At Friday’s weigh-in, Dirrell and Bika exchanged harsh words when facing off, and then later when Bika was being interviewed. Bika was telling Showtime that he hopes Dirrell doesn’t run from him during the fight. Dirrell then cut into the interview, saying “Who ran from you? I didn’t run from you. I knocked you down clean. You’re getting knocked out.” Bika then said “Good, now shut up.” Dirrell then said “Why don’t shut up.” It went back and forth like this for a while until Dirrell got bored and walked away. But he got his message across in telling Bika that he plans on stopping him and taking his strap from him.
Dirrell has hand speed and technical skills similar to his talented brother Andre Dirrell, but he’s not quite as fast as Andre, and he doesn’t move around the ring. If Anthony had Andre’s ability to move, he would have easily beaten Bika last December in their previous fight.
Anthony’s mistake of standing still was really the only reason why the fight ended up a 12 round draw, because he Dirrell had the skill advantage in the fight. It would have been a very easy fight for Dirrell, and he failed to learn from the mistakes that Joe Calzaghe and Andre Ward made when they fought Bika.
They had to adapt after 6 rounds when they realized they couldn’t beat Bika by slugging with him. Dirrell failed to adapt, and that’s why the fight ended up as a draw. But this time Dirrell has made the changes to his fighting style and will be coming into the fight looking to box Bika rather than slugging it out with him.
Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya wasn’t ready to say what he has in store for Dirrell if he wins tonight, but obviously a win over Bika will lead to Dirrell defending his title against the winner of the Christopher Rebrasse vs. George Groves.
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