Let's Keep Carl Froch's Narrow Win Against Andre Dirrell In Perspective

Although Carl "the Cobra" Froch eked out a victory against Andre "the Matrix"  Dirrell, proving my prediction wrong, he still left many doubters. Many people felt that he did not do enough to earn the decision against Dirrell. Even worse, many think Froch benefited from some home(town) cooking from the referee (who deducted a point from Dirrell) as well as the ringside judges.

On the other hand, a significant number of boxing experts, namely ESPN.COM's Dan Rafael, had Froch edging Dirrell. Although I believe that Andre Dirrell did enough to beat Carl Froch, this defeat was not the Bernie Madoff-like robbery that many are making it out to be.

To place this controversial decision in its proper perspective, let's reminisce over (or forget) these scoring nightmares of superfights past:

1. Jose Luis Ramirez W SD Pernell Whitaker, Stade de Levallois, Levallois-Perret, Hauts-de-Seine, France, March 12, 1988. Sadly for "Sweat Pea," this is the first of two appearances on my list.

2. Park Si-Hun W (3-2) Roy Jones, Jr., Seoul, South Korea, 1988 Seoul Summer Olympic Games. For the record, this is arguably the worst decision in sports history. 

3. Pernell Whitaker D PTS Julio Cesar Chavez, Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, United States, September 10, 1993. This S.I. cover says it all.

4. Lennox Lewis D PTS Evander Holyfield, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, United States, March 13, 1999. Not as bad as the Whitaker-Chavez "draw," but it has its own unique foulness.

5. Courtney Burton W SD Emmanuel Augustus, L.C. Walker Arena, Muskegon, Michigan, United States, July 6, 2004. This was not a superfight by anyone's standards, but it was super-ugly nonetheless. Teddy Atlas explains it a little better than me.

Did Andre Dirrell get jerked? Probably. Was the decision bad enough to send an appeal to the WBC? Probably not. The most important thing that we learned from Froch-Dirrell is that boxing decisions have not changed much. Hometown fighters get their unfair share of wins in close, distance fights. Many judges overlook the prowess of the slick boxer in favor of the aggression of the puncher or brawler, even if the aggression is ineffective. Other judges are swayed by the old adage, "you must dominate the champion to take his belt."

All of the "victims" on my list went on to Hall of Fame careers and in most cases avenged these infamous losses and draws. Like Pernell Whitaker, Andre Dirrell is a slick southpaw with fast hands and seemingly faster feet. The sooner he learns to slow down the feet and engage more, like Whitaker learned to do after his first career loss to Ramirez, he'll go a long way in protecting himself against "big fight crimes" in the future.

Carl Froch continues his bumpy, undefeated run through the Super Six Middleweight Tourney. His heart and resolve can not be denied. His skills can be. However, until his "0" goes, the Cobra can and will continue to spit verbal venom at his opponents and detractors like me.