Anthony Dirrell vs Badou Jack – April 24th

By James Sexton - 02/17/2015 - Comments

The WBC has confirmed that it has sanctioned the bout between Anthony Dirrell and Badou Jack. This will be a voluntary defence of Dirrells WBC 168lb title and likely the winner will be forced to fight Britains George Groves in their next fight. Badou Jack is rated tenth in the division so this isn’t a ludicrous fight for him to take, however after Jack was stopped in the first round by little know fighter Derek Edwards early in 2014, his stock has dropped off dramatically. Before that he was viewed as one of Mayweather Promotions top prospects.

This fight will be Dirrells first defence of his title since winning it from Sakio Bika. He will be the favourite going into this one and another stoppage could leave a career in crisis for Jack. However a big win here could leave him as a big favourite when he steps in with a hard test in George Groves.

Groves has also been stopped twice recently, the difference is that Groves suffered those stoppages at the hands of one of the best fighters in the world in Carl Froch rather than an unknown fighter like Derek Edwards. Since those losses Groves has had two fights, both wins, but hasn’t looked to be operating at the same level. Some say the knockout losses to Froch have altered his mindset or detereorated his physical ability, but it may just be the case that he is finidnig it difficult to apply himself 100% to lesser fighters when he knows he is a world class fighter. Either way we will see what he is made of when he fights the winner of this fight.

If Groves really isn’t able to come back from those losses to Froch and continue to operate at world level then Dirrell may be in for two easy nights work before he is faced with a true challenging opponent. The dvision is shared by guys like Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Arthur Abraham, James DeGale, Callum Smith and Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez, each which would be a tough fight for either of the Dirrell brothers at this stage.