"The Matrix" Gets Knocked Out and Beats Arthur Abraham

“The Matrix” Andre Dirrell defeated IBF middleweight world champion “King” Arthur Abraham by an 11^th round disqualification in the second stage of the Super Six World Boxing Classic in Detroit, Michigan.

Dirrell (19-1, 13 KOs), a southpaw who won the middleweight bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, had dominated Abraham (31-1, 25 KOs) and he was ahead on the scorecards when the “King” committed an intentional foul that knocked “The Matrix” unconscious and forced the referee to halt the bout.

“He executed a perfect game plan and I’m proud of him and I just want to hug him and kiss him,” said Dirrell’s trainer and uncle, Leon Lawson Jr. “But it was blemished.”

Lawson contended that Dirrell’s victory was “blemished” because he wanted his nephew to emerge victorious in a more conventional fashion.

Abraham, an Armenian-German professional boxer who is ranked as the 14^th best boxer in the world by The Ring Magazine , claimed he didn’t realize that Dirrell had slipped and was perched on one knee when he belted him with a vicious right to the chin.

“I was not looking at his feet, I was looking at his eyes,” said Abraham, 30, who  violently knocked-out Jermain Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs) in the tournament’s first round last October. “I didn’t see if he was down.”

The contest marked Abraham’s first failure as a professional prizefighter and it enabled Dirrell to rebound from his heartbreaking split decision loss to Britain’s Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) this past fall.

Dirrell, 26, a native of nearby Flint, is very mobile and he possesses tremendous hand speed.

Additionally, “The Matrix” is blessed with solid power in each of his fists.

“Dirrell is a very skilled fighter,” said Brad Sherwood, a resident of South Boston who is a personal trainer at Gold’s Gym in Medford. “If he continues to train hard, he’ll be around for a long while.”

In zero capacity was Dirrell overwhelmed by Froch on October 18 in Nottingham, England.

If “The Matrix” battles Froch again in the future, expect Dirrell to even the score with the Englishman in their second contest.