By Scott Gilfoid: In a fight that’s slipped off the radar screen of boxing fans, unbeaten super middleweight contender Anthony Dirrell (23-0, 20 KO’s) faces the powerful contender Renan St Juste (23-2-1, 15 KO’s) in a 12 round bout on Showtime on December 2nd at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California.

This is a major test for the 27-year-old Dirrell, who really needs this fight to stay in line for a title shot against one of the super middleweight champions.

Dirrell, ranked #1 WBC, #2 WBA, #14 IBF, is the younger brother of the dazzling former Super Six tournament contestant Andre Dirrell. Anthony can do a lot of the same things that his older brother Andre can do in the ring, only Anthony Dirrell tends to sit down on his punches a lot more and looks to mix it.

It kind of reminds me of the differences between the Klitschko brothers Vitali Klitschko and Wladimir Klitschko. Vitali is more of a slugger and is willing to take some shots to tear apart his opponents, while Wladimir uses his reach, speed and boxing skills to wear down his opposition. Anthony is more like Vitali, but he also has tremendous hand speed like his brother Andre.

St Juste, #2 WBC, #4 WBO, #13 WBA, is going to be a very tough test for Anthony Dirrell, because St Juste swings for the fences with every shot he throws and he really has excellent power. He’s getting up there in age at 39, but he’s one of those fighters that fights at least 10 years younger than his age.

St Juste is a very young 39, and with his looping power shots, he’s very hard to beat at this point in his career. He destroyed Sebastian Demers by a 2nd round TKO last year in December. In his last fight, St Juste defeated Jaudiel Zepeda by a one-sided eight round unanimous decision last July. St Juste’s power kept Zepeda fighting defensively and he was never able to get untracked with his offense.

If Dirrell can win this fight and look good in doing so, I see him ready to tackle WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch and avenge Andre’s defeat to Froch. I think Anthony is a better fighter than Froch and would handle him without too many problems. As long as there is a referee willing to penalize Froch if he resorts to rough house tactics, I see Anthony easily beating Froch.