By Ian S Palmer
Former WBC Super Middleweight Champion Anthony Dirrell of Flint, Michigan will be taking on Kyrone Davis of Monmouth County, New Jersey in Los Angeles, California this Saturday, Feb. 27th. The 12 round bout can be seen live on Fox in North America. Dirrell regained the vacant title in February, 2019 by a 10-round technical decision over Avni Yildirim and was then stopped in the ninth round by David Benavidez in his last bout in September, 2019. Davis last boxed in January of 2020 when he stopped Antonio Todd in the fourth round.
The 36-year-old Dirrell will enter the ring with a record of 33-2-1 with 24 Kos. He’s a good boxer, but not quite in the upper echelon or elite class at the moment. His best performances have been against Caleb Truax, Marco Antonio Rubio, Denis Douglin and Sakio Bika (twice). Dirrell fought to a 12-round draw with Bika in their first meeting in December, 2013 and then took Bika’s WBC crown via unanimous decision the next time out in August of 2014.
Dirrell then lost the crown to Badou Jack by majority decision in April of 2015. Dirrell is big for the 168 lb as he division stands just over 6-feet-2-inches tall and has a 74.5-inch reach. He’s beaten everybody he’s faced other than Jack and Benavidez and has an impressive knockout rate of 66.7 per cent. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma back in 2007 and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments for close to two years before fighting again. Dirrell turned pro in 2005 and has fought 159 rounds since then.
Davis is a full 10 years younger at 26 years old and he climbs into the ring with a mark of 15-2 with 6 Kos. He made his pro debut in 2014 and has fought 88 rounds since. He stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a 73-inch reach which puts him four inches shorter than Dirrell with just a 1.5-inch reach disadvantage. Davis doesn’t carry much power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 35.3 per cent.
He enjoyed a fine amateur career as he won the National PAL Boxing Championships and placed second at the 2013 National Golden Gloves in Salt Lake City. He boxed in the2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in Colorado Springs and was a two-time Pennsylvania State Golden Gloves Champion, and a two-time PA Jr. Golden Gloves Champion. He also won a bronze medal at the USA Boxing Tournament to earn a spot as an alternate on the 2013 USA Boxing Team.
As a pro, Davis was beaten by Junior Castillo via an eight-round unanimous decision in 2016 and dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Patrick Day in 2018 for the WBC Continental Americas Super Welterweight Title. He’s stepping up in class against Dirrell as his list of opponents so far includes Jaime Barboza, Alex Gaytan, Mark Anthony Hernandez and Gabriel Ozan.
Prediction…
It’s hard to say how much Benavidez took out of Dirrell and he’s also 10 years older than Davis. However, he has the experience, chin and power to deal with Davis since his opponent is a relatively weak puncher. This is also Davis’ first fight in the 168 lb division so I think Dirrell will be too much for him.
