Accused of "Running scared," following October's split-decision loss to WBC super middleweight (168 pounds) champion, Carl Froch (26-0, 25 knockouts), former Olympic bronze medalist, Andre Dirrell, had something to prove entering last Saturday's group stage No. 2 bout with unbeaten, former, middleweight (160 pounds) king, Arthur Abraham
, before Dirrell's partisan fans at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena.Not only was Abraham's peek-a-boo defense perceived to be impregnable, but he was coming off of a 12th-round knockout of former undisputed world middleweight titlist, Jermain Taylor, was after his ninth knockout in his past 10 fights, and his third straight stoppage victory.
But it was the 27-year-old Dirrell who emerged the signature performance of his young career, flooring the 30-year-old Abraham for the first time his career in the fourth round with a long, counter-left hand, slicing a cut beneath his right eye with a seventh-round, left hook, and frustrating the Armenian-born fighter into a bout-ending, 11th-round foul.
Abraham (31-1, 25 KOs) lost his first, professional bout by disqualification at 1:13 of the 11th, as Dirrell rose to 19-1, with 13 knockouts in their Showtime-televised, Super Middleweight World Boxing Classic bout.
Dirrell spoke to FanHouse in this Q&A about the fight, the future of the tournament, and the victory's impact on his career.
FanHouse: During the immediate moments after the fight, I understand that you were under the impression that you had been knocked out?
Andre Dirrell: Yes, I did. I did. I heard the commotion, and then, I saw my brother jump into the ring. So I didn't know what had happened once I saw that. But I knew that I was low in that corner, I just didn't realize that I was on a knee. I remember the doctors asking me where I was, but I didn't remember any of the punches or anything like that.
I just figured that I was just in the corner and got caught. I remember the fight. I remembered, like, certain rounds of the fight, like, seven rounds of the fight. I thought that it was a lot closer than when I finally watched the tape. But there was so much commotion that I couldn't even think. I couldn't think of nothing.
When you get hit, like I had gotten dropped as an amateur, and you just hear the whole crowd, and you're like in a dream. So I got up, heard a bunch of commotion, a bunch of people were around. My head was hurting really bad. And I just couldn't focus. My mind wasn't on anything but what had happened.
I'm thinking that I had gotten dropped and I'm hearing the crowd going crazy, so I was think that was pretty much it.
FH: Who was the first person who told you that you had in fact been declared the winner?
Dirrell: My big brother, Willie, he's one of the corner men. And he was like, 'Andre, you won, man, you did your job. You did what you were supposed to do.' And I was like, 'What?' And he was like, 'You dropped him, man. And he got disqualified, man. You was whuppin him, man.' That's all that I kept hearing was that he got disqualified.
FH: So can you tell me about the experience of watching the replay of the fight on tape?
Dirrell: I watched the whole fight. I couldn't stand watching the end. I could not stand watching the end. But as I watched the fight, I was executing perfectly. I was using all of my abilities that I had and the abilities that he couldn't handle to beat him in that fight.
Like I said, I was in training camp, and it was a hard training camp. I knew exactly what I had to work on, and I believe that I executed perfectly. It was a beautifully executed fight -- the way that a boxer is supposed to beat a brawler. I saw that I was given round after round. There were very few flaws.
I was even surprised by my performance. I didn't see holding and I didn't see running. I just utilized the ring well. I thought that it was a beautiful fight, man. It was a beautiful master piece leading up to the disqualification.
FH: Whom did you watch the fight with?
Dirrell: My fiance, Alaia Zamora, was with me watching it. I was still anticipating waiting the whole time until the punch had come. It was explained to me when I got hit, where I got hit at, but I still didn't expect it to be the way that it was. I thought that I had gotten hit in the temple, because my temple was very sore.
My head was hurting really bad like I said, and my jaws were hurting. And when I watched the fight, I actually saw that I had slipped, went to get back up, and so I'm more or less up on all fours, looking down. And then he brings the hook in and connected right on my jaw. I believe that my mouth was open a little bit.
And I hated watching it. I didn't even want the camera on me. I hated watching it. It wasn't a good feeling.
FH: How so?
Dirrell: I really believe that he took my shine. Even if people say that I was acting, or taking a dive, even if so, and that was 100 percent true, he brought that disqualification on himself. He did that. A lot of people are judging my character when they should be judging his.
Everybody thought that Arthur Abraham was a nice guy who walks around and smiles all day. Even me, I thought that he had a great personality and seemed like a good guy to be around. But when you're in a losing situation, how do you handle yourself then?
When your backs against the ropes, how do you handle yourself then? He showed it. And it's really tough for me to digest. I just wanted that legitimate win, being that I had lost to Carl Froch, and I wanted to bounce back and show the world that that loss didn't affect me mentally.
And I did that, but I didn't get the glorified things that I should have. I didn't get that in-ring interview. I didn't get to go to a post-fight press conference. It was just tough for me to swallow. It's tough for me to swallow right now, it really is. No matter how good that I looked, I wish that I could have finished that fight legitimately.
I watched the tape twice, and I've watched it for the last time. I'm not going to watch it again, and that's a guarantee. I looked at it and I saw where I was on the canvas. I watched me throw a jab on the way down. My legs slipped, and I slid down. He backed up a bit off of that punch, looked at me the whole time, came up and just stared and really just hit me.
After being on the ground for 1.2 seconds. It was a shot that he felt that he had to take, and we all know that he wouldn't done that if he was leading on the score cards. It wouldn't have happened.
FH: Was there a moment in the fight where you knew that you were in complete control?
Dirrell: It was pretty much the first round, as awkward as it sounds. I know that he's a slow starter, but at the same time, I knew that his ability to handle pressure wouldn't be that heavy. I pretty much knew that if I stuck to my game plan that it was going to be pretty easy.
Once I felt him out in the first couple of rounds, I figured that he would start to feel the pressure. I was pretty confident from the first round on.
FH: What particular punches do you believe had the most effect?
Dirrell: I honestly believe that it was the straight punches. A lot of times I wouId throw the straight left down to the body, and turn out, and that was confusing because he never knew whether I was going to throw to the top or the bottom, or to the body or the head. And most of the straight lefts that I shot to the body, I would come right back around to the top with a looping left hook.
That would get right around his defense, and that started to confuse him down the line. So the straight punches were pretty much the most effective punshes for me because they set up everything else.
FH: Were there any punches that you felt he was concerned about as far as potentially being knocked out?
Dirrell: I honestly believe that the left hand would have knocked him out and was hurting him the most and was the most effective as far as power punches go. And I believe that once he felt my power, that he knew that if I landed the right shots, that I could take him out.
I didn't throw enough uppercuts in the fight, and I wish that I had. Because a lot of the punches that he threw were those leaping, looping punches. That's when I would step to the side. For example, when I dropped him the first time, I stepped to the side of his looping punches and came right over the top with the left hand, I could have done that a lot of times in the fight.
But for the most part, I was just keeping my composure and boxing and not looking for the knockout, and that's how the big punches landed. So, there was a possibility, even after the stoppage, that I could have stopped him in around the 11th or 12th round.
FH: Is there any consolation that you thrilled your home crowd?
Dirrell: It really felt awesome, man. It was the best feeling in the world. I haven't had a home fight in a long time. The one that I had before in Flint, that was the beginning of my professional career, but it was nothing compared to this. I knew that my crowd was going to bring out the best in me, and I knew that I would feed off of the crowd's energy.
I knew that it was going to be my best performance yet. I haven't heard a single fan tell me that it wasn't my best performance -- everyone that I've talked to. I didn't run, and I didn't grapple, I moved just enough. Slight movements made the biggest difference.
Running would have just built his confidence, but being right there in his face, giving him small turns and coming back with punches, that was going to confuse him. I did just that, and I truly believe that I did everything that I didn't do in the Froch fight.
FH: Where are you reading or hearing that you took a dive or whatever?
Dirrell: The European fans. I've already gotten like 250, more than that in requests on Twitter. And they're still coming in. You have a few guys telling me that I was acting. And I'll tell them, 'Well you let the strongest guy at 178, or 168, and, 160 hit you while you're on the floor and let's see just how you act?'
I fed into one because it was very blatant and it was just blatantly disrepectful. But the rest of them, I ignored them.
FH: What does it say about you and Andre Ward that you beat the two guys who were perceived favorites in Kessler and Abraham?
Dirrell: We were supposed to b e the underdogs, but I said it before that this tournament was made for us. We're the two, superior boxers, we're the fighters that people want to see the most of and see what we can bring to the table. They want to see if we can handle the pressure, and we've answered all of the questions.
Because we're so talented, and because we're so young, and because we're in our prime, then, this tournament has to be focused on us. They just want to see if we can cut it or not. There's no oen I've ever faced in sparring or boxing period that hits as hard as Abraham did.
Abraham is the hardest-hitting guy I've ever faced, period. Mikkel Kessler speaks for himself, more than 40 fights. They wanted to see how well we could do, and we answered all of those questions. From this moment on, the fans will pay close attention to us when we fight.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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