Today at 4:30 p.m. ET Premier Boxing Champions returns to NBC with a fight card headlined by super middleweight contenders Andre Dirrell and James DeGeale, which can be live streamed free by clicking this link. The undercard will feature Delvin Rodriguez vs. unbeaten Craig Baker.
Andre Dirrell is a grizzled veteran who has become underrated largely because of inactivity. As a member of the Super Six super middleweight tournament he suffered the first loss of his career to Carl Froch, then won his next fight by disqualification against Arthur Abraham. Dirrell was injured in that fight when Abraham hit him illegally following a slip. Injuries have continued to play a role in Dirrell's career, so while he won three fights in 2014 they flew under the radar.
He's fighting for the IBF title today, and he'll be in the ring with a high-pressure fighter in DeGeale with dreams of big fights to come. Dirrell thinks DeGeale's aggression will wind up costing him.
"Pretty much just like my amateur days; the more pressure you bring, then the more dangerous I am. I have a lot of hard work in the gym as far as pace goes," Dirrell said.
DeGeale is a promising fighter-his last loss was in 2011 to George Groves by majority decision-but he can't compare his level of competition to the fighters that Dirrell has faced.
Prediction: Dirrell def. DeGeale by unanimous decision. Dirrell is not a big puncher, but defensively he will frustrate DeGeale and hurt him in the later rounds.
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