Perhaps Anthony Dirrell vs. Marco Antonio Rubio isn’t a fight we’ve been dying to see, but at least we have something to tie us over until Floyd Mayweather vs. Andre Berto. As we come off the excitement of last weekend’s action-packed bout between Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares, we ease into the fall fight season that boasts an exciting number of matchups.
Unfortunately, Dirrell vs. Antonio is one of the less talked about fights, and with good reason. Both fighters return to the ring coming off losses. Dirrell allowed the subpar Badou Jack to erase the zero off his undefeated record; while Rubio didn’t last but two rounds with Gennady “GGG” Golovokin, which is actually kind of understandable since most guys aren’t surviving Golovkin these days. If anything, the fight has gotten a tiny bit of buzz due to the marketing powers that come with being on a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) card.
So what do we do with a matchup of two average fighters coming off losses? Well, if you love boxing as much as I do, you’ll watch and hope they can make an above-average fight. Quite a few of the unanticipated matchups this year have been surprisingly watchable.
Considering Sunday football hasn’t started yet, take advantage of this PBC card’s abnormal airtime to see what may turn out to be an enjoyable fight.
Tale of the Tape
| Anthony Dirrell | Marco Antonio Rubio | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 27-1-1, 22 KOs | 59-7, 51 KOs |
| Age | 30 | 35 |
| Height | 6’2 ½” | 5’10” |
| Reach | 73” | 70” |
| Weight | 168 | 160 |
| Stance | Orthodox | Orthodox |
| Hometown | Flint, Michigan | Torreon, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico |
| Rounds Boxed | 107 | 319 |
As Marco Antonio “El Veneno” Rubio’s record indicates, this isn’t his first rodeo. He trumps Dirrell by far in the experience department with double the amount of professional career bouts and nearly triple the amount of rounds boxed. Quality of opponents is always a factor, but with that kind of experience, there’s no excuse for Rubio to be a fish out of water in this fight.
At only 30 years old, Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell boasts quite a few wins, only one draw, and only one loss. Though the Flint, Michigan native has a cleaner record than his counterpart, he will enter the bout as the less-experienced fighter. However, what Dirrell lacks in experience he makes up for with a few physical advantages.
Rubio will be moving up to 168 to fight Dirrell, which may be a relief for both Rubio, who had trouble making weight for the Golovkin fight, and for Dirrell, who will feel right at home in his weight division. Dirrell stands taller than Rubio with a nearly five-inch reach advantage. This is great news for Dirrell if he wants to get away with having a low guard. Rubio will have a number of opportunities to go to the body but he may have more difficulty headhunting with Dirrell.
We should also keep in mind that the two orthodox fighters, despite their different levels experience and physical stats, boast an impressive 76 percent knockout ratio. Rubio’s percentage is especially noteworthy considering it is comprised of 51 KO victories.
Main Storylines
If nothing entices you to watch this fight or cheer for any one of these guys, you can always root for Anthony Dirrell because he beat cancer (even if it was almost 10 years ago). He also suffered a broken leg and other injuries from a motorcycle accident in 2012, and still managed to return to boxing and remain undefeated until recently.
On fighting Marco Antonio Rubio he says, “I’m ready to get back in the ring and prove that I’m still one of the most dangerous men in the game…Rubio is a tough guy but I’m coming to knock him out and eventually get my title back. “The Dog” is coming to Texas looking to inflict some pain.”
I’ll take the knockout prophesy with a grain a salt (he also said that about Badou Jack), but you can’t knock Dirrell for having confidence.
Rubio and his camp have remained rather mum about the fight, or PBC is just relying more heavily on Dirrell’s press to sell the bout, which makes sense. The narrative of the fight is more so about Dirrell being able to prove he’s still worthy of attention from the boxing community and top contenders in his division. While it is clear Dirrell needs to impress in this fight, he must keep in mind that Rubio is set out to make him look unimpressive.
Strengths for Each Man
Photo by Esther Lin
Anthony Dirrell
Anthony Dirrell definitely shows the likings of a “pick ‘em” fighter—he likes to take his time and choose his shots carefully. This is helpful in the sense that Dirrell doesn’t expend unnecessary energy with high volumes of punches. For this reason, it is unsurprising that Dirrell has made it to the later rounds a few times in his a career.
An important factor in this fight is whether Dirrell will be able to use his style to control the pace of the bout and make Rubio fight his fight. When Dirrell is in punching range, he should be sure to let his right hand go, which is one of his best assets. Interestingly, Dirrell works fairly better on the inside (his work output is definitely better), but his comfort zone is on the outside.
Photo by Rafael Soto/Top Rank
Marco Antonio Rubio
One of Marco Antonio Rubio’s greatest strengths in this fight is his jab. The jab is one of the most important and underrated punches in boxing. Why it works especially well in this case is because he’s guaranteed to out-jab Anthony Dirrell by throwing it period. Dirrell is not one to jab often, so if Rubio can work his own, he can keep his opponent where he wants and set up some effective combinations.
Once Rubio can establish his distance with the jab, letting his hands go will be important. Unlike Dirrell, Rubio is more likely to put his punches together. This is key in terms of work output and aggressiveness in the eyes of the judges. Those two factors alone are what helped an average Badou Jack beat Dirrell convincingly. Rubio has the power to make his combinations meaningful, if he so chooses to put in the effort.
Another great asset for Rubio is experience. While his record may not feature a wealth of elite fighters, 67 career bouts—especially at age 35—are virtually unheard of with today’s professional fighters. Dirrell is not a very unique or spectacular fighter, meaning there’s no reason to believe anything he does will be new to a veteran like Rubio.
Weaknesses for Each Man
Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/USA TODAY Sports
Anthony Dirrell
I’ve noticed that Anthony Dirrell has trouble establishing his distance in a fight. The distance difficulty is mostly because Dirrell’s jab is virtually non-existent. Even as a pick ‘em fighter you cannot neglect the jab, as it is one of the most fundamental ways of establishing your distance. Dirrell doesn’t use the jab, and as a result, it takes him four to five rounds longer than it should to find his opponent.
Couple this with Dirrell’s patient style, and we’ve got one inactive fighter. There is such thing as being too patient in boxing, and that’s when your work output is so low you’re making your opponent look like the busier, more aggressive guy. Patience must be balanced with activity.
This leads to my next point, which is that Dirrell retreats to the ropes a little too often. Intentional or not, his opponent gets off more highlights there than he does. It also costs him his “ring generalship”—a mysterious term, but for the sake of the argument, let’s just say it means looking good in the ring. A great example is Dirrell’s last fight against Badou Jack. For most of the fight, Dirrell and Jack were working at the same rate. However, Jack looked much better than Dirrell because he kept coming forward and throwing punches while Dirrell retreated to “lure” him to the ropes.
Dirrell is much more effective in terms of work output on the inside, but this is one of his more underused skills. Even on the inside, he still wants to be a pick ‘em fighter, often taking too long to choose those punches and leaving himself open.
Photo by Naoki Fukada
Marco Antonio Rubio
It’s a shame Anthony Dirrell does not enjoy working on the inside as much as the outside, considering Marco Antonio Rubio does not like inside work very much. It doesn’t sound characteristic of guy with 51 knockouts, but it’s true. He’ll participate if he has to but the inside does not appear to be a place of comfort for Rubio.
Rubio lacks the aggression of a true pressure fighter that is necessary to make Dirrell work harder than he wants. More involuntary work for Dirrell means less time for him to think and less accurate, well-timed shots. When in the ring, Rubio tends to retreat in a circular fashion that will give Dirrell too much confidence. He’s strikingly easy to back up and doesn’t deal well with pressure.
The latter he doesn’t have to worry about with Dirrell, but retreating can make Dirrell appear to look like the more aggressive fighter.
Winner and Why
Photo by Esther Lin
Marco Antonio Rubio lacks the key ingredient to win this fight, which is intense pressure. As I mentioned before, Anthony Dirrell needs to have intense pressure put on him in order to decrease his time to think. Rubio comes forward at times but not often enough where he can really put the brakes on Dirrell.
By brakes I don’t necessarily mean work output, but Dirrell’s mental stamina. He may not be the most sophisticated fighter—otherwise he’d use his jab a lot more—but he’s smart enough to lure a willing opponent to fight at his pace, with his style. I can easily see Rubio falling into this trap.
If this fight produces any excitement, it’s going to be because of exchanges on the inside. The more the merrier, but I expect most of the fight to be fought on the outside at a Dirrell’s snail’s pace. I expect Dirrell to win by decision.
Prediction: Dirrell
