PBC on Spike Preview: Dirrell Brothers Take on Truax and Caparello in Atlantic City
By: William Holmes
On Friday night Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions will broadcast a live boxing card from the Taj Mahal Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey live on Spike TV.
The Dirrell brothers, along with the Charlo brothers, are perhaps the most recognizable pair of American brothers in the sport of boxing today. However, neither of them holds a title and both came up empty handed in their last title bout.
They will both face decent opponents on Friday that should not be considered an easy fight. The following is a preview of both of the televised bouts on Spike TV.
Anthony Dirrell (28-1-1) vs. Caleb Truax (26-2-2); Super Middleweights
Anthony Dirrell is the younger of the Dirrell brothers and will be thirty one years old at the time of the fight. Many consider Anthony to be the more powerful puncher of the two, as he has twenty two knockouts on his resume. His opponent, Caleb Truax, is one year older than Dirrell and only has sixteen knockouts on his record.
Dirrell will have about a two and half height advantage over Truax, but they have the same reach. Dirrell also holds a significant edge in amateur success. Dirrell is a former national champion as an amateur and had over 190 amateur bouts. Truax had experienced some success as an amateur, but only got into boxing after entering a local tough man tournament.
Anthony Dirrell’s heart should never be called into question, as he had battled non-hodgkins lymphoma and went through chemotherapy before returning to the ring.
Dirrell has not been very active in the past two years, as he had fought once in 2014 and twice in 2015. He has gone 2-1-1 in his last four bouts. He has beaten the likes of Sakio Bika, Marco Antonio Rubio, and Anthony Hanshaw. He lost his world title to Badou Jack, in a close bout, and had a split draw to the always tough Sakio Bika.
Truax has gone 3-1 in his past four fights. He fought once in 2016, once in 2015, and twice in 2014. His biggest wins to date have come against Melvin Betancourt, Scott Sigmon, Derek Ennis, and Donovan George. He has lost to Jermain Taylor and Daniel Jacobs. His loss to Jacobs was by TKO.
Truax really don’t have the power to threaten Dirrell and his last loss was a knockout loss. Dirrell has the power to test Truax’s chin and it will be tested on Friday night. It will be a tough fight, but it should be a bout that Dirrell wins.
Andre Dirrell (24-2) vs. Blake Caparello (21-1-1); Super Middleweights
Andre Dirrell was originally scheduled to face Blake Caparello in October of 2015, but had to withdraw due to medical reasons.
Dirrell is the older of the two brothers, and is considered by many to be the better boxer of the two, but he doesn’t have the same number of knockouts as Anthony. Andre Dirrell has sixteen stoppage victories to his resume. That number still dwarfs the paltry six knockouts that Blake Caparello has on his record.
Dirrell will be giving up a slight ½ an inch height advantage to Caparello, and will have about a one inch reach advantage. Dirrell is a southpaw, but Caparello has been sparring with southpaw Derrick Webster in preparation for Friday’s bout.
Caparello is actually three years younger than his opponent and has experience fighting as a light heavyweight. He should be the naturally bigger man inside the ring.
Andre Dirrell clearly has the edge in amateur experience. He won the bronze medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics, while Caparello has no notable international amateur accomplishments.
Dirrell’s two losses were to James DeGale for the IBF Super Middleweight Title and to Carl Froch by split decision. His wins have come against Derek Edwards, Nick Brinson, Arthur Abraham (by DQ), Derrick Findley, Anthony Hanshaw, and Curtis Stevens.
Caparello has only fought outside of the United States once, and when he did he lost by TKO to Sergey Kovalev. All of his other fights occurred in Australia, and his only notable victories have come against Evlir Muriqi and Alan Green.
Andre Dirrell appears to have the easier fight of the two brothers and he should be able to dispatch Caparello quite easily.