Super Six: Andre Dirrell talking big about fight with Carl Froch

by Scott Christ on Jul 22, 2009 8:34 AM EDT in Boxing News Analysis

Andre Dirrell isn't making any bones about it: He expects to dominate Carl Froch on October 17. (via blogs.trb.com)

If Andre Dirrell is 80% as good as he thinks he is, we're going to have a star on our hands. The former Olympic bronze medalist isn't mincing words about his Super Six World Boxing Classic opening fight with Carl Froch on October 17. He expects to dominate.

In a press release, Dirrell is bursting with killer quotes about the fight and his opponent.

"I begged to get Froch in my first fight. He's the guy I wanted. This is going to be my easiest fight. This is the fight where I'll show off and look my best, and that's a guarantee. I'll look my best there because he's just that easy to hit and he's slow."

Thing is, I've grown to really like both Dirrell and Froch, and especially Froch, whose last two fights have both been outstandingly memorable. He's proven that he wasn't just a big talker slamming Calzaghe without anything to back it up once the competition level rose. In his two toughest fights, he got gut-checked and won.

But Dirrell isn't just whistling "Dixie" here, either. He's way faster than Froch, and Froch is really easy to hit. I dare say Dirrell is a bigger puncher than Jermain Taylor, who floored Froch earlier this year. Froch is going to have to beat Dirrell in a brawl. He's going to have to out-man him, to put it simply. He'll have to chin check Dirrell and get on him, and stay on him. If he boxes him, he's going to get smoked. Dirrell has that sort of natural ability.

Another quote from Dirrell, this one about the tournament (and about Andre Dirrell):

"I will beat world champion after world champion and that in turn will make me the best out there. That's what I love about this tournament."

He has more respect for the two other European fighters taking part in the Super Six, Mikkel Kessler and Arthur Abraham:

"Mikkel Kessler will definitely be the toughest fight for me and I love Arthur Abraham's defense, so he'll be another tough opponent. He's also going to be quicker than the other guys because he's coming up from a smaller weight class."

That last part might be off. Abraham might be the second-slowest guy in the tournament, ahead of only Froch. I mean, Taylor came up from 160, too.

Right now, I think I really do favor Dirrell against Froch, but if I had to place a number on it, I'd say I'm 55% in favor of Dirrell. I don't know how his chin takes a Froch barrage and I don't know if he can bang with him. Dirrell is no feather-fisted slouch himself and he's going to be the better athlete in there by far, but Taylor and Jean Pascal could say the same thing against Froch and they didn't beat him.

Tweet Comment 4 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I like Dirrell for the upset in this one

Dirrell’s feet and hands are just too quick. The two BIG BIG BIG question marks, however, are his chin (untested, and Hanshaw hurt him a bit at one point) and his stamina (he’s only gone longer than 6 twice, and his only 10 round fight was the Curtis Stevens snoozefest where he barely threw punches). There’s a very decent chance this one ends up looking like Froch-Taylor, with Dirrell dominating early, and Froch catching up to him late. He’s right that this is the most winnable fight for him though. I like Ward to beat him head to head at this point, based on better accuracy and technique, but I also think that Ward will get exposed as being chinny somewhere in this tournament. The guy Erislandy Lara just dominated knocked down and seriously hurt Ward, so Ward will need to watch out when he faces a puncher. He might have enough of a length advantage over Abraham to stay out of his range, but I think Kessler will get to him.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Jul 22, 2009 9:07 AM EDT reply actions

those seem like HUGE question marks

when you take into account that Froch will just keep coming for 12 rounds and will land some big ones at some stage. There’s also no-one near the class of Pascal or Taylor on Dirrell’s record, either. I just don’t like Froch’s chances in the tournament as a whole At All, but I think its a mistake in general to say someone’s going to be an ‘easy’ fight. And for Dirrell at least, Froch will not be easy.

We're all given some sort of skill in life. Mine just happens to be beating up on people. (Sugar Ray Leonard)

by BrianBrock on Jul 22, 2009 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions

I'd only rate Hanshaw a half-step down from Pascal

Pascal’s a lot of fun, but I still don’t think he’s very good.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Jul 22, 2009 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Hanshaw's solid

pretty rugged, just saw a few rounds of him on the tube with Dirrell and RJJ. Just a half-step though? Pascal’s not great or anything anyway, surprised me with Diaconu.
Liking Froch more after seeing how well Hanshaw did though.

We're all given some sort of skill in life. Mine just happens to be beating up on people. (Sugar Ray Leonard)

by BrianBrock on Jul 22, 2009 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions