By Luis Sandoval

BoxingScene.com was advised by Leon Lawson Jr, the uncle and trainer of Andre Dirrell, that they have decided to leave promoter Gary Shaw and advisor Al Haymon in order to start their own promotional company named Team Dirrell Promotions.

This news comes on the heels of earlier reports that Showtime had rejected a proposed fight between Super Middleweight champion Lucian Bute and Carl Froch. According to Bute’s promoter Jean Bedard of Interbox, Showtime was more interested in matching their fighter with Dirrell.

While no official negotiations have begun with Showtime, Lawson said that going to Canada to fight Bute is out of the question.

“We are not going to Canada. We’ve seen what’s happened already” said Lawson. “We can have the fight in the states. We can fight in Detroit at the Joe Louis Arena. There’s also the Silverdome. Canada and Detroit are separated by the Ambassador Bridge so his fans can still come over and watch [Bute] fight.”

Dirrell and his team felt they didn’t get a fair shake when Dirrell went to England to fight then WBC champion Carl Froch in Stage One of the Super Six Tournament. Going into another champion’s backyard is not a risk they are willing to take again.

Leon said they will meet with new Showtime Executive Vice President Stephen Espinoza in the next couple days to see about making the fight with Lucian Bute.

When reached for comment, Shaw told BoxingScene - "Good luck Andre Dirrell."

You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter @Truewest007. You can also tune in to The Boxing Lab, Boxingscene’s official audio show every Tuesday from 6-8PM PST with hosts Ernest Gabion, Luis Sandoval, and Ryan Burton.