Dirrell gives Abraham first loss, via disqualification
After being thoroughly dominated for ten plus rounds by Andre Dirrell tonight in Detroit, Michigan, Arthur Abraham committed an egregious, intentional foul, landing a powerful right hook to the jaw of Dirrell after he slipped on a wet spot in a corner of the ring. The foul has to go down as one of the ugliest incidents in recent boxing history, as Abraham clearly threw the punch out of frustration, the result of which was a serious injury to his opponent.
Although the official result was a victory via disqualification, to discount Andre Dirrell's masterful performance before the foul would be a gross injustice. Dirrell, a spectacularly gifted athlete from Flint, Michigan, completely confused and thoroughly beat up the previously undefeated Armenian fighter throughout the contest.
With the exception of a few moments during the bout, Andre Dirrell completely had his way, utilizing quickness, movement and combination punching to keep Arthur Abraham mostly in a defensive shell. As a result, Abraham was never able to get into a rhythm, nor was he able to get off very many of his vaunted counterpunches.
After Dirrell clearly won the first three rounds on activity and effective aggressiveness, Arthur Abraham attempted to step up his pace in round four but ate a straight, counter left hand for his trouble that put him on the seat of his pants for the first time in his career. While he may have been off balance when he received the clean shot, the message was sent….this would be a long night for the former middleweight champion.
A consistent pattern of Andre Dirrell outclassing Abraham with quickness, movement and punching continued until the tenth round when the Armenian finally had an opportunity to shine. Trapping Dirrell in a corner, Abraham unleashed and landed a series of powerful punches to the head and body before being warned by the referee for sticking his left hand out as a range finder, which allowed the American to escape from danger.
In the eleventh round, Dirrell seemed to regain his composure before slipping in the corner and being fouled by Abraham. The punch to Andre Dirrell's chin was vicious and intentional, and as a result, Arthur Abraham should be suspended from boxing and expelled from SHOWTIME Television Network's Super Six Classic Boxing Tournament.
Dirrell was seriously injured from the punch and was knocked out cold. His legs were convulsing and his breathing was irregular until being resuscitated by medical staff. He was clearly disoriented after the match, believing he lost the bout via knockout, and according to his promoter Gary Shaw, Andre Dirrell had little clarity as to his whereabouts on the way to the hospital after the match. Unfortunately, at this moment, Andre Dirrell's future in the ring is very much in doubt.
It is disgraceful that the cowardly foul will tarnish Andre Dirrell's much-deserved victory, but for his effort, he improves his record to 19 victories against only one controversial defeat, and as for Arthur Abraham, he suffers his first defeat in thirty-two fights.