Carl Froch: Dirrell Was A Coward

By Olly Campbell - 05/19/2015 - Comments

Carl Froch has questioned Andre Dirrell’s mentality ahead of Saturday’s PBC fight with James DeGale, writing in his Sky Sports column that “the computer might not be working” with regards to the American’s mental effectiveness – something that has been referenced continually since the 2010 fight with Arthur Abraham in which Dirrell suffered neurological injuries.

Froch, whose former IBF belt the 2 men are contesting at the weekend, fought Dirrell himself back in 2009 as part of the Super Six tournament – getting the nod for what was widely perceived as a hometown (split) decision in the eyes of many – especially the Americans.

And it would seem he doesn’t have too many kind words for the Michigan fighter, disagreeing completely with that sentiment;

“When he came over here to fight me people said he’d beaten me or that it was a hometown decision. What a load of rubbish. He came over to the UK – he ran and he held and just didn’t want to fight. You can’t nick a world title. You’ve got to go out and win it.”

“Dirrell came over here with a bad attitude and it went wrong for him. I bullied him and pushed him around. He did catch me with a couple of shots in the 10th and proved he can bang a little bit; but he just wanted to nick it and go home.”

Stylistically Dirrell and DeGale are very similar – both awkward, mobile southpaws who can punch a bit – a nightmare for a come forward toe-to-toe specialist like Froch – who himself can appear quite crude at times. Hence why he vacated the title rather than face DeGale himself – especially at 37 years of age.

“I wanted him to stand there and fight and to be fair I’ve heard he’s doing that and being a bit more aggressive as of late. But he just comes across to me as a coward. He’s just not a very manly man – the way he ran and held against me and the way he seemed to throw himself on the floor against Arthur Abraham. I genuinely hope that DeGale does a job on him.”

Either way, Froch has ruled himself out of a future fight with the Londoner and for all intents and purposes is entering retirement. Despite this he is not shy in his support of his fellow Brit and is confident of one thing;

“If Dirrell doesn’t buck his ideas up and get his head right then DeGale will do a job on him. Don’t worry about that.”

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