安东尼·迪雷尔决心要证明自己

2046

安东尼·迪雷尔决心要证明它还在他手上



周六在洛杉矶，安东尼·迪雷尔在与吉隆·戴维斯的比赛中打进的首要进球并不复杂:这位前冠军得主想要证明他仍然是世界上最好的超级中量级选手之一。


在2019年9月的一场比赛中，36岁的迪雷尔在第9轮的比赛中输给了当时的冠军得主大卫·贝纳维德斯，但由于右眼上方的伤口而被终止。

这位老将很有竞争力，但当比赛结束时，他的牌数远远落后于对手，在八回合后，比分分别是79-73、78-74和78-74。再加上他之前在对阵阿夫尼·耶尔德勒姆时的表现，很多人都认为他最好的日子已经过去了。

迪雷尔一如既往地自信，根本不在乎别人怎么想。

“我谁的话都不听，”他在Zoom的电话会议上说。“说实话，我不听你们的。我知道我能带来什么。我知道如何训练。如果我训练得当，没人能打败我。”

没有人会质疑迪雷尔的韧性。

2000年代中期，他感染并克服了非霍奇金淋巴瘤，两次以超级中量级冠军的身份统治世界。他在2014年击败了Sakio Bika赢得了WBC腰带，但在第二年的第一次防守中，却以多数人的决定输给了八斗杰克。

2019年，他在第10轮技术决战中战胜耶尔德勒姆，重新获得了同样的冠军。在一次意外的头撞中，迪雷尔的左眼上方被划伤，这场争斗进入了记分牌阶段。

在参加耶尔德勒姆之战之前，迪雷尔曾表示，这可能是他最后一次参加耶尔德勒姆之战，因为他的职业生涯很长，也希望有更多的时间和家人在一起，但他不能错过这次与贝纳维德斯的比赛中卫冕冠军的机会，但比赛结果并不理想。

17个月后，他似乎又燃起了一团火。他被问到他想对戴维斯(15- 2,6科)做什么演示，戴维斯是一位来自特拉华州的技术人员，体重从160磅上升到160磅。

“我仍然是最有力的竞争者之一，我从来没有放弃过，”他说。“我还在这里，还在争夺。”

与戴维斯的比赛是WBC冠军的淘汰。贝纳维德斯和罗纳德·埃利斯(Ronald Ellis)定于3月13日举行的比赛也是如此。这意味着两场比赛的胜者可能会在周六争夺冠军得主卡内罗·阿尔瓦雷斯的权利，如果阿尔瓦雷斯击败耶尔德勒姆。

然而，迪雷尔表示，在他职业生涯的这个阶段，他不想和这位贝纳维德斯-埃利斯的冠军有任何关系。

“我不想要，”他说。“我想要冠军，我想为一条腰带而战。如果不是为了一条皮带，我不想为它而战。我没有忽略吉龙。我从不忽略任何人。我为所有人训练都是一样的。

“他知道我能带来什么，全世界都知道我能带来什么。”


Anthony Dirrell’s primary goal going into his fight with Kyrone Davis on Saturday in Los Angeles isn’t complicated: The former titleholder wants to demonstrate that he remains one of the best super middleweights in the world.


Dirrell, 36, is coming off a ninth-round knockout loss to then-titleholder David Benavidez in a fight that was stopped because of a cut above Dirrell’s right eye in September 2019.


The veteran was competitive but well behind on the cards when the fight was stopped, 79-73, 78-74 and 78-74 after eight rounds. That and his previous performance against Avni Yildirim led many to believe that his best days were behind him.


Dirrell, as confident as ever, couldn’t care less what anyone thinks.


“I don’t listen to anybody,” he said on a Zoom conference call. “I don’t listen to y’all, to be honest. I know what I bring to the table. I know how I train. If I train the right way, nobody can beat me.”


No one will question Dirrell’s toughness.


He contracted and overcame non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the mid-2000s to reign twice as a super middleweight titleholder. He outpointed Sakio Bika to win the WBC belt in 2014 and lost it to Badou Jack by a majority decision in his first defense the following year.


In 2019, he regained the same title by winning a 10th-round technical split decision over Yildirim. Dirrell was cut above his left eye as the result of an accidental headbutt, which sent the fight to the scorecards.


Dirrell had said before the Yildirim fight that it might be his last because of his long career and desire to spend more time with his family but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to defend his title against Benavidez, which didn’t turn out well.


Seventeen months later he seems to have a fire beneath him once again. He was asked what he wants to demonstrate against Davis (15-2, 6 KOs), a skillful technician from Delaware who is moving up from 160 pounds.


“That I’m still one of the top contenders, that I never dropped,” he said. “I’m still here, still in contention.”


The fight with Davis is a WBC title eliminator. So is a bout between Benavidez and Ronald Ellis, which is scheduled for March 13. That means the winner of the two fights could face one another for the right to fight titleholder Canelo Alvarez if Alvarez beats Yildirim on Saturday.


However, Dirrell said he wants nothing to do with the Benavidez-Ellis winner at this stage of his career.


“I don’t want it,” he said. “I want a championship, I want to fight for a belt. If it ain’t for a belt, I don’t want to fight for it. I’m not looking past Kyrone. I don’t look past nobody. I train for everybody the damn same.



“He knows what I bring to the table and the world knows what I bring to the table.”