Exclusive: Anthony Dirrell Discusses Retirement Ahead Of David Benavidez Fight
Anthony Dirrell is perhaps on his last legs as a fighter, but he is more than willing to fight retirement and prolong his run as WBC super middleweight champion.
Dirrell’s first title defense since winning the WBC title earlier this year will have him face against the younger, former champion in David Benavidez on September 28. Dirrell has been competing in the pro ranks for far longer than Benavidez and despite being the underdog in this fight, Dirrell is looking to knock out the former champion and show that Benavidez isn’t as strong a power puncher as advertised.
“I think everybody has power, especially with 10 ounce gloves on. I don’t know what kind of power he’s got. Every fighter he knocks out, he was supposed to knock out, just like every fighter I knocked out, I was supposed to knock out. But, like I said, I think styles make fights at the end of the day. I’m going in there, looking for the knockout. I’m going in there doing what I need to do to win this fight. If I don’t get the knockout, I definitely can go 12, and I’m just prepared. I’m mentally and physically ready for this fight,” Dirrell said.
While Benavidez has his own reasons for winning back the title that he never lost in the ring, Dirrell is also battling Father Time. Earlier this year, Dirrell entertained the idea of retirement coming along soon, but that was before he won the title with a technical decision win against Avni Yildirim.
When asked about whether or not retirement is in the back of his mind, even before facing Benavidez, Dirrell said he has put that behind him for now. Retirement isn’t something he wants to discuss before one of the biggest title fights of his career.
“You don’t think of retirement in a fight this big. You think of the fight. You think of the task at hand. Was I thinking about retiring after the last fight? Of course. I’m getting older and I want to spend time with my family, but I’m not getting old enough where somebody’s going to come in there and just whip me or beat me. I’m going in there prepared, fully ready for this fight and I can’t wait for it to happen on the 28th,” Dirrell said.
Dirrell vs. Benavidez for the WBC super middleweight title will be the co-main event for the Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter on September 28 PBC in the FOX pay-per-view event from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Fightful will have live coverage of the entire card. You can listen to Dirrell’s comments to Fightful on the latest edition of the Fightful Boxing Podcast at this link.
