Anthony Dirrell - Comes For Business But The Personal Looms Large

Saturday’s Errol Spence-Shawn Porter welterweight unification battle (Fox PPV, 9 PM EST) headlines what is heralded as one of the stronger overall cards of the year. Considering the price tag associated with pay-per-view in a saturated market of network, cable, and streaming platforms, extra value is a plus.

A big part of the value this Saturday comes in the super middleweight division. 34-year old two-time WBC titlist Anthony Dirrell (33-1-1, 24 KO) attempts the first defense of his second reign against a 22-year old David Benavidez (21-0, 18 KO) looking to reclaim a belt he didn’t lose in the ring.

Dirrell won the vacant WBC belt after a hotly contested tenth-round technical decision victory over Avni Yildirm in February. The belt was rendered vacant when Benavidez was stripped and suspended following a positive test for cocaine in 2018. Prior to the suspension, Dirrell was scheduled to face Benavidez as a mandatory.

Now, with the tables turned, and extensive support from Fox on several of their networks, Dirrell steps into one of the highest profile fights of his career. The eldest of the major champions in his division, the magnitude of this weekend’s Staples Center festivities doesn’t escape him. “It’s a big show because of the amount of people that gonna’ be there, because it’s on pay-per-view…It’s probably one of the biggest of my career, atmosphere-wise and show-wise.”

The confident veteran didn’t mince words about what he expects. “On the 28th, it’s gonna’ be my show.”

Dirrell has earned a right to some confidence. His career is already a triumph. After finishing short of an Olympic bid in 2004 to end an accomplished amateur career, Dirrell rattled off twelve early career wins before facing a foe out of the ring he’d never trained for.

Dirrell survived a battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma that kept him out of the ring from December of 2006 until October of 2008. It would take almost six more years before Dirrell achieved championship gold, defeating Sakio Bika after a draw in their first fight to win the WBC belt at 168 lbs.

Asked if he ever pinches himself reflecting on the mountains he’s overcome to be where he is today, nearly fifteen years into his pro career, Dirrell spoke to his personal work ethic. “It just takes dedication and hard work to get where I am. Never stop and never quit. You keep pushing at something that you want and if you get it that’s a big accomplishment. I succeeded. I accomplished what I wanted when I won my first world title. To win my second is just an added bonus on top.”

The fight with Yildirim ended up being one of the better fights so far in 2019, an unexpected development for viewers most familiar with Yildirim from a third round stoppage loss to Chris Eubank Jr. in 2017. Dirrell, at least, felt he saw the challenge coming. “I knew what he was bringing. If I’d have fought a little different, I’d have beat him way worse. He wasn’t really touching me but styles make fights. I decided to fight like that that time so we got an exciting fight out of it. I appreciate it. It was one of the best fights I had entertainment-wise.”

It was also an example of how competitive the super middleweight division has become. “It’s deep,” Dirrell said when asked about the landscape at 168 lbs. “You have to understand. We got multiple world champions in the weight. We have Billy Joe Saunders; Canelo (Alvarez) is even there when he wants to be. Callum Smith, Caleb Plant, myself, it’s even guys that doesn’t have titles that’s there you have to factor in.”

Of the major titlists right now, Dirrell is the most advanced in age by several years. Smith (WBA, 29), Plant (IBF, 27), and Saunders (WBO, 30) are all in the thick of their primes. Dirrell doesn’t think his younger contemporaries have caught him just yet but acknowledges the quality around him. “I think we’re all great in our own way. Do I think I’m the best? Yeah. What fighter wouldn’t think they’re the best in their weight class? I definitely think everybody has their own style; they all bring something to the table that’s unique and good.”

“I’m the oldest and in the running with all the young guys and I’m still here.”

Looking ahead to Benavidez, Dirrell stopped short of giving away any perspective on how he thinks he wins this weekend. Speaking broadly, Dirrell offered, “I definitely think I’m the much smarter fighter. I have a lot more experience than him and on the 28th everyone will find out my game plan.”

When Dirrell steps in the ring, he represents more than himself. Against the backdrop of the ongoing water crisis in his hometown of Flint, Michigan, Dirrell, his brother Andre, and undisputed women’s middleweight champion Claressa Shields have all had success in the ring and show strong public support for each other.    

“We all stick together. We’re all one. When we say Flint strong we mean it. When one of us fights, it feels like all of us fights. We’re rooting for each other. We want each other to succeed.  You come out of Flint after everything we’ve been through, and everything we’re still going through, it’s a challenge. So we’re definitely Flint strong.”

What they’ve all been through as part of the community over the last five years has brought out the civic side of Dirrell. Separate from his preparation for the Benavidez fight, Dirrell is investing time and money in his community. “I have a non-profit, Anthony Dirrell Fight Back for Flint. I’m working with the Boys and Girls Club to a build a Boys and Girls Club on the North side of Flint because that’s where the water crisis happened…to give people something to look forward to. I want to do something positive.”

According to materials provided by his team, Dirrell “wants to specifically heal the wounds that the water crisis inflicted on the youth of Flint, by building a state of the art, $500,000 new Boys & Girls club facility at ground zero of the water crisis.”

The scars inflicted and still mounting from the water crisis are unavoidable in discussing the matter with Dirrell. “They just announced they need to start boiling water again. Since April 14, 2014,” he said with frustration, the exact date ready at hand, “it’s been the same. We just need, not even just a state or a city, we need to come together as a country and fix this because it’s sad. We got to go around unable to drink water. We can’t do anything; we can’t drink, you can’t wash nothing, because it’s all contaminated. We need to come together as a whole.”

Asked if he’s angry about the lack of resolution, Dirrell stated, “Of course. It’s my city. We have to get this resolved. I have family that still lives in the city. That’s why I want to do all I can to help out.”

Dirrell stopped short of tying the fight this weekend to the fight for his city though. “No, that’s personal. This is business.”

It’s a business he has engaged in for most of his life. With a win this weekend, the potential is there for more accolades and perhaps even unification. Dirrell wouldn’t venture into discussion of the future or whether that’s something he’s interested in yet. “I’m not thinking about none of that. I’m thinking about David Benavidez. I can’t think of the future when I have to deal what’s in the present first.”

For the Flint natives Dirrell wants to help, they will have a champion no matter what happens in the ring this weekend. 

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com