by Geoffrey Ciani – This week’s edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio featured an exclusive interview with super middleweight Andre Dirrell, who recently beat Arthur Abraham via disqualification in round two of the Super Six. Here are some excerpts from that interview:
On his recent victory against Arthur Abraham in round two of the Super Six:
“I feel I did, all in all, an A+ performance. I worked on my game plan, I executed well, and I’m just proud of it and I really look to keep it up and train harder and look to bigger and better things.”
On the way the fight ended when he was hit by Abraham when he was already down:
“I was really confused the whole time. I was disappointed. I wanted to get out there and get the victory like a fighter is supposed to get his victory so that was my biggest thing, my biggest concern. I was just really frustrated at the end there. I wanted to be able to get the end in-ring interview after the fight. I wanted to be able to sit at the press conference and breakdown and analyze the way I fought, but I didn’t get a chance to do any of that. It really bothered me, not only after the fight, but the following days as well..”
Regarding the fact that some fans continue to focus on the controversy rather than his performance in the fight with Abraham:
“All in all, I don’t hear it. One out of every ten, even fifteen people, who put their little piece in about me faking or whatnot, but that doesn’t bother me. After every single fight I’ve had, professional or amateurs, there’s something someone has to say about something so it’s something a fighter has to deal with his whole career. He’ll always have people who are for him and people who aren’t. That’s just another case here, and that was just Arthur Abraham’s way out so it really doesn’t bother me at all. It’s no different than any other fight so it’s no big deal to me.”
On his scheduled fight against Andre Ward in round three of the Super Six:
“You have two boxers in there and I’m just coming off of fights against two Europeans—a world champion and a former world champion—and I’m getting back in there with an American fighter so I definitely have to work on not one, but two game plans when I get in the gym and just work on executing what I have to do to beat Andre. So I’ll be in the gym working on that and I’ll just fight to the best of my ability as that fight goes as well.”
On the upcoming round two match-up between Andre Ward and Allan Green:
“I’m so looking forward to that fight because of the hunger of Allan Green. I believe he’s very hungry and I believe he wants to show that in the ring but I still don’t see him beating Andre Ward. I just want to see if Allan Green can live up to what me and Andre Ward have so far with Andre Ward beating Mikkel Kessler as he did, with me having the controversial loss against (Carl) Froch and dominating Abraham. We have proven ourselves. We proved that we belong in this tournament. Now Allan Green has to do the same. Again, I don’t feel he will get the victory, but he could still show that he has some say in this tournament as well.”
On the second round match-up that saw Mikkel Kessler beating Carl Froch:
“Well, I didn’t see the fight going as it did. I thought it was going to be a closer fight but I saw that Mikkel pretty much dominated the fight. His punches were there. You can tell that he was fighting his heart out and you can tell that he lost his last fight by the way he went in there and fought this time. He fought with total heart and total determination and he took that belt from Froch and that was the way you’re supposed to take a belt from the champion. I saw the fight as one with Mikkel winning, but not in the fashion that he did.”
His views on the third round match-up between his Super Six foes Froch and Abraham:
“I honestly see Abraham knocking Carl Froch out. Honestly, I’m not being arrogant or biased just because I lost to Froch, he doesn’t bother me. It’s just that he’s easy to hit and we know that Arthur Abraham has one of the hardest punches in boxing today. I mean, I witnessed it firsthand. He’s a very strong fighter. I didn’t get a chance to witness Carl Froch’s blows because I was always giving him angles so he couldn’t really hit me but I know he takes a lot of punches and I know the punches that Arthur Abraham has will pose a lot of danger and poses a big threat on Carl Froch and he’ll end up knocking him out, possibly in this sixth or before.”
On whether he has a desire to rematch the only man who beat him Carl Froch:
“I beat him once, but I said it before he lost and I’ll say it again—I only want him if he has that title. You know, I watched that fight and I believe I won so it isn’t Forch that I’m looking for, it’s that WBC belt and he had it. And because of the feud that we had before the fight, the controversial loss that I had—it kind of makes me want to get in there with him but I wouldn’t mind if I never fought him again in my career, but if I do, I could definitely see me getting in there and making it even worse for him the second time around.”
On how he sees his third round fight with Andre Ward playing out:
“Well we’re two boxers and I sparred him in the Olympics, we sparred leading up to the Olympics, and it was pretty much a chess match so I pretty much believe that the person who initiates the fight will be the victor. The person who gets off first and causes the fight that could be the thing that leads to the victory that night and I believe that will be me. You just have to have the right game plan for a fellow boxer, that’s all. I got a chance to see him growing up in the amateurs, I got a chance to see him in the pros, so we pretty much know each other. It’s pretty much who goes in there and imposes the biggest threat.”
On whether he believes the winner of the Super Six needs to ultimately face Lucian Bute to be considered the best super middleweight in the world:
“Oh, definitely! You have what, four champions in this weight class? Definitely! You’re fighting for belts, and even if you win your next fight isn’t your first cupcake title defense. You’re in there with champion after champion after champion, warrior after warrior, everyone’s in there to make a statement, and we’re all top fighters. We’ve been there, and just coming out of this tournament on top and pretty much proves it. You are in the pound for pound rankings and that’s what everyone’s looking forward to, so yes, I believe so.”
On whether he has plans to move up to light heavyweight should he succeed in winning the Super Six:
“I’m definitely looking forward to that. I do want to move up to 175. I’m looking towards doing it probably either after this tournament after knocking off a couple of other super middleweights and moving on up, but yes, I’m looking to reign in more than weight class in my professional career and in doing so, I can end my career in great fashion.”
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