By Jake Donovan

Anthony Dirrell prepares for the first defense of his super middleweight belt, taking on resurgent contender Badou Jack. Their scheduled 12-round bouts airs live on Spike TV (Friday, 9:00pm ET/8:00pm CT and local time) from UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.

The matchup went from a friendly rivalry to a grudge match in a hurry. Dirrell (27-0-1, 22KOs) has had plenty to say in the direction of his opponent, as well as getting in his face during Thursday’s weigh-in before the matter evolved into a senseless brawl.

A far different side was on display for each of Dirrell’s two fights with Sakio Bika. While their Dec. ’13 clash resulted in a disputed draw, Dirrell did enough to outbox his rival to win a 12-round decision and the super middleweight belt that came with it in their rematch last August.

The feat marked the ultimate satisfaction that could be felt for Dirrell, who conquered non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and survived a horrific motorcycle crash to make it to that point.

By comparison, Jack (18-1-1, 12KOs) is much more fortunate to “only” have to contend with a ring loss as his biggest setback to date. The Sweden-born super middleweight – who now lives in and fights out of Las Vegas – was on the very wrong end of a shocking 1st round knockout at the hands of journeyman Derek Edwards last February.

A win would have put him in the running for a showdown with James ‘Chunky’ DeGale in an eliminator to determine who in fact would have been next to fight for this very title. He’s since rebounded with two wins, including a 6th round stoppage of Francisco Sierra last December.

Has Jack bounced all the way back from the shock of getting caught cold? Has Dirrell permanently turned a corner in his career, and will prove to be a tough out for anyone on the planet.

Read on to see how the staff at BoxingScene.com believes the super middleweight action plays out.

BOXINGSCENE.COM STAFF PREDICTIONS: ANTHONY DIRRELL vs. BADOU JACK

David Greisman (Dirrell late TKO): Sometimes fighters get sparked out quickly and come back. Adonis Stevenson was felled by Darnell Boone long ago. He's the light heavyweight champ now. But sometimes boxers get KOed and that's because they just aren't that good. Badou Jack's loss to Derek Edwards last year was more of the latter to me rather than the former. Anthony Dirrell will wobble Jack a few times and ultimately stop him later on.

John MacDonald (Dirrell mid-TKO): Dirrell will make it rough, tough and stop Jack establishing his jab before grinding down the challenger.

Takahiro Onaga (Dirrell TKO9): Jack's wobbly chin is not going to last with Dirrell speed and power.

Cliff Rold (Dirrell TKO): Jack is fighting for his professional life. He still gets stopped.

Victor Salazar (Dirrell UD): Dirrell should win a very comfortable decision, not sure if Jack belongs on this level, we shall see.

Reynaldo Sanchez (Dirrell UD): In my view, Anthony is a mystery. Sometimes he look great and immediately in the next very bad…I hope this is a good time and won after a hard fight. 

Alexey Sukachev (Dirrell TKO7): Jack reminds me of a gasoline-fueled fire. As soon as gasoline ends, so goes the fire. Against a fighter like Dirrell his gasoline and desire ends soon, and he will succumb to the power of the champion.

Stacey Verbeek (Dirrell TKO): After early rounds filled with strong exchanges,  Dirrell will utilize his superior boxing skills to set up a late round TKO.

Totals:

Dirrell – 8

Jack – 0

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox