In a surprise upset, WBC super middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell (27-1-1, 22 KOs) was defeated by #8 WBC challenger Badou Jack (19-1-1, 12 KOs) by a 12 round majority decision on Friday night in a fight that wasn’t supposed to be competitive at the UIC Pavilion, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Dirrell, 30, looked under motivated from the start as he threw single shots and spent much of the time clinching to try and shutdown Jack’s pressure style offense.
Jack didn’t have fast feet, and Dirrell likely could have out-boxed him if he was a mobile fighter like his older brother Andre Dirrell, but he simply didn’t have the mobility to stay away from Jack. All throughout the fight, Jack would cut off the ring on Dirrell and force him to fight on the inside where he was less skilled. Dirrell would then clinch to stop Jack from nailing him with shots. But Jack used these opportunities to rough Dirrell up by hitting him to the body, side of the head and even to the back of the head.
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