Cancer Survivor Anthony Dirrell Fighting for His Family's Future
Former super middleweight titleholder Anthony Dirrell knows no matter what situation he faces inside a boxing ring, it can’t possibly be tougher than what he’s already gone through in his life to be there.
“Definitely not,” said Dirrell. “I already won the biggest fight of my career against cancer. It’s just tremendous for me to even be here to be able to talk to [Bleacher Report] about my future and my boxing career. Most people who have cancer can’t really do anything afterwards, but God has blessed me and I keep on getting blessed. And I’m going to take full advantage of these blessings and go in there and get a victory.”
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The long road back for Dirrell is not yet complete.
“When I was an amateur fighter, I fought the best amateur fighters. Now that I’m a professional, I want to fight the best professionals. It’s just getting to that point to do that. I have to build myself back up to get there. That’s the task right now: getting me to the point where I’m at the top again.”
Dirrell, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2006, survived six long hours of surgery and over eight draining months of chemotherapy to return to the boxing ring just two years later. The tribulation didn’t end there. In 2012, Dirrell suffered a broken leg after a motorcycle accident.
But by 2014, Dirrell was the WBC super middleweight champion. No wonder he’s nicknamed “The Dog.” His whole boxing career has been a dogfight, and he’s come out on top for most of it.
On Sunday, the 30-year-old from Flint, Michigan, faces former title contender Marco Antonio Rubio of Mexico. He believes a win there would catapult him back to the upper echelon of his division.
“What is there not to know about Rubio? He’s fought some of the best in the game. He’s stepping up to me next, so I just want to go in there and do my thing and get the job done.”
Dirrell said his game plan for the bout is simple.
“Just do what I’ve been doing to get me to this point: Be aggressive and fight my fight. I’ll definitely come out with the victory.”
Rubio, 35, is a tough-minded challenger. He knocked out current IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux in 2011 and gave a blossoming Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. all he could handle in 2012.
Both men enter the bout coming off losses. Dirrell lost his title belt to Badou Jack via majority decision earlier this year in a fight that could have gone either way. Rubio was destroyed by WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin in just two rounds.
Dirrell recognizes this fight as a crossroads bout. He absolutely has to defeat Rubio if he hopes to accomplish his goals as a professional boxer.
“It’s very important. This is what all fighters live for: to be champion. I let it slip out of my grasp in my last fight. Once I get it back, it will stay with me.”
Dirrell said he didn’t agree with the judges’ decision in his last fight. He said he didn’t feel his opponent did enough to dethrone him but conceded he didn’t fight his best that night.
“In that fight, nothing was going the way I wanted it to. I could have controlled it, but I couldn’t really throw what I wanted to throw. But if we fought again, nine times out of 10, I’ll beat him.”
Still, despite the close loss, Dirrell is headlining a Sunday afternoon card, September 6 at 4 p.m. ET on CBS, something he’s extremely proud to be doing.
“It’s great. I’m happy that PBC is on free TV. I can’t ask for a better thing because now millions of people can see me fight. It’s Sunday and it's prime time like a football game. It’s just wonderful. It’s good for boxing. It’s bringing boxing back.”
The pragmatic Dirrell, perhaps influenced by his brushes with mortality, is extremely forthright about his professional boxing goals. Yes, he wants to fight the best and establish a legacy. But he also recognizes that the most important part of prizefighting, at least for the men doing the fighting, is the prize: cold, hard cash.
“If it makes money, it makes sense. That’s what it’s all about: me taking care of my family. I just plan on fighting whoever. Like I said, it’s about the money now and getting another championship. Once I get another championship, the sky is the limit. And I want all the championships; not just one.”
Here’s something else Dirrell is honest about: the pessimistic nature of fickle boxing fans and media. When Dirrell’s bout against Rubio was announced, there were more shoulder shrugs than jubilation. Dirrell is comfortable with it.
“Everybody has their own opinion. They want to see who they want to see fight whoever. But at the end of the day, both fighters worked their butts off to win the fight. And none of them are overlooking anybody because anything can happen in boxing. No man can get his chin strong for a hit. If you get caught with one shot, it can change the whole fight and every fighter knows it. There’s never a bad fight in boxing. It’s just people saying that there is.”
Dirrell is about as comfortable with such things as any fighter can be. He said he understands those who look at boxing like their own personal video game, where matchups are decided by their preference rather than the myriad of other aspects that ultimately go into such a thing. But he says most folks just don’t know all the facets of matchmaking.
“People want to see who they want to see. They don’t understand the business aspect of boxing. They just want us to fight, fight, fight, fight. And that’s not how this game goes if you really know what’s going on in the background.”
Still, Dirrell gets it. No matter who you ask, there’s only one way to be considered among the very best in boxing.
“You have to fight the best to be the best. People have their own opinions. You just have to live your life and know you're making the right decision.”
And while no one is really doing back flips over the Dirrell-Rubio bout, the fight has the potential to be a real barnburner. At his best, Dirrell is a fast, gifted and aggressive fighter who comes to fight, and Rubio is a committed slugger who fights with grit and determination.
More importantly, both men should be desperate for a win.
And Dirrell just might have the back flips covered anyway. Those who have seen him fight before know one of his signature post-fight moves after a big win is a standing back flip. Yes, Dirrell predicted a victory over Rubio on Sunday and a possible post-fight back flip too.
“You just might see it!”
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes and information were obtained firsthand.
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