Anthony Dirrell has realized his goal — becoming a world champion after beating cancer — but he says he has more to give in the ring.
Anthony Dirrell has already realized his goals.
The super middleweight contender wanted to bounce back from cancer and win a world title. He won two belts. So what keeps him motivated to continue fighting at 35, an age when many fighters have already walked away?
“I still love the game. When you still got it, you still got it. That’s basically how it is,” he said on The PBC Podcast.
Dirrell has another source of motivation: The result of his last fight.
He lost his 168-pound title to Benavidez in September when his corner stopped the fight because of a deep gash above his right eye, the result of a punch. Benavidez technically won by a ninth-round knockout.
Benavidez, the strapping 23-year-old from Phoenix, was leading on all three cards when the fight was stopped but Dirrell thought he gave a strong performance and felt strong when the fight ended prematurely.
He’d like another shot at Benavidez.
“You know I want a rematch,” he said. “I don’t think he’ll give it to me. … Why? Because he knows I was beating him. Truthfully, he knows I was beating him. He couldn’t do to me what he did to other fighters. I think it was because of my experience.
“Is the guy good? Yeah, he’s a good fighter. Everybody knows that. But I think I was beating him until that cut. But we’ll never know. A cut happens. You take the wins with the losses. Hopefully I’ll get another shot before I go out and show the world that I’m a true champion.”
Alejandra Jimenez reportedly has tested positive for a PED in her ‘B’ Sample test, according to a report by BoxingScene.
Alejandra Jimenez may end up having to hand back her women’s super middleweight belts to Franchon Crews-Dezurn.
Jimenez wrested two titles from Crews-Dezurn in their spirited Jan. 11 fight in San Antonio only to learn that a urine sample — her “A” sample — collected by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency the day before the bout tested positive for a banned substance.
Now, according to BoxingScene.com sources, Jimenez’s “B” sample has also come back positive.
The banned substance was Stanozolol, a synthetic substance derived from testosterone that promotes cell growth and the development of masculine characteristics. Jimenez had the choice of either presenting a defense at a hearing or having her “B Sample” tested. Jimenez opted for the latter.
None of the parties involved have commented on the matter, as the results of the drug test have not been officially announced.
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which oversees combat sports in the state, is in the process of changing the official outcome of the Jan. 11 title fight to a no-decision.
Callum Smith outpointed John Ryder over 12 rounds in their super middleweight fight, but questions about boxing’s integrity have flared up.
Boxing’s gutter of bad decisions just got a bit more crowded.
It didn’t matter that super middleweight titleholder Callum Smith was bleeding from cuts, breathing heavily and getting battered on the ropes late in a 12-round fight. In the end, he still won a unanimous decision over mandatory challenger John Ryder at Echo Park Arena in Liverpool.
The scores were 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112, which added up to yet another controversial result. Boxing Junkie scored it 116-112 in favor of Ryder.
It was supposed to be a showcase of sorts for the Liverpudlian Smith (27-0, 19 knockouts), who had not fought at home in nearly two years. It was anything but. The much shorter Ryder, a big underdog, consistently beat the 6-foot-3 Smith to the punch, outworking him on the inside, where he wailed away with convincing body shots. Later on, Ryder began mixing in hooks to the head. It was a breakout performance from Ryder (28-5, 16 KOs), who had previously lost to Billy Joe Saunders and Rocky Fielding and had mulled retirement at various times in his career.
Callum Smith (left) did enough to impress the judges but many viewers weren’t as convinced about his performance against John Ryder. Alex Livesey / Getty Images
“You know what, I got in there with the world No. 1 and I thought i just edged it,” a disappointed Ryder said afterward. “I didn’t do it tonight, but I thought I proved myself on the world stag. … I thought I forced the fight a lot. I thought he was just nicking rounds. I feel I did enough to win that.”
Smith looked sluggish. Though he was able to keep Ryder at bay with his jab early on, by the second half of the fight, Smith was drowning on the ropes as Ryder pressed harder and landed the cleaner shots. In Round 4, an inadvertent headbutt opened a cut above Smith’s right eye, but it hardly instilled a sense of urgency in Smith, who seemed to fight in one gear throughout the fight. Smith admitted as much in the post-fight interview.
“Early on I found it a little bit too easy,” Smith said. “I was in first gear for a little bit too long. Everything thing I was throwing was landing. When he was closing the distant I probably have dealt with it better. He’s very, very short and he got very close to me. He smothered me, and I allowed him to.”
Smith, the titleholder, emerged with a unanimous decision victory over a game John Ryder on Saturday in Liverpool. Alex Livesey /Getty Images
By Round 5, a noticeable mark appeared below Smith’s right eye. Though Smith had a very good Round 6, in which he landed several straight rights, Ryder began to pull away in the second half. The left hook that Smith is known for sailed over Ryder’s head all fight long. Round 8 saw Ryder tag Smith with a blistering combination to end the round.
“I knew (Ryder) was a tough fighter,” Smith said. “I knew it was going to be that kind of fight. He’s good at getting really close. He stopped me from doing what I’m good at. It wasn’t the best performance. But I thought I won most of the early rounds. I thought I only lost one or only two out of the first eight. He worked hard — I give him his due — at the end. … I think I was due for a bad one. It was the first time I got cut in a fight. … I’ll be better fighter because of it.”
Smith seemed to hint that his poor performance was a result of not facing one of the elite fighters in the division.
“There was no fear tonight,” he said. “I didn’t believe John Ryder was good enough to beat me. The fights that bring the best out of me are the top four (in the division). That’s what I want now. I want the big names. … I just want a big name where that fear brings out the better in me.”
Super middleweight titleholder Callum Smith and challenger John Ryder both made weight for Saturday’s fight in Liverpool.
Super middleweight titleholder Callum Smith and mandatory challenger John Ryder made weight Friday for their fight Saturday at Echo Arena in Smith’s hometown of Liverpool, England on DAZN.
Both Smith and Ryder weighed in at 167.4, .6 under the 168-pound limit.
Smith (26-0, 19 knockouts) won his title by a seventh-round knockout of countryman George Groves in the World Boxing Super series final in September of last year. He has only had one fight since then, a third-round stoppage of Hassan N’Dam in June on the undercard of Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz Jr. in New York City.
Ryder (28-4, 16 KOs) has won four consecutive fights since his split-decision loss to Rocky Fielding in 2017. In his last fight, he stopped Bilal Akkawy inside three rounds in May on the Canelo Alvarez-Daniel Jacobs undercard.
