By Ian S Palmer
Andre Dirrell of Flint, Michigan will be taking on Jose Uzcategui of Venezuela in a rematch for Dirrell’s interim IBF Super Middleweight Championship at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, new York this Saturday, March 3rd. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the U.S. on Showtime while fans in Canada can catch it on TSN 2 and those in the UK can view it on Sky Sports. Dirrell and Uzcategui originally fought last May with the fight ending at the end of the eighth round when Uzcategui was disqualified for hitting Dirrell after the bell. Uzcategui was ahead 77-74 and 77-75 on the scorecards with the third judge having it 76-76 at the time.
Dirrell is an Olympic medalist as he captured a bronze in Athens, Greece back in 2004. The 34-year-old Dirrell hasn’t been too active lately as he fought just once in 2015, 2016 and 2017. He’s a southpaw who will climb into the ring with an impressive record of 26-2 along with 16 Kos. His defeats came against James DeGale by 12-round unanimous decision in May of 2015 and at the hands of another British boxer when Carl Froch of England beat him by 12-round split decision back in October of 2009.
Dirrell stands 6-feet-1-inches tall and has a 75-inch reach. He turned pro back in 2005 and has fought 164 rounds since then with a current knockout ratio of 57 per cent. His best wins have been against the likes of Curtis Stevens, Anthony Hanshaw, Derrick Findley, Arthur Abraham, Darryl Cunningham and Derek Edwards. He also beat Arthur Abraham by an 11th-round disqualification on 2010. He’s won eight of his last nine contests and 10 of his last 14 wins have been by stoppage.
The 27-year-old Uzcategui is a big banger who now fights out of Mexico. He stands just over 6-feet-2-inches tall with a reach of 76.5 inches which gives him a slight height and reach advantage over Dirrell. He’s got quite a bit of power with a current knockout ratio of 79 per cent and enters the contest with a record of 26-2 with 22 Kos. He’s boxed just 85 rounds since turning pro back in 2011 and his last nine wins have all been by knockout.
Before being disqualified against Dirrell, Uzcategui’s lone career loss was by a 10-round unanimous decision to Matt Korobov in June of 2014. His biggest wins have been stoppages against Derrick Findley, David Lopez and Julius Jackson. He also has a 10-round unanimous decision win over Rogelio Medina. Uzcategui has a decent chin and good power, but he can sometimes be a bit wild with his punches.
Prediction…
This could be a another tough fight for Dirrell due to Uzcategui’s power and size. Dirrell has a pretty good chin and needed it in their first fight, but basically took most of Uzcategui’s power shots until being hit after the bell. Still, he was losing the fight at the time and the rematch be be quite similar unless he uses his superior boxing skills. I’m actually looking for Uzcategui to win the rematch here.
