Andre Dirrell was less than six minutes away from a dominating
unanimous decision win before chaos erupted.
Instead, Dirrell beat Arthur Abraham on a disqualification
for an intentional foul at 1:13 of the 11th round on Saturday night
in the second stage of the Super Six World Boxing Classic.
Dirrell (19-1) slipped when he was hit by a glancing blow to
the chin in the corner. While Dirrell was sitting down, Abraham hit
him across the chin with a right hand and Dirrell couldn't
continue.
``I was not looking at his feet, I was looking at his eyes,''
Abraham said through an interpreter. ``I didn't see if he was
down.''
The ring filled with people in the confusion after Abraham's
illegal punch, including Dirrell's brother Anthony, who had to be
restrained after entering the ring.
"I just wanted to see if my brother was all right,'' Anthony
Dirrell said. ``I apologize for my actions. But I was just
worried.''
Dirrell seemed disoriented after the result wasn announced
and was sent to hospital for a brain scan. He was released after
several hours.
Dirrell (19-1-13) was comfortably ahead when the fight was
stopped.
Italy's Guido Cavalleri scored it 97-92, Michigan's Frank
Garza 98-91 and Thailand's Hanek Hongtonhkam had it 97-92
It was Abraham's first loss in 31 career fights.
``He executed a perfect game plan and I'm proud of him and I
just want to hug him and kiss him,'' said Dirrell's trainer and
uncle, Leon Lawson Jr. ``But it was blemished.''
There was also controversy after the fight about whether
Dirrell should have a steroid or doping test. Abraham's camp said
that if Dirrell didn't have such a test, he should be disqualified.
Shaw was angry that Abraham's supporters talked about the
steroid and doping test before expressing any concern about
Dirrell's condition.
Both fighters had a lot of support at Joe Louis Arena.
Dirrell is from Flint, about 60 miles north of Detroit. The
Armenian-born, Berlin-based Abraham drew a large contingent of
Armenian-Americans from the Detroit area.
Dirrell dominated the fight with his mobility and hand speed,
landing strong punches to Abraham's head and body throughout the
fight.
Dirrell knocked Abraham down with about 30 seconds left in
the fourth with a right hand. Abraham regained his feet and took a
standing eight count. Dirrell landed several more blows before the
round ended.
He later opened a cut by Abraham's right eye in the seventh.
It appeared that Abraham knocked Dirrel down with a straight
right in the 10th, but it was called a slip by the referee.
Abraham began to rally in the eighth round, but Dirrell was
able to avoid the slugger's heavy blows. At one point in the round
Dirrell used the rope-a-dope tactic to avoid the most dangerous
punches, and continued to frustrate Abraham.
Dirrell bounced back with a strong ninth round, which
included a delay of several minutes to close a cut to Abraham's
head caused by a head butt.
I was getting my chances and in the eighth and ninth round,
he was clearly down and the referee didn't count,'' Abraham said.
Dirrell got two points for the win and moves into a second
place tie with Carl Froch and Andre Ward in the tournament
standings.
Abraham is still in first place with three points because of
his knockout of Jermaine Taylor in the first round. Dirrell is now
1-1 in the tournament.
He lost a decision to England's WBC world champion in Froch's
hometown of Nottingham.
The next fight in the series is June 19, in Oakland between
Ward and Allan Green - who replaced Taylor in the tournament.
