Anthony Dirrell

Dirrell vs. Bika Following a 23 fight win streak, Dirrell earned the opportunity to become the mandatory challenger for the WBC Super Middleweight title. He recorded his 24th consecutive victory with a win over Renan St-Juste, when his opponent could not continue due to a shoulder injury. After another pair of wins, on December 12, 2013, Dirrell faced champion Sakio Bika at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the title. After 12 rounds, the judges ruled the fight a draw.

On August 16, 2014, at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, Dirrell faced Bika in a championship rematch. After another 12 rounds, the judges awarded the fight and the title to Dirrell by unanimous decision.

Dirrell vs. Jack Dirrell's next fight was on April 24, 2015 against Badou Jack at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago. Challenger Jack handed Dirrell his first full-fledged loss with a majority decision that saw the 31-year-old Swede control the fight through the middle rounds, relying on a strong jab and a confident aggression to outpoint Dirrell and win a majority decision victory.

WBC contention, injury

After Badou Jack vacated the WBC super middleweight title, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman ordered Dirrell to face Callum Smith for the vacant belt. Following Smith's entry into the World Boxing Super Series, it was announced the fight for the vacant title would be between Dirrell and David Benavidez. On August 5, the WBC announced that Dirrell would be unable to compete due to injury and the bout for the vacant world title would be between Benavidez and Ronald Gavril.

Dirrell vs. Yıldırım On February 23, 2019, Dirrell fought WBC's #2 Avni Yıldırım for the vacant WBC super middleweight title. Dirrell fought well but had a hard time dealing with Yıldırım at times. The fight was scheduled for twelve rounds, but the ringside physician made the recommendation to stop the fight, since Dirrell was dealing with a cut over his left eye, caused by an accidental head clash in the seventh round. Dirrell was leading on two of the scorecards at the time of stoppage, 96-94 and 96-94, while the third judge had it 98-92 for Yıldırım, which was enough for a technical split decision win for Dirrell.

Dirrell vs. Benavidez In his first title defence, Dirrell faced David Benavidez. Benavidez, a former holder of the same belt, was undefeated and had never lost the belt in the ring. In a very competitive fight, Dirrell was fighting well in the opening four rounds. However, things started to go south for Dirrell in the fifth round, when he sustained a bad cut from a Benavidez jab. In the ninth round, after Benavidez unloaded a barrage of shots at Dirrell, Dirrell's corner decided to stop the fight.

Dirrell vs. Davis In his next fight, Dirrell fought Kyrone Davis in an eliminator for the WBC super middleweight championship. The fight ended in a split-decision draw, both fighters winning on one scorecard apiece, 115-113, while the third judge had the fight a draw, 114-114.

Outside the ring It was announced by HBO Boxing After Dark announcer Larry Merchant on the June 16, 2007 telecast that Dirrell was currently undergoing chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was cleared to box again after completing chemotherapy in 2008.

On January 28, 2008, Dirrell was held overnight in the Flint city lockup on suspicion of armed robbery. However, no charges were ever filed. Dirrell's grandfather claims that Dirrell was on his way to undergo chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma when the robbery took place.

Professional boxing record