Anthony Dirrell v. Andre Ward

[mike_tha_man]

hey hold up wasnt Andre Dirrell the one that beat Hanshaw. Anthony Dirrell is the hurt brother. yeah i think thats it.

[killersheep]

Andre Ward had a bad moment as well against Darnell Boone, he got hurt badly, I give him credit for finishing strong, but he has definately shown that you can get to him. I'd currently side with Dirrell. Great match-up should be made in 2009.

[Wayne]

hey hold up wasnt Andre Dirrell the one that beat Hanshaw. Anthony Dirrell is the hurt brother. yeah i think thats it.

Nope, you got it backwards. Here's how I remember it: it's Anthony and Andre Dirrell, Anthony Hanshaw fought Andre Dirrell so Anthony Dirrell is the one who has cancer. I interviewed Andre and his grandfather and they said Anthony is just waiting to get the all-clear from the docs to start training again. He's kept his weight up and looks fine.

So that means I probably screwed up the names in my initial post.

[CutMeMick]

Would loooooove to read amats thoughts on this.

Not sure who I'd side with here. Need to give it more thought.

[amat]

I really doubt this ever happens they have been friends for a very long time as they have been on the national circuit together since they were like 14. The Dirrells when they first turned pro were based in California and trained at Kings Gym where Ward trains. They also fought on the same cards early.

Maybe down the line if they are both champions but otherwise we'll never see it.

It's an interesting fight though. It all depends on how they try to fight. If both are content to box, then Ward wins fairly easily. He's the much better boxer of the two. For one he's not a spot fighter like Dirrell is so winning rounds would be very difficult for Dirrell. Ward has an excellent jab and an excellent game behind the jab.

That's actually what I think would happen if they fought. Don't think Dirrell would put any sort of consistent pressure on Ward unless Ward brought it first.

If he did though, then it would be up to Ward to counterpunch which he can do just as well. Dirrell is a hard hitter though and some question the chin of Ward. I think it's overblown but he hasn't really been hit hard lately. So maybe Dirrell could land something and try to test that chin. Dirrell just doesn't fight for 3 minutes a round though and Ward is really good at neautralizing his opponent's attacks with all sorts of feints and movement. So I'm not sure.

I think Dirrell's best shot would be to count on Ward to provide the pressure. Ward likes to keep guys offguard in a defensive posture and then jump forward with a punch much like Hopkins likes to do. But Ward doesn't do it as well. Sometimes he comes from to far out and he tends to get in front of his feet. Dirrell has some nice uppercuts it's very possible that he could catch Ward coming forward underneath and if things go right hurt him.

That's the only way I see Dirrell winning is with him being the role of the counterpuncher and Ward being the pressure fighter. I don't think Ward would be so dumb though.