Fight Breakdown: Andre "SOG" Ward vs Andre "The Matrix" Dirrell

A lot is on the line with this fight. However because of some shady judging instead of 2 undefeated American fighters fighting for the unified WBA/WBC title, we get an undefeated seemingly unstoppable force in Ward, taking on a gifted fighter in Dirrell who's record has already been tainted.

Lets face it, to the average non-boxing fanatic American, the only thing that usually intrigues them is an undefeated record(Mayweather) or a long win streak, filled with brutal KO's (Pacquiao).

However to yours truly and many boxing fans, this matchup still presents some serious intrigue and mystery. First the similarities"

1. Both Andre's are switch hitters. Able to switch easily form south paw to orthodox without any noticeable difficulty. Both proving to have pop while in the southpaw stance. From ward continually rocking Kessler to Dirrel hurting Froch in the 10th of their fight.

2. Close friends. Both olympic teammates in 04. Noted to have trained and sparred together. Ward winning the gold and Dirrell going home with bronze. Alot can be infered about this. Ward not only won gold but was able to capture a title before Dirrell. Dirrell came up short in the olympics and came up short fighting for a belt aswell. Does this say something about their ability to win in the clutch? That Ward will always be ahead of Dirrell in anything they do? More of a philosophical question then a boxing won, but still deserves asking. Their friendship could also effect how the fight plays out. Friends historically have been far more brutal towards eachother then otherwise would have been the case.

- Differences

1. While Dirrell is a straight up boxer. Since Ward has matured as a pro, he's adopted a more come forward almost brawling style. While still slick, slippery, able to adapt to any situation, box off the back foot, and stick a jab if he has to, Ward clearly prefers to mix it up in close. Which is not bad of a tactic considered there arent alot of great inside fighters in boxing today, most fighters cant throw a punch on the inside. A fundamental weakness exploited in so-called "Big" punchers in Kessler, Miranda and Green.

2. Dirrell as said before, is a straight up boxer. Loves to move, be flashy, make his opponent look foolish with wild misses, and generally look pretty for the cameras. However Dirrell has not shown the same technical tightness of Andre Ward, and at times looks unsteady on his feet. Dirrell has claimed his child hood idle was Ali, and you can see it the way he leans back with his hands down when dodging punches. Only difference is, Ali probably had the greatest chin of all time in boxing, able to take flush unprotected punches from the likes of Frazier, Foreman, Cooper, Liston, Chuvalo, Shavers ect ect and not expire from the earth.

While Dirrell has shown a decent chin, takng flush shots from Froch and Abraham, this is very dangerous, but probably not as risky against a relatively light puncher in Ward. But still something to note.

Attributes

Speed - Dirrell

Power - Dirrell

Strength - Ward

Mental - Ward

Defense - Even

Versatility - Ward

Adaptability - Ward


Physically its clear Dirrell has the edge. But in every other area wide advantage as displayed so far by Andre Ward.

However as we have seen, notably with Alexander/Kotelnik, Jacobs/Pirog and Pascal/Dawson when two slick boxers come together anything can happen, and its always mostly mental. Which fighters wants it more and who wants to actually engage.

 

Well to be fair, a shot afraid to throw a right hand Jermain Taylor won about 3-4 rounds against Abraham. Abraham will let you rack up rounds against his guard.

However Ward is a different kettle of fish. He has head movement, foot speed and likes to press.

Can Dirrell handle his pressure?

 

'Dirrell looks the more unsteady, so if somebody falls I'd see it being Dirrell. But in terms of chin Dirrell might be stronger. There are stil questions on Wards chin.