WBC Orders Ward vs. Dirrell

According to Boxingscene, the WBC has ordered a title eliminator between former Olympic teammates Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell, to create the mandatory challenger to Carl Froch.  The Andres have been ranked #1 and #2, respectively, and I'd favor either one of them against Carl Froch.  If the parties don't come to terms before then, there would be a purse bid on July 3. 

This is one of the more exciting matchups that could be made in an increasingly stacked super middleweight division.  However, I have my doubts that it will actually happen.  First off, as former Olympic teammates and former stablemates, the two Andres are good buddies, and quite often two friends just decide that it would be best not to ruin the other guy's career, even if it's at the expense of their own.  Second, while this is a good fight, it's not a big fight quite yet.  Both Ward and Dirrell have been featured quite a bit by HBO and Showtime, but neither one is really a headline fighter quite yet.  Even if a network wants to buy it (and they would), it's something that would be a minor fight now but that could become a huge fight a couple years down the line.

Here's to hoping that HBO or Showtime offers to kick in enough money to make the fight happen.  I think it's not only an intriguing fight, but could make a new star in the super middleweight division, one way or the other.  Also, in case you're wondering, here's my breakdown of both Ward and Dirrell.  In an actual fight, I'd need to think about who I'd favor, and in my mind it seems like close to a 50/50 fight.