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...for a hard fought and well deserved decision.

Personally, I had it a draw 113-113.

I thought Dirrell battled all the way back and had him leading by 2 points after 10.

But James, to his credit, gathered himself and took the championship rounds.

I have no problem with 114-112 either guy; but someone should investigate the judge that had it 117-109.

No idea what fight that moron was watching.

Lastly, I hope this puts to rest all the talk about Andre Dirrell's heart or lack thereof.

That was as gutty a performance as you will see, and in truth, a round here or there and Andre wins despite the cretin with the idiot score.

Dirrell proved today that he has the heart of a champion.

All he has to do now is put it all together in the ring.

I always had a feeling Dirrell's heart was fine,he had shown weaknesses in the past but I believed he put them behind him and would come back stronger,everyone has a breaking point and once they've been exposed like Andre's WaS then people would rightly assume that they can be exposed again but the way I see it is,every autobiography that I've read has a story about a guy saying that they were once belittled of some sort and vowed never to let it happen again so why can't a fighter be so ashamed that wouldn't allow themselves to give in??

I had DeGale winning 115-112 but funnily enough if you were to score it minute by minute then I thought Dirrell was probably taking itl, but James was landing the better, heavier blows and more importantly they were having an effect I edged DeGale the 1st then was given Dirrell the 2nd until he got put down twice,the 3rd round WaS close but I was edging towards Andre until he gave James a free shot at the end,which in a close round was enough to swing it,Dirrell was clawing the gap until DeGale finished well,another fight in which Andre wasn't a million miles away

After such a torrid start I think Dirrell deserves massive respect for nearly turning it around,despite that Canadians score

Good fight and down the road a rematch would not suck.

These 2 will inevitably fight again. Once Ward takes care of DeGale.

I actually gave it to Dirrell by one round, DeGale too damn lazy mid fight for me. Not going to argue against the result though (except the one stupid card). It's a fight DeGale almost lost himself.

I expect Ward to move to 175 full time in about 2 yrs. From that point DeGale and Dirrell will run that division until someone new shows up.

Golovkin?

Tho I suspect Ward wont leave 168 until he's taken out DeGale and waited on GGG for as long as he can.

diddy wrote:I expect Ward to move to 175 full time in about 2 yrs. From that point DeGale and Dirrell will run that division until someone new shows up.

Golovkin?

Tho I suspect Ward wont leave 168 until he's taken out DeGale and waited on GGG for as long as he can.

Don't forget George Groves, he has beaten DeGale twice.

Ian1973 wrote:

diddy wrote:I expect Ward to move to 175 full time in about 2 yrs. From that point DeGale and Dirrell will run that division until someone new shows up.

Golovkin?

Tho I suspect Ward wont leave 168 until he's taken out DeGale and waited on GGG for as long as he can.

Don't forget George Groves, he has beaten DeGale twice.

I expect Groves to beat Jack. But the DeGale I have seen lately very little resembles the guy who lost to Groves years ago. I would definitely back DeGale to beat Groves right now. I dont think Groves could beat Dirrell.

Ian1973 wrote:

diddy wrote:I expect Ward to move to 175 full time in about 2 yrs. From that point DeGale and Dirrell will run that division until someone new shows up.

Golovkin?

Tho I suspect Ward wont leave 168 until he's taken out DeGale and waited on GGG for as long as he can.

Don't forget George Groves, he has beaten DeGale twice.

Not in the pros he hasn't!

I didn't watch the fight, but the result really surprised me. I expected Dirrell to win fairly easy, something like a 8-4 type of contest. Well anyway, congrats to DeGale.

Badhusker wrote:I didn't watch the fight, but the result really surprised me. I expected Dirrell to win fairly easy, something like a 8-4 type of contest. Well anyway, congrats to DeGale.

If not for the two KDs in round two, this would have been an easy Dirrell victory. Andre was on his way to winning the 2nd round. That alone was a 4 point swing and Dirrell really did not recover until well into the 4th. The KDs were the difference. Without them Dirrell would have won this fight comfortably.

DeGale earned the victory but he faded badly in the middle rounds making it necessary to pull it out in 11 and 12.

I don't think DeGale faded mid fight. I think he is just that type of fighter who coasts a few rounds during fights. Its not like its the first time he has taken his foot off the gas mid fight. Its complacency. When he HAD to step it up again he had plenty of energy in the 11th and 12th rounds.

Old Jack J wrote:I don't think DeGale faded mid fight. I think he is just that type of fighter who coasts a few rounds during fights. Its not like its the first time he has taken his foot off the gas mid fight. Its complacency. When he HAD to step it up again he had plenty of energy in the 11th and 12th rounds.

Use whatever terminology that you prefer, DeGale lost enough rounds mid fight to have suffered a poor decision loss in a foreign land.

3G was criticized for far less the other night. If the cards had gone the way many of us feared they would, DeGale would have had only himself to blame for the close loss or draw.

Tanzio wrote:

Old Jack J wrote:I don't think DeGale faded mid fight. I think he is just that type of fighter who coasts a few rounds during fights. Its not like its the first time he has taken his foot off the gas mid fight. Its complacency. When he HAD to step it up again he had plenty of energy in the 11th and 12th rounds.

Use whatever terminology that you prefer, DeGale lost enough rounds mid fight to have suffered a poor decision loss in a foreign land.

3G was criticized for far less the other night. If the cards had gone the way many of us feared they would, DeGale would have had only himself to blame for the close loss or draw.

Sorry,i took faded as in tired. I don't think he was tired, he just thought he was way ahead and stopped taking risks.

Old Jack J wrote:

Tanzio wrote:

Old Jack J wrote:I don't think DeGale faded mid fight. I think he is just that type of fighter who coasts a few rounds during fights. Its not like its the first time he has taken his foot off the gas mid fight. Its complacency. When he HAD to step it up again he had plenty of energy in the 11th and 12th rounds.

Use whatever terminology that you prefer, DeGale lost enough rounds mid fight to have suffered a poor decision loss in a foreign land.

3G was criticized for far less the other night. If the cards had gone the way many of us feared they would, DeGale would have had only himself to blame for the close loss or draw.

Sorry,i took faded as in tired. I don't think he was tired, he just thought he was way ahead and stopped taking risks.

No apology necessary.

DeGale is no FMJ. He can't afford to take rounds off in foreign countries or at home. That is what cost Pac his first fight with Ramming Speed, no matter how unjust people feel it was.

I wanted Dirrell to win but I think DeGale deserved the win. Besides the 10-7 round, I think Degale won a lot of rounds in the second half of the fight as well. True, he coasted, but you can coast and still win rounds.

Tanzio wrote:
DeGale is no FMJ. He can't afford to take rounds off in foreign countries or at home. That is what cost Pac his first fight with Ramming Speed, no matter how unjust people feel it was.

well said tan De gale seems to rest on his laurels a bit to much, he usually ends up on the ropes for his breathers which can be frustrating.... but he seems just to switch off for unknown reasons. .

Tanzio wrote:That is what cost Pac his first fight with Ramming Speed, no matter how unjust people feel it was.

121-3 among international boxing experts http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Fight:1656951

But i guess you know better.

crow wrote:

Tanzio wrote:That is what cost Pac his first fight with Ramming Speed, no matter how unjust people feel it was.

121-3 among international boxing experts http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Fight:1656951

But i guess you know better.

at Brian Kenny

Baby Face Finster wrote:

Ian1973 wrote:

diddy wrote:I expect Ward to move to 175 full time in about 2 yrs. From that point DeGale and Dirrell will run that division until someone new shows up.

Golovkin?

Tho I suspect Ward wont leave 168 until he's taken out DeGale and waited on GGG for as long as he can.

Don't forget George Groves, he has beaten DeGale twice.

Not in the pros he hasn't!

Once amateur, once professionally - both very close, they are very well matched boxers and both came from the same amateur gym - Dale Youth.

Tony1244 wrote:I wanted Dirrell to win but I think DeGale deserved the win. Besides the 10-7 round, I think Degale won a lot of rounds in the second half of the fight as well. True, he coasted, but you can coast and still win rounds.

You must have flipped the channel and been watching a different fight. Degale took the foot off the pedal second half of the fight and let Dirrell back in it. Thought dirrell won by a point. There were a lot of swing rounds but people will always just think about the knockdowns. Close fight but not surprised by the decision. A draw would have been ideal I think

CrazyHorse wrote: You must have flipped the channel and been watching a different fight. Degale took the foot off the pedal second half of the fight and let Dirrell back in it. Thought dirrell won by a point. There were a lot of swing rounds but people will always just think about the knockdowns. Close fight but not surprised by the decision. A draw would have been ideal I think

De gale seems to switch off in fights, looking like he's gassed. He used to end up fighting on the ropes which can be quite irrating. De gale nearly let it slip if it wasn't for a strong finish in the last 2 rounds. After watching the fight again I had Degale winning by a point or two. However if it was a draw I would not have much compliants

What a great fight. I think both guys upped their stock with their performances and I think that the judges got it right though that one judge missed a great fight. At least he picked the correct winner though his scoring was ridiculous.

Before the fight, I thought that DeGale was just another overhyped Brit but he impressed me. He did seem to coast a bit in the middle rounds but I thought it was a pretty smart strategy after pocketing a 10-7 round early, the pressure is clearly on the other guy to make up those points. I'm actually pretty excited to see DeGale in the ring with Ward or GGG if he decides to move up. DeGale has a style where he's always going to be IN a fight. Solid defense and some pop on his punches, i was impressed.

I was also impressed with Dirrell. Ever since he did that lay down job on Abraham and then the extended time off, I couldn't help but agree with his critics in their assessment that he was soft but there was nothing soft about his performance Saturday. He took a bomb on the chin early, got up and almost fought his way back to get the W. No one can question this guys heart after that, it was also impressive.

Great fight and I really enjoyed the timing of this fight. Mid afternoon on a Saturday when there's typically nothing good on tv. Now if they can just show SRL where the microphone is so he can stop whispering nonsense through the fight, that would be great. When do they pull the plug on that guys? Awful.

CrazyHorse wrote:

Tony1244 wrote:I wanted Dirrell to win but I think DeGale deserved the win. Besides the 10-7 round, I think Degale won a lot of rounds in the second half of the fight as well. True, he coasted, but you can coast and still win rounds.

You must have flipped the channel and been watching a different fight. Degale took the foot off the pedal second half of the fight and let Dirrell back in it. Thought dirrell won by a point. There were a lot of swing rounds but people will always just think about the knockdowns. Close fight but not surprised by the decision. A draw would have been ideal I think

I must admit I took an important phone call and had a drink or two. I will agree with you that there were "a lot of swing rounds." All I'm saying is Dirrell did not necessarily win all the rounds in the 2nd half of the fight just because DeGale made it boring and was coasting, which he was doing. A couple of those rounds DeGale may still have won. Any scoring of the fight that had this a draw or a win by either of 1-2 rounds was fair. One judge I think had it 117-111 and he wasn't even drinking and on the phone.

This fight was super super close. An immediate rematch wouldnt dissapoint anyone and is probably warranted.