Andre Dirrelll is citing “neurological problems” as the reason for his abrupt withdrawal from the Super Six Boxing Classic, and cancellation of his fight against Andre Ward on November 27.
Dirrell has not trained since winning a controversial disqualification against Arthur Abraham in March. Dirrell dominated most of the fight, but Abraham began surging with two rounds to go. Dirrell slipped on the canvas in the 11th, and Abraham unleashed a flush hook on his defenseless and downed opponent. Dirrell was knocked out for several minutes, prompting a disqualification.
Later, Dirrell gave a disoriented interview with Jim Gray, and was taken to a hospital where doctors concluded he did not suffer a concussion or any extensive damage.
Ward and Dirrell were originally scheduled to face each other in September. However, neither fighter’s promoter moved forward with selecting a venue, a press conference, or beginning training camps. It was later determined that the fight did not happen due to a contract impasse over the purse split. This prompted cable network Showtime, who bankrolled the entire tournament, to threaten legal action if the fighters did not face off by November.
According to Dirrell’s camp, the fighter did suffer a concussion after the Abraham bout. Because of lingering effects like dizzy spells and headaches, Andre Dirrell hasn’t trained since that fight.
“Well, they did MRIs and cat scans…They found that he was still concussed,” explained Dirrell trainer Leon Lawson, Jr to AOL FanHouse. “They found that he was still concussed from the punch and the injury in the fight. They recommended that Andre be at least three months symptom free before he would even consider giving him the go-ahead to go back in the ring.”
The reason for the surprising revelation is because Dirrell kept his condition a secret for months following the fight. When Lawson, Jr did find out, he was hopeful that Dirrell’s condition would improve before the Ward fight came off. Unfortunately, the lack of improvement has forced the third fighter withdrawal in the Super Six tournament.
“He has not sparred since the Arthur Abraham fight. We thought that he would get better by the next time that he got in the ring,” Lawson, Jr stated. “But, you know, Andre kept it a secret for a while from us, and then, we monitored it for a while and he said that it was still happening, so we had no choice but to come out with it.”
In August, an injury to his left eye caused Mikkel Kessler to withdraw from the tournament. Late last year, Jermain Taylor withdrew following his knockout loss to Arthur Abraham, which was his third KO defeat in his last five fights.
At press time, Showtime has not released a statement on Andre Dirrell’s withdrawal.
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Not the news I wanted to wake up to this morning. Is the Super Six cursed? For the first time in a very long time, someone tries to actually do right by the sport and its fans. And look at the thanks they get.
Boxing is a very brutal sport. I tend to not even look at it as a sport, since you don’t really “play” boxing. It’s literally life and death every time you step in the ring. So when fighters go down with injuries or quit after prolonged punishment, I normally give them the benefit of the doubt because I know the physical sacrifice it takes to be a fighter. But in this case, I also can’t be mad at anyone who doubts the validity of this injury.
Ward vs. Dirrell was the only Super Six fight to be stalled by contract negotiations. Because of their close friendship, neither side seemed ethusiastic about fighting each other. Now that Showtime puts their foot down and locks in an ultimatum date, all of sudden Dirrell’s camp reveals a highly convenient medical issue that gets him out of it.
Could the injury be on the up and up? Definitely. I believe Andre Dirrell wasn’t faking the effects from Abraham’s blow immediately after their fight. King Arthur is the consensus hardest puncher at super-middleweight, and he essentially got a free shot. But when the tests that night came back negative, I was certain that was the last we’d hear of it. So if I’m thinking that, I know Showtime will want to look closely at these new MRI and cat scans that show Dirrell is indeed suffering from post-concussion syndrome.
It’s was all good when this tournament started. I really wish they could drop the round robin format, because now we’re looking at this Super Six saga extending to the end of 2011.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 
I believe the injury claim is true and the reason that initial MRI result was negative because non-severe head injury might not show a significant change in MRI scan. In fact minor injuries doesn’t show anything in MRI scan. CAT scan is nothing more than an advanced X-ray scan. MRI was designed to scan brain tumors not neurological injuries, unless there was a blood clot other symptoms such as neurological syndrome won’t show much of significance to suspect an injury. Dirrell’s unusual behavior will provide a better diagnosis than MRI will show. Well, I sort of was expecting that soon or late dirrell will start having problems. There’s no way one can fully recover from trembling on the canvas like dirrell did. Take my words for it, dirrell is finished. dirrell handed Abraham his first loss and Abraham handed dirrell his unconditional retirement. Froch probably shaking from this news that dirrell pulled out from SS due to his covered head injury. Froch now is in worse condition than dirrell. Direll’s condition is due to an injury caused by a fight, froch’s condition is due to an unconditional fuss. pity carlie.