By Thomas Gerbasi

For the first five minutes of his May 23 bout with James DeGale at Boston’s Agganis Arena, Andre Dirrell thought picking up the vacant IBF super middleweight title was going to be a mere formality.

“First round, he came out and threw that looping left hand a few times and I kinda rolled and I’m just like ‘this is gonna be an easy night,’” Dirrell chuckled. “Second round, my confidence was up another level, and somewhere in that mix I let my guard down, and the next thing you know, I’m getting off the mat.”

His first reaction?

“Oh my goodness.”

The next was to get up, and almost as soon as DeGale’s thudding left cross crashed into his chin, the 2004 U.S. Olympian was back on his feet. A second, more questionable, knockdown followed, and just like that, Dirrell went from leading the dance to being on the wrong end of a 10-7 round. As he went back to his corner, his mind was clear.

“It’s time to fight,” he recalled when asked his thoughts after suffering two knockdowns against the Brit. “It was difficult to take because I felt like I was gonna breeze through that fight after the first round, I really did. He (DeGale) brought a whole different Andre Dirrell out once that happened.”

It’s true, and for the next 10 rounds, Dirrell fought from behind gallantly. And when DeGale met him in combat, it was compelling and evenly-matched action from two of the best 168-pounders in the world. As the bell sounded to end the 12th round, Dirrell and DeGale had a brief chat in the center of the ring, with any animosity built up in the lead-in to the bout diffused by 12 rounds of battle.

“I told DeGale before the decision ‘no matter what happens here tonight, I respect you as a fighter and I respect you as a man. You came out here and you imposed your will and did a great job. So no matter what happens, whatever the decision may be, I got mad respect for you,’” Dirrell said.

Of course, Dirrell thought he won. So did DeGale. And they each had a strong argument. But when the judges rendered their verdict, it was unanimous, with judges Daniel Fitzgerald and Howard John Foster offering identical 114-112 scores, while judge Alan Davis delivered a ludicrous 117-109 nod. The winner was London’s DeGale, and the 31-year-old Dirrell was crushed…but only for a little while.

“I’d say I was down three days after the fight when I got back home,” said the Flint, Michigan native. “I had a lot of plans for the belt and displaying it and talking about being a world champion and it didn’t come. But I did answer a lot of questions and that was enough for me to carry on positively and say ‘hey, you’re a world champion at heart and you’ve got what it takes. Your time will come soon.’ So once I got back, I coped with the loss and watched the fight a few times.”

Eleven days after the bout, Dirrell still feels the same way about the verdict, but he has no issues with the effort he and his opponent gave that afternoon in Boston.

“We put on a helluva performance,” he said. “Boston was pleased, PBC was pleased, and the fans were pleased. It was a very tight performance. He got that knockdown on me and I really felt like I had to turn up and bring muscle to the equation. I did and I thought I did enough to win but I didn’t get the decision. Nevertheless, we put on an awesome performance and I can’t be any more happier with that.”

He’s already returned to the gym, “just for a little touch, just to stay sharp,” and when he talks about being positive after the bout, you can hear the sincerity in his voice. It’s a classy approach in a day and time when that isn’t what you usually get, when the best fights are often fought on Twitter and not in the ring. Dirrell showed grit and determination in rising from two knockdowns, DeGale proved that he was worthy of a world title belt and a place among the elite. It was a good fight for boxing, and Dirrell is proving to be a worthy ambassador for the sport.

“I’ve been down that road,” Dirrell said. “I’ve been down that ‘I got robbed, it was a horrible decision’ road and it was hard for me to cope with at first, but I want to respect him as a champion. We all come to do a job – I come to do my job, he comes to do his job, and the judges come to do theirs. And because we feel like one isn’t fair, it doesn’t defeat the purpose. It’s not like you’re going to take it back to a decision board and they say ‘oh, we’re going to overturn the decision.’ So as a professional, it’s something you have to deal with and I realized that it would get me nowhere, it would keep me down and keep me frustrated and keep me angry. So  I congratulate DeGale as a man, as a boxer and as a champion, and all you can do as a fighter is keep moving forward and know that your day will come. Excuses get you nowhere.”

Rematches can get you somewhere though, and Dirrell certainly would love to tangle with DeGale once more. In a post-fight chat with his team, a September return has been penciled in, and Dirrell has made it known what fight he would love to have.

“He (Al Haymon) said I can get back there in September and I’m looking forward to that, but I’m asking for the rematch,” he said. “I told him I want to get a rematch if it’s possible. I don’t feel like the championship is stamped. Even if I walked away with it, it wasn’t stamped because it was such a close fight. A true champion would want to put a stamp on it. I would love to do it in the O2 Arena (in London), I would love to go to England and prove my worth just like he came to America with all the confidence in the world and he walked away with it. I want that chance as well.”

Bold words from Dirrell, considering that the last time he traveled across the pond he lost a controversial split decision to Carl Froch in 2009. But these days, the former Olympian realizes that there are some things you can control in this sport and others you can’t. So he focuses on what he can control – his fists – and that goes for fighting in Boston, London, or anywhere around the globe.

“It doesn’t bother me,” he said of traveling back to England. “Of course I’m more comfortable in America, but I don’t like to base future decisions on past experiences. What happened with me and Froch happened, and I feel like I won to this day, but I didn’t get the decision. I’m not bitter over it because I went over there and I did my job, but it did hurt at the time. It’s behind me now though, and to go back to England would be an extreme honor and I would enjoy it very much.”

But would DeGale, who has already been linked in the rumor mills with Froch and Bernard Hopkins for what would be lucrative fights, be willing to give Dirrell another shot? The Michigan native thinks he would.

“I believe it’s possible,” he said. “There’s no reason to be scared – it’s not like I whipped his ass or he whipped mine. It was a close fight and a good fight, and he gained a lot of respect from me. I believe he definitely has the heart to do so, and being the champion that he is, he should definitely want to prove himself, and I’m ready to do it in his hometown. There are questions left unanswered. Give me the pen and paper and I’m ready to go.”