The vacant IBF World Super Middleweight title is on this line this Saturday in Boston as James DeGale (20-1) of England faces off against Andre Dirrell (24-1) of the United States. Both men represented their countries in the Olympics, and both men have taken different professional routes to their first world title shots.
Dirrell was considered to be one of the top Super Middleweightas in the world, but he suffered a brain injury in his March 0f 2010 fight against Arthur Abraham. Since then he has fought sporadically, though he has recently put together a 3-0 record in the second half of 2014. Meanwhile, DeGale is on a 10-fight winning streak, and he has been the mandatory defense for former champion Carl Froch since DeGale’s November, 2014 win over Marco Antonio Periban.
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Froch elected to vacate the belt rather than face DeGale, as Froch is now in pursuit of glory and big money fights as he approaches the end of his long career. The fact that Froch handed Dirrell his only career is irrelevant, however it is important to note that came back in 2009, where Dirrell fought well and Froch walked out with a split decision. The match with Abraham goes down as a win for Dirrell, as he was hurt by an illegal blow to the head from Abraham that caused the injury. Dirrell has been around the top of the sport for a lot longer time.
Added to the May 23rd card is the Light Heavyweight bout between Edwin Rodriguez (26-1) taking on undefeated Craig Baker (16-0) over 10 rounds. The line is not posted yet, but it may come up as we get clsoer to fight time.
Check out the video where the odds for this weekend’s Dirrell vs DeGale bout and more.
