’s exciting and innovative super six series got off to a flying start this past Saturday. Two out of the three opening bouts were contested, a major championship was up for grabs, 23 rounds were completed and another one almost completed! Firstly Arthur Abraham scored a chilling final round knockout over Jermain Taylor in Berlin, knocking out this writer’s pre fight prediction in the process! Up to that point in the fight it wasn’t a terribly difficult one to score, with Taylor boxing well in the first four rounds before Abraham upped his game and took the lead in the later rounds.

Showtime’s Steve Farhood got it spot on when he said “the fight doesn’t start till Abraham says it starts!” Abraham started in the fifth. The second fight of the tournament was totally different encounter which has left some fans scratching their heads over who actually won. Carl Froch took a split decision over Andre Dirrell to defend his WBC world title, this one was difficult to score. But on reflection, what did Dirrell actually do in the fight that deserved a win?

Throughout the 12 rounds Michigan’s Andre Dirrell showed himself to be the more talented athlete of the two, in this respect he certainly lived up to some of the hype as some members in the media were hailing him as perhaps the most gifted athlete of any of the super six competitors. If that can be said of Dirrell, then this can be said of Froch; He lived up to the hype of being perhaps the most iron-willed and doggedly determined of the six. His will to win is simply incredible. Though Froch did fail to impress, falling short on his attacks various times throughout the fight and occasionally being made to look clumsy, he still showed himself to be the rightful winner, pressing forward throughout and landing the more telling blows. Froch never had Dirrell in any serious trouble and the fight was somewhat of an anti-climax, he could only fight what was in front of him and he did enough against an extremely negative opponent to earn the nod from the judges.

As expected, Dirrell started fast and kept the fight on the outside, but Dirrell himself failed to impress as he refused to commit to any serious offence. It appeared the former Olympic medalist was content to run for the duration of the fight. Before the contest there was ridiculous comparisons to Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather Jr., two fighters who have excelled in fighting on the back foot. For a start Ali could fight on the back foot and actually mount a reasonable offence at the same time. Dirrell cannot. Mayweather can fight on the back foot defensively until he finds himself on the ropes where he can perform his cute and masterful shoulder rolls in order to find effective opening’s on his man. Dirrell cannot.

Froch was the aggressor throughout, but ultimately he was faced with a negative opponent who didn’t want to fight. Every time Froch tried to get close Dirrell would run, and every time Froch found himself in range Dirrell would dive to the floor rather than trade too close for comfort. One writer going in even compared this fight to Ali-Liston, remember the blind round? Liston really got up close and personal in that one and I don’t recall Ali diving to the canvass rather than absorb punishment. These comparisons must surely grind to a halt now.

Froch did not look good, but neither did Dirrell, however both showed plenty of promise for the future. Froch with his undeniable will to win, if faced with an opponent fighting positively will always be involved in an exciting fight. Dirrell, with the athleticism also showed plenty of promise while failing to impress. In terms of movement and ring generalship he showed great finesse but that just doesn’t win boxing matches unless accompanied with a mountable offence, which in this fight was lacking. Dirrell will have learned his lesson in this loss, something he himself has already admitted and I’m sure he can go on, you still cannot count him out of this tournament. But all in all, he will certainly have to up his game to progress, his next one is against Arthur Abraham. He could, and probably will, dance circles around Abraham, but with the German based Armenian’s ultra tight defense Dirrell will really have to mount a far more committed offence. The fight he fought on Saturday would be even less effective against Abraham. Tapping Abraham’s gloves 2 to 3 times in quick succession before fleeting to the other side of the ring WILL result in another dull fight, and another loss for Dirrell.



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