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

renyo · Aug 17, 2010

i'm sure they'll both be floored...

IntentionalButt · Aug 17, 2010

Jai C said: ↑

I'm dubbing this fight the Cobra vs the Mongoose. I don't know which is which though.
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:yep

Skilletscuz · Aug 17, 2010

MichiganWarrior said: ↑

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.
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good analysis
one more attribute left out -
Experience - WARD

overall, it will be Ward's experience, grit/mentality, and knowledge of his opponent that will shut down Dirrell in the end. Ward has the versatility to apply any type of plan and make it work to the finish. Dirrell is a quick and athletic boxer, but the only dynamic thing he has is unpredictability, which has proven to be a 2-edged sword of himself...

Popkins said: ↑

Dirrell surprised us all by how easily he handled Abraham's difficult turtle-shell style. I think he'll surprise us all again by making Ward look pretty ordinary.
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Lol, Abraham is hardly comparable to Ward. Dirrell just exposed AA to be a readable, static, and 1dimensional fighter. I already threw out a fight plan on ESB (i believe, or maybe some video predictors on Youtube) on how Dirrell is to break down AA - and he did it to the T. Anyone with decent speed can break down AA if they knew what they were doing....

Farmboxer · Aug 17, 2010

SOB Ward refused to fight in the tournament unless he got all his fights in his home town. He will throw a temper tantrum unless he gets everything his way. Dirrell faked an injury to get his last fight in his home turf. Notice that the worst ref in boxing history did not call a knock down on him? Yep, now it is Dirrell and SOB Ward fighting to get the fight into their home towns. Ward will win as usual. Goosen knows how to cheat and Dirrell knows how to act.

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

renyo Boxing Junkie Full Member

IntentionalButt FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA Full Member

Skilletscuz mma champ Ronda Rousey Full Member

Farmboxer VIP Member Full Member