Dirrell Gets Up From Early Knockdown to Beat Caparello

#Caparello sends #Dirrell to the canvas late in round 2. #PBConSpike #DirrellCaparello https://t.co/YuwHJlUYpS

— PBC (@premierboxing) April 30, 2016

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ -- No, not this again, Andre Dirrell was probably thinking to himself in his groggy head Friday night as he got back on his feet in the second round of his fight against Blake Caparello.

It was less than a year ago that Dirrell was in the same situation, staring up from two second-round knockdowns against James DeGale for the vacant IBF super middleweight championship.

That time, Dirrell never recovered—and lost. This time, it was different.

Little did Caparello know, but Dirrell had him just where he wanted him. After the flash second-round knockdown, Dirrell got off the canvas to score a unanimous 10-round decision on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike, from the Trump Taj Mahal, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Judges Alan Rubenstein, Lynne Carter and Eugene Grant all saw the same fight, each scoring it 91-98 for the Flint, Michigan southpaw.

It was a nice comeback victory for Dirrell (25-2, 16 KOs), who was fighting for the first time since losing to DeGale on May 23, 2015.

Against Caparello, Dirrell dominated most of the fight. He pressed the action and had the Australian southpaw pinned against the ropes a number of times. After gathering himself in the second, Dirrell began putting together combinations and had Caparello (22-2-1, 6 KOs) lumped up and swollen midway through the fight.

“The knockdown I got in the second round felt good,” Caparello said. “I knew I had him hurt, but I wasn’t able to capitalize on it. I continued to look for the same left hand all night, it just didn’t come again. Andre has a lot of tricks, he is both good and fast. I am not happy with my performance. I will be back though. I am just going to gather myself and get back on the winning mark.”

Caparello, whose only other loss came against Sergey Kovalev, who stopped him in the second round, was game. Becoming more urgent, Caparello tried pressing Dirrell in the later round, but the former Olympic bronze medalist took the fight back in the middle of the ring, where he could his superior hand speed and quickness.

“I learned from the DeGale fight, I used my strength this time,” a very animated Dirrell exclaimed. “I’m not going to criticize myself this time because I’ve been off for (11 months). I’ve been in the gym grinding, hustling, and working my (butt) off. I wanted to stop him, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to give that to you. I was working hard. I’m going to keep grinding, and keep coming. I want to be back on top. Al (Haymon, his manager), give me that shot. I will be world champion. I will be world champion.

“My focus, determination and my drive got me the win tonight. I know I’ve got more work to do, but I never stopped grinding in there tonight. I want to send the boxing world and this whole division a message. I’m coming for anyone with a belt. I’ll take on anyone who’s a champion. I know I’ll be a world champion. I have to be a champion. I don’t slow down for anyone. I’m going to keep pushing to get where I’m going. Tonight my brother and I were both able to display our talents in front of a national audience on Spike. Anthony is strong as an ox and got the win quickly tonight. I got the win on determination and heart. I had to use my toughness in this fight, and I pushed myself as hard as I could to get the win.”

On the undercard, Anthony Dirrell, Andre’s brother, never gave Caleb Truax a chance, in a scheduled 10-round super middleweight fight. Anthony crushed Truax, knocking him down twice in the first round, before referee Harvey Dock stepped in and waved it over at 1:49.

“I showed tonight that I work on the gym, and it paid off. If I work like I did this time leading up to the fight, then I know nobody can beat me,” Anthony said. “What helped me tonight was landing my shots early. I was right on top of him with combinations and controlling my jab and that set the tone. I want a world title next, and I’ll fight anybody who has one. I want people to respect that I’m ready for a title and give me that shot. My work tonight inside the ring made a big statement for what my brother and I are doing outside of the ring. A lot of people were watching tonight, and now they know a little bit more about what’s going on with the Flint Water Crisis back home.”

A stunned Traux just shook his head afterwards, trying to make sense of what happened.

“Everything was great leading up to the fight,” Truax said. “I don’t know what happened tonight. He just caught me early. I think it was an overhand right. “I could have continued but the referee stopped the fight. I have never been down before, so I’m not used to this. “I am very disappointed, but I will be back.”

Super bantamweight Jonathan Guzman remained undefeated by stopping Daniel Rosas (20-3-1, 12 KOs) in the eighth of their scheduled 10-rounder. One of the more exciting young punchers in the world today, Guzman (21-0, 21 KOs) had Rosas down in the fifth and eighth rounds.

“I used a lot of concentration early and let him make errors early so I could see what he was planning to do,” Guzman said. “Once I saw the mistakes he was making I let my hands go. I wanted to let him throw some punches early. It helped me gain confidence and learn his tendencies. “I saw him dropping that right hand, and I knew it would open up the opportunity for me to land my left. I’m glad I got the stoppage.”

Of course, Rosas didn’t think he was in trouble when referee Benjy Esteves Jr. stopped it.

“The ref stopped the fight. I thought the fight should have continued, but he decided to stop it,” Rosas said. “(Guzman) knocked me down, but I kept on fighting. I was never hurt. I feel good. Guzman is a strong fighter, but I felt I could have continued and come back in the rest of the rounds.”

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.