Agganis Arena, Boston, MA, May 23
TV: NBC
By Peter Lim
This looks like a high-quality match-up considering DeGale (20-1, 14 KOs) is a 2008 Olympic gold medalist and Dirrell (24-1, 16 KOs) a 2004 Olympic bronze medalist. But styles make fights and it turns out to be a yawner of a chess match thanks to Dirrell's safety-first, fan-unfriendly mode of combat.
DeGale presses the action and attempts to initiate exchanges but the switch-hitting Dirrell backs away, smothers, holds and simply refuses to engage. As successful as Dirrell is in killing DeGale's momentum, he offers little in terms of a counter attack allowing DeGale to eke out a
razor-close decision after 12 very forgettable rounds.
Afterthoughts:
The verdict was correct: in a close fight, the guy who scores the knockdowns wins.
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