Dirrell vs. Froch: This Fight Will Make Andre

Boxingnews24.com Scott Gilford4th September, 2009

It's still over a month away before WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (25-0, 20 KO's) faces Andre Dirrell (18-0, 13 KO's), but already a lot interest in generating for this fight, possibly even more than the other Super Six group I bouts.

Thus far, not too many people are giving Dirrell, 26, much of a chance to win the tournament nor do they see him beating Froch on October 17th, in Nottingham, England. However, after seeing many of Froch and Dirrell's fights in the past three years, I can't help but see this is a huge mismatch for Dirrell.

This fight will not be even remotely close. Not only is Dirrell much faster than the slow-fisted Froch, but Dirrell is also taller than Froch by one inch at 6'2" and has an inch advantage in reach at 75" compared to Froch's 74". More importantly, Dirrell is the tallest opponent that Froch has ever fought in his entire seven year pro career.

Froch, 6'1", has been accustomed to being the taller fighter with the longer reach in his fights and has been spoiled in some ways by being the bigger fighter. Well, on October 17th, Froch will be facing someone taller than him with a longer reach, much better hand speed and power that I consider to be even or slightly better than Froch.

As it turns out, Dirrell is actually the biggest of all the Super Six contestants, which I see as something that will be giving Dirrell a huge advantage, especially against the painfully slow and defensively limited Froch.

Froch is like the poster boy for what not to do in the boxing ring. He stands straight up, plods forward with his chin hanging out begging to be socked, and with both hands down by his waist as if he's a poor man's Roy Jones Jr.

And then to top it off, Froch has terrible hand speed and moves like he lacks coordination in his body. He's made for order for a fighter like Dirrell. Froch just moves way too slow to compete with a speedster like Dirrell, and if it's not clear to all now, it will be in the first minute of the first round when Dirrell starts drilling Froch in the face with combinations.

Dirrell has the ability to fight on the outside using his jab and combinations or get inside and dominate with his blazing speed. He can basically do it all. Whereas with Froch, he will be plodding forward with both hands down by his waste looking to throw slow uppercuts and hooks.

I don't see how Froch will be able to connect it all because of his slow hand speed and his tendency to keep his hands down by his waste all the time. By the time Froch lifts his hands up from his waist to throw a shot, vast stretches of time have gone by.

I just don't see that slow, primitive style working against a much faster and taller fighter like Dirrell. Like I said previously, Dirrell is a vastly improved version of Jermain Taylor, and we already saw what Taylor was able to do with Froch through much of their fight.

It was embarrassing until Taylor tired out in the last four rounds of the fight. I see this as Dirrell's easiest fight of the Super Six tournament by far. Froch doesn't have a ghost of a chance against Dirrell.

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