By Scott Gilfoid: Andre Dirrell (19-1, 13 KO’s) will be getting back in the ring after a year and a half out of action when he battles Sebastian Demers (31-4, 11 KO’s) next month in a 10 round bout in Oakland, California. Dirrell has been sidelined since being horribly fouled by Arthur Abraham in the Super Six tournament last year in March when Dirrell was hit after slipping and calling the canvas.

Dirrell with the advice of a local doctor, decided to take some time off from boxing to let his head clear and he’s now ready to set the boxing world on fire with his return. Dirrell will be taking things slow at first by taking on Demers, but he wants to quickly get a fight against IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute to capture a title. That would be a great fight for Dirrell, because he matched up well against the slower Bute.

Demers, 31, has lost his last two fights against Brian Vera and Renan St. Juste, both by early knockout losses. It’s going to be tough on Demers trying to survive past the 2nd round against Dirrell unless he decides to carry Demers for a number of rounds just to get some rounds under his belt. Demers has slipped a lot since he beat guys lie Donny McCrary, Matt Vanda, Mohammad Said, and Walid Smichet earlier in his career. A loss to Arthur Abraham and Dionisio Miranda seemed to take something out of Demers, making him less than what he was before those fights. He does well against guys that can’t punch but struggles when facing someone that brings the heat.

Dirrell has incredible hand speed and his defensive skills are nothing short of magnificent. Demers won’t be landing much in this fight. His only hope is to stick around long enough to try and get a lucky punch and pray that Dirrell can’t take it. I don’t see it happening for Demers. This is a huge mismatch because of how talented Dirrell is.

Rather than seeing Dirrell in with Bute, I’d prefer to see Dirrell face Carl Froch for Dirrell to avenge his questionable decision loss to Froch in the Super Six tournament. However, Dirrell already said he won’t face Froch unless he has a title in his possession and the problem here is that Froch is about to lose his title to Andre Ward in their Super Six tournament finals bout on October 29th. That will take Froch’s belt away from him and put him in a situation where he’s not needed by Dirrell.