I don't see what could he do otherwise because the IBF belt is his best chance to win a title. He won't fight his brother for the WBC, and he won't be fighting Abraham either. He's not anywhere near the WBO mandatory position and Abraham has other plans anyway. This leaves Andre Ward who is coming back from inactivity and certainly won't be willing to fight Dirrell straight away. Ward also said that he wants 2 tune-up fights so there goes whole 2015. With all the other titles out of question for Dirrell, he has no choice but to fight DeGale which will most likely take place in England. I know that Dirrell doesn't have the best experience with fighting there but it's the only way for him, so I don't see him passing on that.
So the latest news is that Al Haymon won the DeGale-Dirrell purse bids with a $3,1mil bid, while Hearn bid 2,1mil. Looks like Haymon is bringing the IBF clash between DeGale and Dirrell in the US. They have 90 days to make the fight, which should take place in late May/early June.
I've just read this myself. I was just about to start a thread on Degale. These two are two of my favourite fighters at the moment. I think it's a 50/50 fight, but I feel sorry for James. He's waited and waited for a shot, and now he has to fight (IMHO the second best fighter in the division) Dirrell. What was going through his mind when Groves had two cracks at Froch, and Smith had two cracks at Abraham? It must have been hard watching Paul Smith fight Abraham after he'd easily beaten Smith years ago. Talk about coming up the hard way. Andre Dirrell is a class act. IMHO, he beat Froch and he'd beat Groves and Smith pretty easy. I also think that James would beat Froch, Abraham, and Anthony Dirrell. So I feel for him, but I don't know who I want to win this fight. I think it'll be great, but I'd have preferred them both to fight different opponents. Who do you think will win? If James loses and falls down the pecking order, that'll be hard for him to take. :good
Well, yes, I agree that Smith getting 2 shots at Abraham while DeGale has to go through the hard route is very unfair. Perhaps Eddie Hearn should have known better than to put up a bid of 2.1mil, but to be fair, that Haymon's bid was hard to beat. I'd also favor both Dirrell and DeGale over guys like Froch and Abraham, but it is what it is, and they have to fight each other. Now, with the fight most likely taking place in the US (I wouldn't be surprised if they made it in Michigan), I think that Andre Dirrell is the favorite, but wouldn't really be surprised if DeGale pulled it off. I just hope everything ends clean and without any controversy. The winner of this match will most likely become the number 1 guy for Andre Ward to fight if he wants to climb back at the SMW throne.
Great post. I agree that Andre will be the favourite. Are you bothered who wins? Btw, do you think Andre beat Carl Froch in Nottingham?
Well, this is one of the match-ups I've wanted to see, and I'm not really bothered who wins (like you say, it's too bad that one of them has to go down at this stage without winning a title, but it is what it is). I've always had high thoughts about Andre Dirrell and when the Super Six was announced, I thought that it may was his time to shine. It didn't really end that way, but regardless I've always rated his talent. Dirrell vs. Ward in Super Six was the fight I was highly anticipating. I also rate DeGale, and he has looked very good in his recent fights as well. Whoever wins, he will legitimately become one of the top guys in the division and will definitely change the current landscape. Another good thing is that Ward has been stripped of the Ring title recently, so whoever wants to claim the lineal belt, he'll probably have to go through Dirrell/DeGale winner to get it. And imo Dirrell definitely defeated Froch in England. He basically outscored Froch in almost every round, but unfortunately the home cooking happened.
lol i remember a long time back keeping you updated on Degales progress https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV_ognKhV6Y
I agree that Dirrell should have won the Froch fight. Dirrell performed even better in the Abraham fight than in the Froch fight up until the DQ. He ran less and hit more.
DeGale has stated that he will come to the US to face Dirrell. Considering the fight purses, I assume that it will be a main event.