Round by round: Jose Uzategui beats up Andre Dirrell

Sub Lead04-Mar-18by John J. Raspanti

By Allan Cerf

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Round 1: Both landed clean; Dirrell too susceptible to some fairly heavy shots. Round for Uzcategui.

Round 2: Dirrell looks worried and hesitant. Uzcategui’s right hand, both lead and in combination is the only story, so far. Round for Uzcategui

Round 3: Good 2 way action and convention be damned, I’ve got it even. Dirrell badly buckled at the bell, was hurt by body shot. Even round.

Round 4: Big round for the man from Venezuela. I’m worried that the referee warned him for no reason at all – about use of forehead. Round for Uzcategui

Round 5: Uzcategui now really marking up Dirrell’s face though Andre made him stumble with a very hard counter left. Round for Uzcategui

Round 6: Despite a furious late-round flurry by Dirrell, Uzcategui is owning him. Time – or something has caught up with Dirrell. Uzcategui beats ALL the 168 pounders in the tourney, by the way.

Round 7: Comparatively a tighter round but no doubt as to the scoring. Finally, Uzcategui’s corner telling him to up the pace. A bit late. Dirrell told he needs a KO! Round for Uzcategui.

Round 8: HUGE round for Uzcategui who was on the verge of stopping Dirrell. Dirrell had some comeback moments. Dirrell warned by the corner they’ll stop it. Round for Uzcategui.

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And so ends in my view, the mysterious, inexplicable career of mega-talent and nice guy, Andre Dirrell. Beaten by a man who beats every single man, most easily, in the 168-pound tournament including George Groves.

In speaking with me recently, Dirrell said even he wasn’t sure why his career has been so slow to ignite, given his talent. Can he re-build? Not if his reflexes are as dulled as they appeared tonight. However, as Paulie Malignaggi observed, the credit is mainly due to Uzcategui.

In signing off fans, I’m left with the vision of the dominating Jose Uzcategui stopping Dirrell: a guy, though armed with enormous talent, seemingly beset throughout his career by ill luck, questionable management and the realization of how dangerous boxing is.

At the end of eight, Dirrell seemed to decide “too dangerous.”