clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Andre Dirrell leaves 50 Cent's team, rejoins Al Haymon

Andre Dirrell has left 50 Cent's SMS Promotions to link back up with Al Haymon, and says he's returning to action on August 1. Will his career ever get on track?

Tom Casino/SHOWTIME
Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

Andre Dirrell has apparently realized that working with 50 Cent: Boxing Promoter isn't doing anything for his career, so he's decided to leave SMS Promotions, according to a report at The Flint Journal. Dirrell, who turns 31 in September, is currently slated to fight on the August 1 edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights, and is also reportedly back with adviser Al Haymon.

Dirrell (21-1, 14 KO) has fought just twice since a 2010 disqualification win over Arthur Abraham. He initially took time off ostensibly due to a "brain injury" suffered at the hands of a late shot from Abraham, though that has never really been confirmed, and the Showtime All Access cameras seemed to catch the Dirrell camp fumbling about trying to explain the injury, before inevitably pulling out of a Super Six fight with Andre Ward, and the tournament as a whole due to that withdrawal.

Dirrell returned in December 2011 with a win over club fighter Darryl Cunningham on ShoBox, then missed all of 2012 before a February 2013 win over Michael Gbenga. It's been tough to really keep tabs on Dirrell over the last few years, though the story of his "brain injury" is notably absent from the Flint Journal story.

Dirrell says he did not leave SMS Promotions on bad terms, and that it was merely an issue of 50 Cent not really being able to get him fights. It's also said that his camp is looking for someone to give him a "stiff challenge" on August 1, though that's probably not likely on a week's notice. Renan St-Juste, who would have been a perfectly acceptable comeback (again) opponent, was the original opponent, and pulled out of the fight.

Before signing with 50 Cent's team, Dirrell had left promoter Gary Shaw and Haymon.

Do you see Dirrell's career actually getting back on track? Or will he fight once, and then we'll run a story like this again sometime in 2015?

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Bad Left Hook Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of all your global boxing news from Bad Left Hook