By Scott Gilfoid: It’s hard to believe that it’s already been six months since super middleweight talent Andre Dirrell (20-1, 14 KO’s) last fought, and he’s still not revealed when his next fight will be. That’s not a good a thing, because this talent is wasting away on the vine. Dirrell, 28, has got to get back in the ring to get back at the top of the division where he belongs.

Dirrell has only fought once in the past two years in beating Darryl Cunningham by an impressive 2nd round TKO last December. It was like Dirrell hadn’t been away at all. That’s how good he was in that fight. If anything, I thought Dirrell looked better than he had in the Super Six tournament where he fought superbly in fights against Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham. Dirrell should still be unbeaten because the only loss on his record came in his fight against Froch in Nottingham, England, and Dirrell appeared to win that fight by a lopsided 12 round decision. He says it himself that he sees himself as still unbeaten, and I totally agree with him.

Dirrell can’t afford to waste the entire year doing nothing. At this point even if he does fight in the next two or three months, it’s very likely that it will be his only fight for 2012. Ideally, a talent like Dirrell should be fighting four times a year at the minimum.

Dirrell should be the one holding down the IBF strap, not Froch. It kind of burns me up when I see lesser fighters than Dirrell holding down titles while Dirrell languishes. With his blazing hand speed and incredible defensive skills, Dirrell would be one of the top super middleweight champions in the division right now. We’re talking superstar material. But I don’t understand what’s keeping this talent out of the ring. He should be back in there kicking backside and taking names.

Here are the guys I’d like to see Dirrell whip in his next fight:

Carl Froch
Mikkel Kessler
George Groves
James DeGale
Adonis Stevenson
Sakio Bika
Robert Stieglitz