The Agganis Arena in Boston will host the May 23rd edition of the “Premier Boxing Champions” broadcast set to air on NBC. The card is officially promoted by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing and is headlined by England’s 2008 Olympic gold medal winner James DeGale (20-1), as he faces Andre Dirrell (24-1) of the United States for the vacant IBF World Super Middleweight title.
Right now, the sportsbooks have Dirrell, a 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, as the favorite paying (-135), with the comeback on DeGale coming in at (+115).
DeGale was the mandatory challenger for the belt recently vacated by Carl Froch. No amount of goading Froch on the part of DeGale was enough to lure Froch in for the fight, so now Froch gets Dirrell. For his part, Dirrell was one of the top super middleweights in the world when he took a loss to Froch He came back to face Arthur Abraham in March of 2010, which left him with a brain injury. He fought just twice in the ensuing four years, presumably caring for his condition, but in August of 2014 he started a series of fights that have seen him go 3-0. In his day, Dirrell was considered to be championship material, however the vague ‘brain’ injury will almost always haunt him. Dirrell has re-invented himself and goes by the nickname “The Resurrected” now.
The vacant WBA World Super Featherweight title will also be on the line as Bryan Vasquez (34-1) and Javier Fortuna (27-0-1) do battle . Right now, the two men are basically facing a pick ’em fight, as both are paying back at (-110). Vasquez has held an interin version of this belt, and his lone loss comes at the hands of Takashi Uchiyama, the man who vacated the belt to move up a weight class. For his part, Fortuna has also held an interim WBA world belt at featherweight.
Neither bout has an over/under posted yet, however the five-fight offering also features a 10-rounder at light heavyweight between Edwin Rodriguez (26-1) and undefeated Craig Baker (16-0) and another 10-rounder between Gary O’Sullivan (20-1) and Melvin Betancourt (29-1). Check back later in the week to see if more numbers pop up at the books.
