East meets West in a Memorial Day Matinee matchup between James Degale and Andre Dirrell. The card will be broadcast live on NBC from Agganis Arena on the Boston University campus. It pits two one-loss fighters hoping to standout as pros to match their amateur pedigree.
Rarely in life or in boxing do you get a second chance to improve upon your a first impression. Once a fighter loses as a favorite or puts on a poor performance, they can be casted away and shot down the ladder only to have to brush him or herself off and pick up pieces to climb back up again. This generally can be the case for non-popular boxers who don’t have a barn-burner style.
Andre Dirrell has a promising start to what was becoming a bright career at the super middleweight. He climbed the ranks of the 168 pound division and after 18 fights entered the super-six tournament on Showtime. Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell were billed as the unbeaten Americans with a chance to meet in the third round but that match up was never to be.
Andre started the tournament with the tough task of trying to beat Carl Froch in Nottingham England. Dirrell showed everything that night including the negative, which came in the form of bear-hug holding something well beyond the common clinch that we see in every day boxing. However, Dirrell did do enough to be in the fight and one could make an argument that he won the fight even with the excessive holding. It wasn’t pretty but Andre Dirrell did scratch, paw, and hold but he did at times hurt Carl Froch with blistering combinations.
In the second round of the tournament he faced Arthur Abraham and boxed beautifully. An incident happened in the 11th round resulting in a disqualification for Abraham. Controversy ensued on social media after the fight. Did he really get knocked out or see opportunity bail out of the fight much like Teddy Atlas would discuss while breaking down a bout on Friday night fights?
This scribe chose to stay on the fence on this topic but both sides have clear points. There’s no doubt that the fight did turn some from a few of Abraham’s punches and there’s no doubt that the punch landed while he was down. It was a good call by the referee and only Andre truly knows if he faked the injury. Whether it was real or a mental weakness it did keep Dirrell out of the ring for a few lengthy stretches that can only hurt him as a prime fighter.
The gold medalist James Degale begin his career in story-book fashion as an amateur but was derailed after a close points loss to George Groves in a bit of a snoozer with only spurts of activity from either fighter. It was a close fight that was hard to judge but James didn’t push the pace or do enough to clearly win the fight with activity. Degale seems to have improved but how much? The level of opponent has improved of late yet he doesn’t have a quality win that could come this Saturday afternoon in prime time on Sky Sports.
Just what will we get out of Andre Dirrell who’s been a professional fighter for 10 years after few years of rusting away like an abandon factory in his hometown of Flint, Michigan? One saving grace for Dirrell may be his recent activity having fought 3 times since August. The competition was on a barley fringe contender level at best but in those fights Dirrell began to rid himself of those cobwebs from being on the shelf. His timing, speed, and pop all improve the question will be is he close enough to his best.
Skills wise it’s not really a 50-50 affair. Had this been several years ago I would favor Dirrell maybe not heavily but he would a clear favorite. The years of wasteland has made this fight pretty much a pick’em with the oddsmakers. Even a non-prime Dirrell is more skilled than James Degale, who doesn’t do anything great but is solid in many categories. Activity stands out as a weakness for James Degale especially on the road in the United States.
James needs to apply smart pressure and from time to time will have to let his hands go to in order to beat Andre Dirrell. It’s a must that Degale sets the pace in the opening frames otherwise the pace will be set by Dirrell. A fight on Andre’s terms will allow him to use movement along with a steady jab with hand speed to score points and set up the cleaner punches.
More than likely this fight will start out slow and sticky. I could see it having only a few moments of exchanges or back-and-forth action within the rounds. Besides the 20 or 30 seconds of flurries it will be a chess-match and a skills-fest type-matchup fits Andre Dirrell better than James Degale. It’s up to Degale to push forward while landing significant punches otherwise Dirrell will be able to keep him at bay. If Degale allowed Groves to set the tone it lends me to believe that Andre will outbox James.
As a hard-core boxing fan I’m hoping for a two-way fight with a fair amount of punches and a close fight heading into the championship rounds. When in reality, it’ll probably be a so-so fight action-wise with possible no clear-cut winner.
My Official Prediction is Andre Dirrell by Unanimous Decision.
Written by Chris Carlson Owner & Host of Rope-A-Dope-Radio blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio
