Dirrell seemingly ready to travel to London for fight…
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American super-middleweight star Andre Dirrell has insisted that he is keen on a bout with James DeGale for the IBF title and is open to going to London.
After Carl Froch officially vacated the IBF belt on Tuesday, a press conference was called by promoter Eddie Hearn in which he announced that DeGale would be fighting for the belt on April 25 at the O2 Arena in London.
Hearn added that talks with Dirrell had already begun and so they were hopeful of setting up that fight in the coming days rather than having to go down the list if the American didn’t want to travel.
However, it appears that Dirrell is happy to make the trip across the Atlantic again despite his contentious points decision loss to Carl Froch back in 2009, and he has insisted that he is “going to beat the sh*t out of DeGale”.
“Hell yeah that’s a fight I’d be interested in! Number one, that’s an IBF world championship fight. I’ve only fought for one championship my whole career and that was against Carl Froch in 2009,” Dirrell recently told FightHype.com.
“That was about seven years into my career. So this is another chance for me to go get that title and for me to fight someone like DeGale is nothing short of amazing because he’s a great fighter and I’m a great fighter. The belt is up for grabs. Just like if he were champion or I were champion, we are both the opponent.”
Dirrell insisted that as long as he had an even playing field, he would travel wherever to fight for a world title, and his ambition of becoming a world champion ensures that he is willing to head to the UK for a second time.
Meanwhile, the fight still needs to be bid on with the IBF insisting that for a vacant title it will be an even 50/50 purse split for both fighters.
However, while DeGale suggested that he could stop Dirrell on Tuesday, the American had a warning for his future opponent.
“This is a great fight. This is a great match for the fans and it’s something they want to see. Now me, myself, I know I’ma beat the sh*t out of DeGale. And in reverse, he feels the same way about me, so there you have it. You have a fight and I’m looking forward to it!”
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