I would be very concerned for Taylor’s health if he enters the ring again. He has been brutally KO’d 3 times now. His health is far more important than anything else right now. He is young, already won belts, and I don’t think he has anything left to prove to anyone. However, he may somehow feels he has to prove that his early success was not a fluke.
- Carl Froch is dirty as hell.
Froch isn’t the most skillful of the six by any stretch, but he is the champion nonetheless. In his fight with Ander Dirrell, Froch repeatedly hit behind Dirrell’s head. He used the heel of his glove to push Dirrell’s head back, and then threw an inside uppercut. He elbowed Dirrell, and he held and hit. He hit after the break, and he regularly grabbed Dirrell behind the neck and pushed his head down, so much that he pushed Dirrell to the canvas. For some strange reason the referee chose not to penalize him, but he did take a point away from Dirrell for holding. And this was done without a warning. The point deduction might have been acceptable under different circumstances, but not Saturday night when Froch was attempting to pull off just about every dirty move possible.
- Andre Dirrell’s time is coming, and soon.
Dirrell came into this fight knowing that the odds were stacked against him from the start. He was fighting against the champion in his own backyard. He knew that he would have to follow his camps gameplan to the “T” to even get a shot at victory. Needless to say, it just wasn’t enough. Dirrell lost the fight in a split decision ( I thought he won 114-113). Dirrell can learn from this fight and grow. This loss will not hold him back from any other title shots in his future. He’s a young, gifted, and a technically sound boxer in the making, he just needs more fights like this in order for him to evolve. The fight was there for him to win, but it can be argued that he let it slip away. Rule number one; fighting in a champions home country means you have to knock him out to win. You won’t win a decision unless you have utterly destroyed the champ, and sometimes that doesn’t even work.
Like I stated earlier, I thought Dirrell won the fight 114-113. I could see if the judges saw the fight for Froch by a score of 114-113 as well or even a draw. I cannot however see how two of the judges saw the fight 115-112 for Froch.
Boxing rounds are supposed to be judged on offense AND defense. Dirrell landed more punches and he avoided the majority of Froch’s attacks throughot the fight. A clear cut example was when Froch had Dirrell on the ropes and in the corners, and probably landed less than 10% of the punches that he threw while in those positions. Dirrell even punched his way out of the corner in one instance he landed a devastating left hook that staggered Froch.