It wasn’t the verdict he wanted to hear, nor the circumstances under which Anthony Dirrell wanted to finish the fight.
Nevertheless, the former two-time super middleweight titlist quickly came to grips with his 12-round draw versus Kyrone Davis in their Fox-televised title eliminator Saturday evening at Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles.
Dirrell won by a score of 115-113 on the card of judge Pat Russell, with Dr. Lou Moret awarding the same score to Davis (15-2-1, 6KOs). Judge Zachary Taylor failed to split the difference, with his card of 114-114 resulting in a split decision draw verdict.
“I thought I was pressing the fight more, but I didn’t get the decision,” Dirrell told BoxingScene.com after the fight. “It is what it is. You got to take the wins with the… well it’s not even a loss, it’s a draw. You just take it how it come.
“I thought I pulled the fight off. I was more aggressive. He was hitting gloves most of the time. Some got through. I can’t knock the judges, they seen what they seen.”
Dirrell (33-2-2, 24KOs) spent much of the night fighting through an injured right hand, at times visibly wincing in pain whenever he threw the shot. It appeared to take its toll particularly in the second half, when Davis, 26, began to close the gap and outworking the former champ 10 years his senior.
Most observers seemed to believe that Dirrell deserved a close decision win based on his landing the more telling blows. Dirrell landed more overall punches and at a much higher connect percentage, 37% on 161-of 435 total punches, compared to 27% on 139-of-521 punches for Davis. The more glaring difference came in total power punches, with Dirrell landing at just over 50% on 112-of-223 punches compared to 30% on 105-of-355 power shots for Davis, whose activity rate increased in the second half.
“He was running the whole fight. I thought I had to chase him the whole fight,” insisted Dirrell. “I was pressing the fight more. I can’t knock the judges. They see the fight from a different angle.”
The 36-year old from Flint, Michigan fought for the first time since a Sept. 2019 stoppage loss to David Benavidez, ending his second reign as a WBC super middleweight titlist. That bout marked the second straight where he suffered a fight-ending cut, while Saturday’s affair momentarily leaves him on the injured list pending an official medical diagnosis before determining his next step.
“I have to get my hand checked out. I hurt it but I’m fine,” notes Dirrell. “I’ll just go back to the drawing board and get another fight.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
