The Dirrell Brothers Take Home the Bacon in Atlantic City

The fighting Dirrell brothers from Flint, Michigan moved up the pecking order in the super middleweight division with victories over their respective opponents in a PBC promotion at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City on Friday, April 29. Anthony Dirrell, the younger sibling by 13 months, hardly broke a sweat in disposing of Caleb Truax. Andre Dirrell overcame some dicey moments to score a unanimous decision over Australia’s Blake Caparello.

Anthony Dirrell, now 29-1-1 (23) stopped Minnesota’s Caleb Truax (26-2-2 going in) at the 1:49 mark of the opening round. Dirrell nailed Truax with an overhand right that sent him sprawling into the ropes, marking the beginning of the end. Two knockdowns in quick succession led the referee to intervene. Anthony celebrated with a back flip and then called out Badou Jack, the man that saddled him with his lone defeat.

Andre Dirrell had been inactive for 11 months since coming up short vs. James DeGale in a match sanctioned for the vacant IBF 168-pound title. Perhaps ring rust contributed to his slow start. The Aussie had him on the deck in the second frame, but Andre kept his composure and won virtually all of the remaining rounds. “I never stopped grinding,” he said, an apt description of his performance. Andre Dirrell improved to 25-2. Caparello declined to 22-2-1.

The Dirrell brothers, especially Andre, have been heavily involved in raising money to provide safe drinking water to residents of their beleaguered hometown. “A lot of people were watching (on television) tonight,” said Andre after the match, “and now they know a little bit more about what’s going on with the Flint water crisis.”

In the third bout of the Spike TV tripleheader, super bantamweight Jonathan Guzman improved to 21-0 at the expense Mexico City’s Danial Rosas who was 20-2-1 going in. Guzman, who hails from the Dominican Republic but currently resides in Lawrence, Massachusetts, has won all of his pro fights by knockout. He had Rosas on the deck near the end of round five and again near the end of round eight, after which referee Benjy Esteves determined that he had seen enough and stopped the fight. Rosas was game but outclassed.

In an undercard bout of note, Eddie Ramirez, a lanky super lightweight from Aurora, Illinois, advanced to 13-0 (9) with a fast blowout of 35-year-old veteran Osumanu Akaba. The bout was halted in the second frame after Akaba took a knee.

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