By Jake Donovan

Andre Dirrell creeps closer towards his second title shot after scoring a over Derek Edwards in their super middleweight title eliminator Friday evening at Colisee de Quebec in Quebec City, Canada.

Scores were 120-108, 119-109 and 119-107.

The action was all one way - unless you count the theatrics in Edwards' corner, which were probably the highlight of the night. The bout itself was a drab affair, with Dirrell outboxing Edwards from the opening bell, but unable to put on the finishing touches to end the night early.

Edwards was hurt on a couple of occasions, primarily any time Dirrell was able to land straight lefts in succession. Each rest period between rounds featured Edwards catching an earful from animated trainer Charlie 'Dew Drop' Young, whose rants - while riddled with profanities - were on point, but not enough to fully motivate his charge.

Despite delivering a terrific performance, Dirrell did not escape the wrath of his own corner. 

Former two-time heavyweight titlist Chris Byrd - who hails from Dirrell's hometown of Flint, Michigan - filled in for Leon Lawson, Dirrell's grandfather and trainer who was denied entrance into Canada. Byrd made sure to remind his fighter that the knockout was there for the taking, but the once-beaten super middleweight instead settled for a landslide decision.

It was revealed after the fight that Dirrell suffered a badly damaged left hand during the fight. 

Dirrell improves to 24-1 (16KOs) with the win, his fifth straight. He now moves into position to challenge for a super middleweight title in 2015, as the win made him the #2 challenger behind James DeGale in the race to face unified titlist Carl Froch. A title fight would also represent a chance for revenge, as Froch is the only man to hand him a loss in the pro ranks, taking a split decision in Oct. '09. 

Edwards falls to 27-4-1 (14KOs) with the loss. The North Carolina product came in on the heels of the biggest win of his career, a 1st round knockout of previously unbeaten Badou Jack this past February. His performance on Friday was a reminder of just how big of an upset he scored earlier this year. 

The bout aired live on Showtime, in support to the light heavyweight championship between Adonis Stevenson and fringe contender Dmitry Sukhotsky.

Opening the telecast, Artur Beterbiev survived an opening round knockdown to score three of his own in stopping Jeff Page Jr. inside of two rounds. A full recap can be found

here

. 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of krikya360.com, as well as the Records Keeper for the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and a member of Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox