Dirrell v Degale

First topic message reminder :

This looks like it could be a great fight. Degale looks like his head is in the right place and very confident but a Dirrell at his best is pure world class..

I can see Degale giving him a hard hard time and maybe even getting the better if he is on his game, but still nervous about him getting a decision out there. Also is it me or does Dirrell looks a bit skinny at the weight?

So Hard to call. Heart Says Degale within 9 or 10 rounds, head Says Dirrell in a close UD or SD... getting the home decision.

3fingers wrote:He'd deal with everyone bar ward and dirrel.

your a sore looser, it was a close fight but if you cant give Degale credit for doing enough just means your a hater...

If he can beat him on his own patch then there is only one harder fight in my view and that's Ward... So you think Dirrell our classed him? , ok.

Just drop all this hater crap, it's so petty and childish.

I wouldn't mind seeing a rematch. That was a very good fight.

Quite enjoyed it and wasn't expecting much.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:Just drop all this hater crap, it's so petty and childish.

You need to change your name to the Hammersmith Hater I reckon

Haters gonna hate bro and you got it in for Chunky real bad

Nobody beats Froch easy. I'm not a fan boy but the guy had made a career out of his durability. Doesn't matter how good you are, you want to beat him, you sweat blood! Look at Groves, he smacked him all over the shop for 6 rounds and still had to deal with all hell afterwards (not getting into the stoppage debate). On Froch's worst day, you have to go through hell to beat him.

tunes666 wrote:

3fingers wrote:He'd deal with everyone bar ward and dirrel.

your a sore looser, it was a close fight but if you cant give Degale credit for doing enough just means your a hater...

If he can beat him on his own patch then there is only one harder fight in my view and that's Ward...  So you think Dirrell our classed him? , ok.

I don't think I made a prediction, and I have no thoughts on either Dirrell or DeGale as people.

Direll won more than half the rounds but lost because of the second round.

3fingers wrote:

tunes666 wrote:

3fingers wrote:He'd deal with everyone bar ward and dirrel.

your a sore looser, it was a close fight but if you cant give Degale credit for doing enough just means your a hater...

If he can beat him on his own patch then there is only one harder fight in my view and that's Ward...  So you think Dirrell our classed him? , ok.

I don't think I made a prediction, and I have no thoughts on either Dirrell or DeGale as people.

Direll won more than half the rounds but lost because of the second round.

I disagree, I dont think he clearly won more than half the rounds, he was often just punching Degales guard and only when Degale looked to tire was he outboxing him.  There is a shout that he won more than half, but some of the rounds were close. Yes in the end it was rnd 2 that won it for Degale. But guess what , round 2 counts!

I think Degale had a GREAT second round particularly as he had just got cut and was bleeding in the eye, which made that punch even more fantastic as the blood was giving him problems.. most of the rounds you could give to Dirrell were simply for coming forward and Degale not throwing, as Dirrell was not landing either. I gave Dirrell 3 clear winning rounds, the rest were either Degales or most of which very close 10/10 rounds..

That being said, I do think Degale was fortunate in that going away from home and winning such a close fight does not usually happen, although Brook also got lucky in that regard as well so..

Do you think DeGale pawing away at his bloodied eye was a feint, making out like he was in more trouble than he was?

I'd like to see DeGale in with Ward or Hopkins if the latter would come back down to SM,  Golovkin or Froch, after DeGale has had his first defence. His victory has breathed new life into the division.

He sounds very ambitious which can only be a good thing for the fans, I hope the other champions will give him a chance, who at this stage wouldn't give him a chance of clearing out the division? Not saying he will but you couldn't rule it out either. He might be the one who could give  Ward the most problems at SM, you never know.

Degale Hopkins... No thanks...

Any of the others are excellent fights however. Hopkins should retire now, the Kovalev fight was too one sided.

If the BBBC give Hopkins a licence to fight here then they are a disgrace..

Other than Ward DeGale is now the biggest name at SMW

A rematch with Groves is on the cards I reckon although not this year

Be a soft defence first up while he waits for Groves..........

If Say Mitchell and Selby win this week...........Then maybe match one with Degale on the same bill with a world world eliminator and Joshua.....

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Be a soft defence first up while he waits for Groves..........

If Say Mitchell and Selby win this week...........Then maybe match one with Degale on the same bill with a world world eliminator and Joshua.....

Can't believe I am missing next weeks card to go horse racing

Don't get me wrong I love horse racing but why did it have to clash with a stag do

UB40 are playing after the racing as well (at the track) so I guess while those passionless riffs and monotonous basslines are being covered I could try to find a bar at the ground that are showing the boxing

Herman Jaeger wrote:Do you think DeGale pawing away at his bloodied eye was a feint, making out like he was in more trouble than he was?

I'd like to see DeGale in with Ward or Hopkins if the latter would come back down to SM,  Golovkin or Froch, after DeGale has had his first defence. His victory has breathed new life into the division.

He sounds very ambitious which can only be a good thing for the fans, I hope the other champions will give him a chance, who at this stage wouldn't give him a chance of clearing out the division? Not saying he will but you couldn't rule it out either. He might be the one who could give  Ward the most problems at SM, you never know.

I dont think so, I think Dirrell started to target him more as he could see blood was going into his eye and this allowed Degale to spot the opening and land the shot but there was quite a bit of blood at that point which can be a distraction and effect your reflexes..

I think Degale should take a voluntary against an ok fighter to get a bot more momentum and promotion and then go for the Groves rematch or drag Froch into a fight.. Best to wait on Ward as its a VERY hard fight and he should try and clean up a bit before facing him. Maybe a fight with Abraham would be good... and Hearn has good relations with that lot..

Yeah it was only a thought that crossed my mind after the event. Nobody could be that good an actor surely!

Abraham or Kessler or Bute would do nicely as a first defence for me.

Herman Jaeger wrote:Yeah it was only a thought that crossed my mind after the event. Nobody could be that good an actor surely!

Abraham or Kessler or Bute would do nicely as a first defence for me.

I think you'll find Kessler has retired, but I could be wrong.

Herman Jaeger wrote:Yeah it was only a thought that crossed my mind after the event. Nobody could be that good an actor surely!

Abraham or Kessler or Bute would do nicely as a first defence for me.

Bute lost his last fight..............

Abraham has the WBO and Kessler has retired....

Rocky Fielding is number 7 with the IBF..................Hearn may try a Brook v Gavin type fight........If not....It will be some Top 10 no name that inhabits the list...

I didn't know Kessler had retired, that would have been a perfect first defence, couldn't they get him back for one last payday and another title? He could say well Froch wouldn't give me the rubber so I beat the guy Froch relinquished to.

Bute is probably finished since Froch but still could be quite interesting from a technical standpoint.

Abraham has got Steiglitz next so not available.

Got a feeling it'll be a garbage defence which is a bit of a shame after such an excellent performance on Saturday.

Eddie has Brook v Khan.......Degale v Groves as potentials.....

In fairness if you can get an easy voluntary to kill time who can blame him.........

It's when Quigg gets four stiffs in a row it becomes silly..

If Khan beats Mayweather do you think he will give Brook a shot at the title?

Degale v Groves will be a massive fight. DeGale will outchunk Groves to a UD on this occasion

Herman Jaeger wrote:Yeah it was only a thought that crossed my mind after the event. Nobody could be that good an actor surely!

Abraham or Kessler or Bute would do nicely as a first defence for me.

All pretty good fights, Abraham would be a good fight..

A DeGale v Paul Smith rematch on Sky Box office surely must next?

catchweight wrote:A DeGale v Paul Smith rematch on Sky Box office surely must next?

Yeah Eddie needs the money

I had Degale winning the fight by a point or so, and that's with the second only being 10-8 on my card rather than 10-7, as I thought he was a bit of a lucky boy to be credited with the second knockdown. His glove was clearly wrapped around the back of Dirrell's head and forcing it downwards as he hit with his free hand (something Degale gets away with quite a lot). So Degale certainly a deserving winner for me regardless of that issue, albeit a draw would have been no disgrace.

I felt that taking aside that second round, Dirrell perhaps fell foul to the same things that Degale fell foul to when he lost to Groves four years back. Degale got things pretty much spot on tactically for six rounds, treading the line between attack and defence well, but Dirrell looked a bit clueless when faced with Degale's movement. Way, way too often he was simply following rather than actually cutting the ring off. Degale was throwing the much better variety of shots, too (he went to the body a few times well, which Dirrell just didn't).

Bit perplexed by Degale's performance between rounds seven and nine, which could be extended to ten as well albeit I felt he actually scored with the cleaner shots in that round despite Dirrell being busier. It was actually a really strong all-round defensive display from Degale throughout the fight, but you don't win rounds solely for just making the other guy miss and he let Dirrell back in to it in that third quarter of the fight. Dirrell did raise his game, but without meaning to sound dismissive of his effort I feel he only looked as dangerous during that period of the fight as Degale allowed him to look.

But I felt the eleventh was certainly a Degale round as he started going to work again, targeting the body and beating Dirrell to the punch like he was earlier, and from then on he just had to make sure he survived the twelfth to win, which was never likely to be an issue. While Dirrell was picking up rounds in the second half of the fight, I never felt that Degale was in any kind of danger of being hurt, let alone stopped.

Dirrell just strikes me as someone who'll remain a bit of an underachiever. I thought his lack of adaptability in the first six rounds was a bit surprising as he'd shown in the Froch fight that he could switch things up a bit out of necessity (I'm talking the last three rounds of the Froch fight, where that point deduction spurred him on to become more aggressive which almost pulled out the win for him). He showed he's got more heart than people might have thought but for me there's still a question over his temperament and professionalism on the big stage. I mean, we've all been sat frustrated for a long time now waiting for him to get back in to the big time, so God only knows how annoying it's been for him - but when his chance comes he's arguing with people who aren't even acting in his corner between rounds, getting involved in verbals with his opponent and showing his displeasure when he loses a round etc. Just get the impression that, one way or another, he's not giving himself the best possible chance to succeed in world title fights.

But a very, very impressive win for Degale despite that blip in the third quarter of the fight. Defensively he was brilliant and for me it was only mental lapses which saw him struggle a wee bit rather than any fitness or conditioning concerns. Those first six rounds showed a real maturity and ring generaship which was lacking in a lot of his old performances, where he seemed to think that talent and amateur pedrigree alone would carry him through. He certainly looks like a different fighter to the one who was having shaky moments and failing to inpsire against divisional gatekeepers in front of small crowds in Channel 5 eighteen months back.

New promoter, new platform, new confidence, new dedication: new fighter.

Let's hope that Groves can now keep his end of the bargain and get that WBC belt off Jack. Degale-Groves II as a unification bout next a.s.a.p would be a fight that would definitely excite me.