Dirrell Brothers Look To Rekindle Title Hopes This Friday

The Premier Boxing Champions is at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City this Friday, April 29th to kick off a big weekend of fights. The card consists of nine fights in all and includes super middleweight brothers Andre and Anthony Dirrell in showcase ten round fights. The brothers hope that appearing together on the same card, as they did early in their careers, will signal a new beginning.

Andre Dirrell (24-2), a 2004 Olympic bronze medalist, is facing Blake Caparello (22-1-1) in his first fight in almost a year. He last fought in May of 2015 when he lost a world title bid to England’s James DeGale for the vacant IBF 168-pound belt. Dirrell has been slowed since he was diagnosed with a brain injury after his March of 2010 fight with Arthur Abraham, but he claims to be healthy and still has title aspirations. The only other loss of his career came in a world title fight with Carl Froch.

Check out The Sweet Science article “The Dirrell Brothers Take Home the Bacon in Atlantic City”.

Anthony Dirrell (28-1-1) is facing off against Caleb Truax (26-2-2) as he is looking for his second win in a row since his April of 2015 loss to Badou Jack. Anthony fought for the WBC World title against Sakio Bika in December of 2013, but that fight ended in a draw. In August of 2014, he took the WBC world title from the rugged Bika by unanimous decision in their re-match only to see it leave his possession the following fight against Jack. Back in 2007, Dirrell overcame a battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and his world title reign, however brief, was an inspiration to cancer survivors and others.

The Dirrell brothers hail from Flint, Michigan. The troubles in that community have been well documented and the brothers have been personally affected. Andre Dirrell says that at least seven of his nephews and nieces have been stricken with lead poisoning by contaminated drinking water. The older sibling by 13 months, Andre has been at the forefront of “gofundme” campaigns to provide safe bottled water to residents of his hometown.

The main event of the show sees undefeated super bantamweight prospect Jonathan Guzman (20-0) facing Daniel Rosas (20-2-1) in a twelve round contest. The three featured bouts will be carried on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET and PT. Those in the Eastern time zone will see it live; the telecast will be delayed three hours for those residing on the west coast. Two more PBC events will be televised on Saturday. They will air of FOX and Showtime. Check your local listings for more details.

Check out the results “Dirrell Brothers Both Notch Victories At The Taj” at The Boxing Channel.