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Monday, March 29, 2010

Allegations of Dirrell Cheating Are Unwarranted


by Dafs117

Experienced writer and analyst, T.K. Stewart, has been the first to openly criticize Andre Dirrell following his disqualification victory over Arthur Abraham at the weekend, accusing Dirrell of 'mock pain and agony' as he was laid flat on the canvas following a cheap shot from Arthur Abraham in Detroit.

Stewart complains that Dirrell faked injury to claim his first victory in the Super 6 Boxing Classic so he can continue on in Showtime's 168-pound tournament.

As always, Arthur Abraham's fan club has used this to back their poorly thought-out argument on how their guy was badly treated by Michigan officials, and how he was robbed of a 32nd career victory.

Dirrell was clearly ahead at this point in the fight and looked relatively comfortable, if slightly tired, as he hopped on his motor scooter and stayed well clear of Abraham, who stalked him looking for another dramatic knockout. The momentum was hardly with Abraham, even though he should have been awarded a knockdown in the tenth.

Stewart goes on to slate referee Laurence Cole, who made the decision to disqualify Abraham after the foul. He claims that Cole "went for the bait - hook, line and sinker", which is uncalled for in my opinion. Cole's job is hard enough without writers like Stewart on his case every time he gets a big fight, constantly referring to this fight for extra credibility from casual fans.

Abraham claims that he "did not see that he was down." Is that his best response? C'mon get real. He'd been looking up at Dirrell, 6'1'' no less, who had been towering over him, 5'9'', all night, but then suddenly Dirrell was clutching Abraham's ankles. Maybe Stewart went for the bait - hook, line and sinker?

Stewart closes his article with "the boxing ring is no place for actors - especially ones as putrid as Andre Dirrell." But the only actor I saw in the ring on Saturday night was Arthur Abraham, who complained and nagged at referee Cole about non-existent low blows. Trying to buy points from officials is a form of cheating, and because he didn't have 'his' referee, frustration boiled over which ultimately led to a thundering right hand from one of the biggest punchers in boxing landing on a defenseless Dirrell.

If Dirrell was acting, he should really try to get a part in an action film, because I was sold. He was obviously not, as he still hadn't realised that he had won moments after he regained consciousness. The twitching, the disorientation; both obvious signs of concussion, was enough for the doctors to make a thorough check on Dirrell in the ring and at the hospital.

The conspiracy theories are flooding in on forums across the web, but you only need to look at other televised fights to see why there is such skepticism of Dirrell. Francisco Lorenzo's melodramatic actions against Humberto Soto is a prime example, even if the aftermath was as despicable. Lorenzo is the scapegoat here, but he and many others are partly responsible for making spectators doubt the true purity of one's actions. It's the same in other sports, not just boxing.

Was Abraham's foul malicious? Probably not, I think it was more out of frustration than anything. It was out-of-character for a guy that has been very laid-back on Fight Camp 360, without even a mention of hatred towards his competitors. His reputation has been tarnished because of one moment of madness. It was a rush of blood to the head type of thing, nothing more.

Everybody's entitled to their opinion, and I'm not trying to brainwash you into thinking that Abraham's shot was intentional, but the correct decision was made. Make up your own mind, the video is here.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

piss off ! you dont slip into unconsciousness several seconds after a shot lands... especially when it was the thumb and not the knuckle !

This post is no better than one you'd see in a forum and not a true reflection.

Dafs117 said...

@ Anonymous

As you probably know, Abraham is a fearsome puncher, one of the hardest in the business. The force of the punch by Abraham, be it not the hardest he's ever thrown but there was a backdraw and follow through, was hard enough to knock Dirrell, who didn't expect the punch, out. It looks to me as a right hook, and if you don't expect a punch coming, it has more impact, especially when your head snaps back as Dirrell's did.

You must agree with the disqualification though, right? He did hit him when he was down, acting or no acting, it's still a disqualification.

In another bout that took place this weekend, Chris Henry kayoed Hugo Garay in the first round, where Garay goes down sort of faking he's been knocked out. The referee waves away the contest, Garay immediately gets up and starts protesting. I suggest you take a look at it and compare it to Dirrell, there is a significant difference.

Thanks for the comment.

- Dafs

Pedro said...

For fuck sake.. Dirrel was acting on the "K.O.", that means he coul've continued to fight and the rules say if u can, u have to. And yes it was bloody stupid from AA to bitch slap him while he was on the floor I aint saying anything about that.

Tony said...

http://www.theboxinghistorian.com/n

LatinoPorVida said...

I've just finished watching this fight again. As you can see on www.theboxingbulletin.com I was there live and in direct covering this exciting bout.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing as Dirrell gave Abraham a boxing lesson. At the same time I can see where Abraham is coming from especially after scoring a 10th round knockdown only to have ref Laurence Cole ignore it. It seemed to me at least that the ref was bothering Abraham to much therefore Abraham got frustrated and thought he'd take matters into his own hands big mistake. Yes Dirrell looked like he was acting yet at the same time Abraham deserves to get DQ'd for hitting his opponent while being on the canvas.

It's a shame because who knows what could have happened if Abraham didn't lose his cool. Maybe Abraham could have caught Dirrell in the 12th round just like he did with Jermain Taylor. Maybe Dirrell would have continued to outbox Abraham winning a UD.

Dafs117 said...

@ LatinoPorVida

Yes, those pictures are great. How was the atmosphere, it seemed a little empty on TV?

I went for Dirrell UD-12, and never been Abraham's biggest fan but think he is a good fighter. Abraham should have had the knockdown, but the DQ was right.

Who knows what would've happened in the 12th if Abraham hadn't blown his top. Dirrell could've cruised or Abraham could've scored a dramatic KO.

LatinoPorVida said...

Thanks Dafs the crowd was great although the Joe Louis arena wasn't full as I expected. I could only imagine how much louder both Detroit and German fans would have been if the stadium would have been full.

I must say I was hoping for Abraham to win. Everybody kept telling me there's no way Abraham would beat Dirrell and they were right.

Then again I wonder who knows what could have occured if Abraham didn't lose his cool. Remeber what Abraham did to Taylor a fight I had Jermain winning.

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