Two veteran super middleweight contenders looking to stay relevant will battle on Sunday, September 6, as former world champion Anthony Dirrell (27-1-1, 22 KOs) takes on Mexican brawler Marco Antonio Rubio (59-7-1, 51 KOs) at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. The fight will be televised on CBS Sports beginning at 1 p.m. PT.
“I’m ready to get back in the ring and prove that I’m still one of the most dangerous men in the game,” said Dirrell. “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.”
Dirrell has seen plenty of adversity outside of the ring during his career, starting in December 2006 when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and was sidelined for 20 months. Later, in May 2012, he had another setback when he broke his lower left leg and left wrist in a motorcycle accident.
The Flint, Michigan-native eventually came back, and in 2014, won his first championship by beating brawler Sakio Bika. He would later lose that WBC belt to Badou Jack.
Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Rubio is one of the most experienced fighters around and will look to add another big name to his list of victims throughout his 16-year career.
Rubio owns victories over David Lemieux, Carlos Baldomir, Jorge Cota, and Rigoberto Alvarez across a career that has seen him challenge for world titles on three occasions. Born in Durango, Mexico, he will be fighting close to home when he enters the ring in Corpus Christi.
“I’m very excited to face Anthony Dirrell on September 6,” said Rubio. “This is a tremendous opportunity for me and I’m going to leave it all in the ring. I promise a great fight for all the fans that come out in Texas.”
The undercard will feature bantamweight world champion Jamie McDonnell (26-2-1, 12 KOs) facing the exciting Tomoki Kameda (31-1, 19 KOs) in a 12-round world title rematch of their May 9 CBS Sports fight that saw McDonnell survive a third round knockdown to win by the score of 114-113 on all three judges’ scorecards.
“I am delighted to be going back to the states and facing Kameda again,” said McDonnell. “The first fight was brilliant, he’s a class act and I wish that the first fight had gone on even longer. People wrote me off before the first one but I was always confident that I would beat him and I am even more confident that I will do it again. If I start well this time I think I will stop him.”
The UK's McDonnell has been on a tear since 2008 with 18 consecutive wins. He became a bantamweight world champion with a victory over Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat, and later successfully defended against Javier Nicolas Chacon before coming over to America and defeating Kameda in May. In that fight, McDonnell used his length and activity to earn the decision victory.
“This is the fight I wanted and I’m thankful to have the opportunity to rematch Jamie McDonnell,” said Kameda. “I thought that I won the first time, but this time I will leave no doubt. I can’t leave it up to the judges this time, my plan is to dominate.”
Kameda announced his arrival stateside after a vicious knockout over Pungluang Sor Singyu in July 2014 in Las Vegas. That knockout was Kameda’s second bantamweight title defense after he won the belt from Paulus Ambunda in 2013.
The 24-year-old followed up his U.S. debut when he defeated Alejandro Hernandez in Chicago via split decision.
By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com
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