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By J. Michael Falgoust, USA TODAY
Round 1: Dirrell opens the punching first, coming out right-handed even though he's a southpaw. Froch is jabbing but can't reach him. Froch is now going to the body with the jab. He misses badly with a left hook as Dirrell sidesteps it easily. Dirrell is trash-talking to Froch already. Dirrell switches to lefty. Froch lunges and misses badly. Dirrell goes back to orthodox stance. The difference in hand speed is remarkable in Dirrell's favor. 10-9 Dirrell.
Round 2: Dirrell feinting Froch. He's not dancing. He's holding his ground as there's more posing from both than punching. Dirrell is now fighting southpaw. He gets Dirrell on the ropes and misses with a lead left hook and gets countered with Dirrell's left twice as the American smiles at him. Froch gets him pinned again but can't get anything done. Good double jab from Dirrell. Froch gets him pinned again but Dirrell gets out of it by feinting and making Froch hesitant to pull the trigger. 10-9 Dirrell.
Round 3: Dirrell scores with a straight left hand. Froch punches him out of a clinch. Froch has him in the corner again. And he does it again, mugging at Froch. Dirrell is circling and is back in the corner again. He counters Froch with a left hand, skates out of the corner as Froch chases him to score with a right hand. There's crazy cheering for Froch by his hometown, but he's not landing much except for occasional jabs to the body. 10-9 Froch.
Round 4: Dirrell scores a left to the body and lefts to the head. He's sitting down more now as he tries to back up Froch. Good left to the body. Great straight right hand from Dirrell after a lead hook from the orthodox stance. Dirrell's nose bleeding. Not clear which punch did that. Froch jabs at his body with some success. 10-9 Dirrell.
Round 5: Good right hand from Dirrell as Froch charging in. Good left to the body by Dirrell. Good right jab-left hand from Dirrell. Froch falls into a clinch and tosses Dirrell to the canvas to the joy of the crowd. Froch is short with a right hand. Froch fouls with a shot in the clinch again when the referee called for a break. 10-9 Dirrell.
Round 6: Froch lunges with a right hand and a left hook as he gets Dirrell in the corner and misses both by a mile. Dirrell gets under Froch's flurry. Finally scores a right on Dirrell, who bounces out of the corner with a left hand to the chin. They both punch during a clinch as the action heats up and there's a lot of rough tactics. Right hand lands for Dirrell. This is more of the style Froch wants, but even though the crowd is charged up, he's getting little done. He can't land more than one punch at a time and not much clean. 10-9 Dirrell.
Round 7: Good lefts from Dirrell as Froch can't pin him. Froch is visibly frustrated. Solid jabs from Dirrell. Froch is clearly stronger in the clinch. Dirrell is warned for holding. A double left from Dirrell. Froch is getting to Dirrell, who doesn't want to fight inside. Dirrell is doing more complaining to the ref than punching. Froch is charged up, gets caught with a left hook at the bell. 10-9 Froch.
Round 8: Good jab by Dirrell, who has the fight back where he wants it now. Right hand counter lands to Froch's head. Good three-punch combo from Dirrell. Big left from Froch as he catches Dirrell retreating with his hands down. Dirrell appears OK. 10-9 Dirrell
Round 9: Froch can't find the range with his jab. Dirrell winning the jabbing contest. Now Froch starting to land it more. Good left from Dirrell. Good right-left hook from Dirrell as he smiles at Froch whose punches fall short. Dirrell pinned on the ropes, but Froch can't find him with anything clean. Dirrell looks tired. Ref warns Froch for holding and hitting behind the head. Good double jab from Dirrell, who finishes the round strong. 10-9 Dirrell.
Round 10: Dirrell doing all the punching as Froch stalks, missing a sweeping right hand with Dirrell in the corner. Good left by Dirrell. Froch lands a jab. Ref takes point from Dirrell for holding at 1:11. Dirrell is retreating, scores a pair of hard left hands on Froch. Froch pins him on the ropes, but a pair of left hands score flush as Froch is staggered and falls back to the ropes and appears ready to go. The crowd goes silent as the bell sounds. 9-9.
Round 11: Dirrell is in the corner as Froch flurries. It all misses and Dirrell comes up with a left hook to back off Froch. He hurts Froch with a left hand and a left uppercut. Dirrell is going at him, but gets caught by a left hook though he takes it well. Dirrell is going for the KO. He's standing and punching really hard. Good lead left from Dirrell. Froch keeps punching but Dirrell gets under everything he's throwing, who can't capitalize with Dirrell on the ropes. Lefts to the head score for Dirrell. 10-9 Dirrell.
Round 12: Dirrell's trainer tells him he needs a KO to win since he's in Froch's hometown. Both fighters look tired and a bit sloppy. Dirrell has done all the scoring in the early half of the round. Froch scores a good right uppercut in a clinch. Good jabs from both. Dirrell runs down Froch and assaults him with both hands. Dirrell doesn't do much for the rest of the round, however, as Froch carries the action. Problem is, he doesn't land anything telling. 10-9 Dirrell.
Official scores: 114-113, Dirrell; 115-112, Froch; 115-112 Froch.
Falgoust's score: 117-110, Dirrell
Postscript: Although the Showtime announce team thought this was a close fight, it really wasn't. In terms of skill, this was a mismatch, although Dirrell did hold excessively at times. "We know where we are," he says of fighting in Froch's hometown. "I worked my (butt) off. I boxed him enough to gain the decision." Froch said he thought he deserved the decision: "He didn't want to stand and fight …What am I'm supposed to do if he's not going to stand and fight like a man, like a warrior. I can't believe it was a split decision." Froch's next opponent is Mikkel Kessler. Dirrell will meet Arthur Abraham.
Thats the best joke I heard for a long time! UNBIASED?!?!
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