Michigan’s Andre Dirrell, who on Saturday night goes up against stand-out British gold medal winning Olympian James DeGale for the vacant IBF 168lb strap, has spoken out to the Daily Star ahead of the crunch contest, to warn his rival he is a changed man from the bold and abrasive character he once was.
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.
He said;
“I was quite an actor, man – when it came to being flamboyant at press conferences and such. Just like when I fought Froch. You know, I was often in his face, pretty much riling him up. Pissing him off.”
It was his 2010 fight with Germany’s Arthur Abraham, a fight that left Dirrell with neurological injuries from a punch taken while on a knee, that really de-railed his career – leaving some to believe that he can never again be the fighter he once was.
After appearing to slip and get touched moving towards the corner, Dirrell had a knee on the canvas but was tagged when down and knocked out. A bizarre post fight scene where he began to get extremely emotional left many fearing for his career.
He has been extremely inactive in the years since – as a result of his injuries – and has struggled to resurrect his career at the level it was once at.
Until now.
He said;
“Mentally it made me a better fighter. I just appreciate the game more than I did before. I was guilty of not taking my opponents as seriously as I should. It was because of my skill but in boxing, anything can happen.”
Should DeGale or anybody else think that we won’t see the best of Andre Dirrell because of what happened, he said;
“There’s no problem with my head at all. I don’t even wanna talk about that no more. I fought four times since then, I don’t wanna bring that up. I was hurting a lot but I’m glad I’m back.”
We will see what version of The Matrix walks into the ring on Saturday – but one thing is for sure – he is up against a very hungry and motivated challenger in pursuit of making history in DeGale – who should he claim the world belt – will be the first gold medal winning Olympian in British history do go on and do so.
Twitter @Undilutedpoison
