Andre Dirrell Wins via DQ over Arthur Abraham in 11th, Stays Alive in Super Six By Alec Kohut at ringside, MaxBoxing (March 28, 2010) Special to Doghouse Boxing
From the beginning of the fight, Dirrell seemed like a man on a mission, controlling the fight by keeping Abraham at bay with sharp right jabs, then peppering him with straight lefts. After being easily outpointed the first two rounds, Abraham came alive at the end of third round, landing two hard right hands to seal the stanza.
The fourth round began with Dirrell as the busier fighter, but Abraham backed him up, trying to get him into a corner. After being backed up midway through the round, Dirrell came forward, landing a hard straight left and sent Abraham down.
Abraham continued to try and slow Dirrell’s movement and keep him on the ropes while Dirrell remained the busier fighter, landing to the head and the body effectively against the slower Abraham. By the seventh round, Abraham’s right eye was swelled and bleeding. The bleeding continued and after a huge counter left by Dirrell in the ninth round, referee Laurence Cole felt the need to have the ringside doctor take a look.
Abraham, seeming to realize in the tenth round that he needed a knockout to win, began stalking Dirrell with greater purpose and went for the win. Abraham seemed to score a knockdown in the tenth, but Cole correctly ruled it a slip, as the fighters feet tangled.
Abraham continued working feverishly while Dirrell moved and slipped until the bizarre events of the 11th round ended Abraham’s winless streak.
The judges all had Dirrell ahead in the fight by a comfortable margin. Guido Cavalleri and Anek Hongtongkam both had it 97-91, while Frank Garza scored it 98-91.
While Andre Dirrell headed to the hospital following the fight, Gary Shaw, Dirrell’s promoter railed against his German counterparts, whose major concern was whether or not Dirrell would complete the post-fight steroid test.
The victory keeps Dirrell in the tournament, earning him two points, and lifting his career record to 19-1 with 13 KOs, while the loss was Abraham’s first after 31 straight victories.
UNDERCARD RESULTS
Earlier this week, Ryan Maquiñana introduced cruiserweight Lateef Kayode to MaxBoxing.com readers; tonight, Kayode introduced himself to Detroit fight fans with a fourth-round TKO of Chris Thomas of Chicago. Kayode scored a devastating combination midway through the fourth round dropping Thomas and forcing the stoppage at 1:43 of the round.
“Freddie told me to hit him with a straight right and a left hook and he’ll come down. I did it in the fourth round and he came down,” said Kayode who improved to 11-0 with 10 KOs. Thomas fell to 17-10-2 (14).
Trainer Freddie Roach said that early, Kayode was too aggressive and smothering his punches; of the fourth round, he said, “He gave himself enough room to land the shots.”
I asked Roach how he felt being a star after being mobbed by the Detroit fans following the fight and the celebrated trainer replied, “I like it; it’s nice to be recognized at being good at what you do.”
Junior welterweight Vernon “Iceman” Paris, of Detroit, won all six rounds and scored a second round knockdown earning the 20th win of his career without a loss. The undefeated Paris won by scores of 60-53 (twice) and 60-52 over Oscar Leon of Miami who dropped to 28-12, 18 KOs. With the win, Paris’ record improves to 20-0 (13) with three no-contests.
Ronald Hearns had little trouble earning his 24th win (with 18 KOs), to just one loss, outclassing journeyman Marteze Logan, 26-43-2 (6), of Tennessee. A dominating first round served as a precursor to the entire fight as Hearns easily won a six round unanimous decision.
Middleweight Dominik Britsch of Germany completely overwhelmed Matt Berkshire earning a TKO with a body shot that ended the contest at 1:52 of the second round. The undefeated Britsch added his seventh KO in 18 wins. Berkshire of Morgantown, WV, fell to 10-2-1 with 5 KOs.
With his birthplace Yemen adorned on his trunks, junior middleweight Brian Mihtar of Detroit landed more effective punches and was the busier fighter, scoring a six-round unanimous decision over Ugandan Robert Kamya. Mihtar now holds 13 wins against one loss with 10 KOs. Kamya dropped to 17-11 (4).
Detroit native Darryl Cunningham outclassed Rockford, IL’s Pat Coleman en route to a unanimous decision in their four-round super middleweight bout. Cunningham was efficient and used good body work to improve to 19-2 (9), while Coleman fell to 29-17 (20) with two no-contests.
Rich “Super” Power, of Keego Harbor, MI, overcame a first-round knockdown, to earn a third-round TKO over Ray Lopez of Holland, MI, in their heavyweight contest. The loss dropped Lopez to 1-1 (1), while Power improved to 11-0 (8).
A devastating fourth round, with one knockdown, propelled Vincente Alfaro, of Minneapolis, MN, to a unanimous four-round decision over Ron Siler, Cincinnati, OH, in a battle of 1-0 bantamweights.
Middleweight Purnell Gates, of Grandville, MI improved to 18-1 (13) with a lackluster split decision in four rounds over Chris Grays, now 9-19 (2).
