By Mark Young: One could think that this site is an Andre Dirrell online fan club with the amount of pro Dirrell articles that are produced, however it seems from the responses any Dirrell based article receives the man is not that popular, in fact it could be quite easily be conceded that he’s become a benchmark for fighters with no heart. Dirrell is apparently putting his name down to fight the winner of the Super Six, ironically ignoring the fact he was in it. The dubious nature of Dirrell’s retirement from the tournament is basically what he’s famous for.

Aside from being associated with some glitzy expressions like “blistering speed” and “talented” what has Dirrell done to warrant a fight with a unified world champion? The answer is, nothing. Having potential doesn’t get you a shot at the champ, it gets you a spot on Friday fight night and the potential to start climbing the ranks. Whether you think Dirrell deserved to beat Froch and scored the fight 28 rounds and a ham sandwich to Dirrell doesn’t mean he won, it’s irrelevant, its history and it wasn’t that controversial, and he performed poorly and looked like a rabbit in the headlights.

If you look at the second big name on Dirrell’s resume the one thing that everyone remembered from that blockbuster is the most controversial KO of all time, not just because it was a desperate dog act, but because of the time between the punch connecting and the actual knockout. Even if you genuinely believe that Andre Dirrell was knocked out by Arthur Abraham, you have to acknowledge that Abraham dropped Dirrell legitimately shortly before the despicable blow and Dirrell was about to have the remainder of the fight on his toes with legs that were clearly stiffening and he was looking like another late KO stoppage for AA.

So with two big names on his resume, both fights being controversial, one a loss and one a win by default why does Dirrell think he’s got any form of currency that might bring about any big fight?. Remember the Abraham fight was only moved to Dirrell’s home town after an alleged injury to his back, previously he was supposed to have the fight at a neutral US venue, which is an ironic way to describe a fight in his home country, but he had the fight moved. None the less, and still struggled to pack out the house. How would Dirrell have fared at a stadium not situated in his home town? How many fans would he have realistically brought with him? After all, if he’s not a big draw in his home town and not on the PPV market, who’s going to want to see him?

The main reason Dirrell has no credibility in my opinion, is the Andre Ward fight that didn’t happen. Dirrell initially hinted he didn’t want to fight his former team mate and then pulled out with a doctor’s note for an unsubstantiated brain injury, written by an unsubstantiated doctor. The famous “what was his name again?” interview where Dirrell then produced the even more famous “Dr Shaw Hi” has become the subject of internet parody, earning him his own custom Youtube lampooning, complete with pictures of Gary Shaw aka Gary Shaw Hi dressed as a doctor. Dirrell hasn’t at any stage disclosed his medical history, regarding either his initial diagnosis or subsequent recovery.

Luckily Dirrell’s mysterious and brain injury has cleared up, leading to the amazing demand that he now face the winner of the Super Six!. My questions to Dirrell would be, “who do you think wants to see you again?”, followed by “do you think you currently have any credibility?”. Dirrell’s net worth is determined by the amount of people who are willing to pay to see him, this net worth genuinely increases as a fighter bulks up their resume with credible legitimate wins over top ranked opposition and more people start to follow them, this hasn’t happened, as he managed to bypass fights with gate keepers, by jagging a spot in the Super Six, a tournament he withdrew from.

I genuinely think that aside from his own family and the illusive Dr Shaw Hi that there might not be that many people who are really that interested in paying to watch Dirrell and this won’t change until he works his way up the ranks like everyone else does, he had his chance to skip that but messed it up and now has to return to square one.

A few quarters have pointed out Mikkel Kessler withdrew in a similar fashion, and people haven’t made a big deal of that. Firstly I think he should also be required to clear that up and throw down his eye scans and Dr’s notes, secondly, he withdrew and left his belt in the Super Six, which is where he at least gleans some credibility and integrity, an act I couldn’t see Dirrell replicating.