Dirrell made the Calzaghe who showed vs Hopkins look like...

A murderous combination of prime Tyson and Foreman. He had that fight there for the winning but bar a couple of rounds had no conviction in his work. None whatsoever.

Really, perhaps this chance came too early. He obviously has talent but he spent most of the fight using his fists like broken water pistols, holding whenever anything vaguely threatening came his way.

Froch fought smart. Stalked him, showed much more aggression and intent with his work and veered just the wrong side of legality which isn't necessarily pleasing, but it's savvy. It looks bad, but when you're up against an opponent who is holding and falling on the canvas at every opportunity there is more chance you are going to get the benefit of the doubt from the ref than if you ruin a clean contest.