I had Dirrell winning the first three and last two. Middle rounds clearly to Froch. Point deduction sealed the deal. Although Froch looked awful for much of the time and is a KO waiting to happen.
Kessler will KO either one of them. Dirrel needs to learn that you can't win a fight by not fighting.
I thought Dirrell won by a two or three rounds; he really made Froch look pedestrian at times. It wasn't the worst decision I've seen though.
Direll by a round for me. I don't fancy Froch's chances against either Abraham or Kessler. Direll was quite impressive and can only improve.
I had Dirrell up by 2 rounds but with the point deduction obviously only one. I enjoyed the fight and it was a close one so i cant see how anyone could call robbery etc. Froch needs to up his game if he is to even compete with Kessler.
Dirrell seems to think that boxing is a non-contact sport he is a whiny little cry baby and got the L he deserved, ironically when he dared to open up in the last few rounds he was beating Froch from pillar to post.
I had trouble scoring much for Froch or Dirrell - I'd have liked to have given them both a loss. Dirrell just had no intention of engaging. He has great handspeed, better footwork than he's shown in the past and can obviously punch more than I'd thought, but he was awful. He just ran round the ring, throwing pitter-pat jabs that weren't doing very much. He wasn't boxing Froch, he was trying to keep him from engaging. If he'd stepped round then thrown a 1-2 while Froch passed, he'd be setting traps but... well, he wasn't. Froch was woeful. He had Dirrell against the ropes and he kept head-hunting. The guy had the speed to move everytime but he can't do that with his body. Shorten up your hooks and sting him there. In the same way that Hopkins' negativity eventually overrode the good work he did against Calzaghe, Dirrell's negativity (and the deserved point deduction) meant it was incredibly close. I had it 7-5 for Dirrell but, with the point deduction, a draw is entirely feasible. Neither guy deserves the title.
Dirrell won it for me. Look at the amount of shots Froch had that missed the target. Dirrell had a negative gameplan but it worked for him and he was landing some clean punches. Home town decision. I dont think Froch will have a hope against King Arthur or Kessler. Go in and fight like that against those guys and it is a different story.
I've just seen this fight and can only say that you do not, and should not, win world titles by running like a *****. Both fighters were pretty ineffective but only one of them was trying to engage, and that is what won Froch the fight. For all those who are shouting judge corruption just imagine the fight was in the US and both fighters were American, on that performance last night only one of them would have a chance of getting the decision and it wouldn't have been Dirrell.
These fights will be completely different as neither of them will be on their bikes...chalk and cheese opponents