The two will be contesting the lightly regarded WBC Silver title, yet the real prize is that this is a final eliminator to face newly crowned champion Deontay Wilder – who will make the maiden defence of his own title against the unfancied and unheralded Eric Molina on June 20th.
WBC 168lb mandatory challenger and long time James DeGale rival George Groves, has tipped his old foe to do the business against Andre Dirrell in Boston on Saturday night, saying;
“He’s in with a chance, a real good chance.”
Groves, who holds victories over the Harlesden fighter in both the amateur and paid ranks, told Sky Sports that while he doesn’t think DeGale can get a stoppage “a points win wouldn’t surprise me.”
DeGale is chasing history when he fights Dirrell by attempting to become the first Brit gold medal winning Olympian to go on and win a world title in the paid ranks. The two men will be contesting the IBF strap recently vacated by Carl Froch.
In the latest of his frequent trips to the Garcia Boxing Academy in Oxnard, CA, ES News reporter Elie Seckbach has done a fan Q & A via twitter with head coach Robert Garcia to address various issues – one of which being the possibility of his fighter Brandon Rios (33-2-1, 24ko) facing IBF 147 champion Kell Brook.
Brook fights against countryman Frankie Gavin on May 30th in a voluntary defence of his title following his crushing of mandatory challenger Jo Jo Dan in February. It is a match that has been questioned by some quarters for it’s validity, although it’s worth remembering that the Dan fight in February was Brooks first since being viciously slashed to the leg with a machete last year on holiday following his title win over Shawn Porter last August and promotional mechanics have certainly had a part to play.
Carl Froch has questioned Andre Dirrell’s mentality ahead of Saturday’s PBC fight with James DeGale, writing in his Sky Sports column that “the computer might not be working” with regards to the American’s mental effectiveness – something that has been referenced continually since the 2010 fight with Arthur Abraham in which Dirrell suffered neurological injuries.
Froch, whose former IBF belt the 2 men are contesting at the weekend, fought Dirrell himself back in 2009 as part of the Super Six tournament – getting the nod for what was widely perceived as a hometown (split) decision in the eyes of many – especially the Americans.
British WBO heavyweight mandatory Tyson Fury (24-0, 18ko) has taken to Twitter to potentially answer the barrage of questions he has no doubt received with regards to his upcoming challenge to division boss Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53ko)
After bossing game American Bryant Jennings in New York last month, the giant Ukrainian signaled his intent to fulfill his mandatory obligations by fighting Fury – with the feeling among fans and even the Fury camp themselves, that there is a very good chance of Klitschko checking a huge UK stadium fight off his bucket list and the fight taking place on British soil.
British fans will remember Dirrell from his 2009 fight with Carl Froch. A fight most are loathe to admit he was extremely unlucky to lose.
The pre fight abuse of Dirrell by the British fans was something to behold with the American and his team rising to the bait beforehand, insulting Froch’s mother in fight week and acting every bit the loud, obnoxious and arrogant fighter he now concedes was just a part he WANTED to play.
The saga continues in the wake of May 2nd and THAT rotator cuff, with a seemingly insatiable desire of the masses to examine and dissect every single aspect of “The Fight That Never Caught Light” and the reasons for Manny Pacquiao’s loss to Floyd Mayweather.
While it’s fair to say that boxing purists and hardcore fans have moved on and left happy, if a little underwhelmed – two camps appear now to exist.
Those that flatly don’t believe in the validity and/or extent of the injury – and it’s impact on the loss – and those that do.
This coming Saturday, Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions format attempts to deliver once again with the clash between Britain’s gold medal winning Olympian James DeGale and Michigan native Andre Dirrell for the IBF 168lb title that was recently vacated by Nottingham’s Carl Froch.
DeGale, who is hoping to become the first gold medal winning British Olympian in history to go on and win a world title in the pro game, has spoken to Sky Sports ahead of the eagerly anticipated battle of two tricky southpaws to insist he firmly believes that Saturday is his destiny and everything he has worked so hard for will culminate in championship gold around his waist.
One of the names that keeps getting linked to Gennady Golovkin – despite the unlikeliness of the fight ever happening – is Floyd Mayweather – who after intense criticism over “The Fight Of The Century”, needs a decent name for his September date and final Showtime fight.
Whether Amir Khan, Keith Thurman, Miguel Cotto or Donald Duck gets the call, the talk surrounding Golovkin simply will not go away. Furthermore after we saw how Monroe and his pure boxer style was arguably able to nick a couple of rounds against Golovkin, there is a belief that Floyd might actually fancy the task if Golovkin boiled down to 154lb after all.
In the wake of his sublime 6th round destruction of Willie Monroe Jr, Gennady Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez has spoken out to address the issue of future fights for the Kazakh wrecking machine – saying that it’s the other big names out there in and around 160lb (like Cotto and Canelo) who need to step up to fight his man – insisting that Golovkin himself is not afraid to lose his ‘0’ against marquee names in the big fights.
After the fight with Monroe Jr – (in which if there was any criticism of Golovkin – it was over the fact he is extremely hittable at times) Sanchez praised it as a learning curve against an awkward southpaw who gave his fighter much needed ‘practice’