ANDRE DIRRELL: "I'M LOOKING TO MAKE A BIG STATEMENT ON MY RETURN"
By Christian Hesse | August 21, 2012
"It wasn't the standard contract at all. Floyd Mayweather looked out for my best interests. Floyd and 50 did, so you know, I just had to work out few other kinks. My lawyer had that tied away and he had no problem with that at all. It was a solid, quick deal pretty much. I have a four year, one year option, you know, so that's the contract...Like I said, I'm looking to make a big statement on my return and once I get that ball rolling, it's not gonna slow down at all, so my name's gonna stay in the loop this time until I retire; no doubt about it," stated top super middleweight Andre "The Matrix" Dirrell, who talked about his new contract with TMT Promotions, his potential return to the ring on November 17th, and much more. Check it out!
CH: Thanks a lot for taking the time to speak with us. Congratulations on your new promotional contract. Was that process a complex one or pretty straightforward? Are you able to disclose the length of the contract?
AD: Thanks a lot; appreciate it. It was pretty much a promoter respect, fighter type deal. There were a few kinks that we had to work out. The contract came pretty good. It wasn't the standard contract at all. Floyd Mayweather looked out for my best interests. Floyd and 50 did, so you know, I just had to work out few other kinks. My lawyer had that tied away and he had no problem with that at all. It was a solid, quick deal pretty much. I have a four year, one year option, you know, so that's the contract. I'm totally fine with that. I know that this guy is going to boost my career; get it going fast. Like I said, he's doing a great job with it. If I worked out the rest of my career with them, that would be a great thing.
CH: You recently said that you expect to return to the ring on the 17th of November. Carl Froch is supposed to announce his next bout on Monday, and then he's got that rematch with Lucian Bute. You had hoped to face Froch sooner rather than later. It's highly unlikely that he's going to mention you, but is there any chance that his announcement will be that he's facing you next?
AD: I highly doubt that. I've been out for...on November, that'll be 11 months. That's another year, so that's almost three years in total. I'm really ready to get back in there. I'm expecting a warm-up fight first. I'm expecting pretty tough opposition because I'm ready for it, you know, but as far as me and Froch go, I'd love that to build up again and me and him get that shot again. So after he fights Bute and after my next fight, then I'll definitely be ready for a fight with Carl Froch again; no question.
CH: So the November 17th bill, the first thing that sprang to mind when I saw that you signed with TMT was that we might have Dirrell on a Mayweather card. It's probably unlikely that Mayweather's fighting in November. Do you have any idea who else might be on that card or are you headlining that card?
AD: I'm not too certain. It could be Gamboa as well, you know. I don't know. We're just really working on getting me back in that ring, getting me going, but I'm ready for 'em. So if I'm going to headline, then you'd better believe that it's going to be a pretty good opponent in front of me.
CH: Kelly Pavlik is back on the scene and is still pretty good. In terms of a tune-up, maybe someone else before Pavlik?
AD: Who has Pavlik fought? When was the last time that he fought? I know that he's pretty on and off too. I'm not too concerned with him like I thought I was. I would love a fight with him somewhere down the line. If it's Pavlik, whether it's a tune-up, whether...I'm just ready for it. Pavlik's a great fighter, but he's been out of the ring just as long as me pretty much.
CH: In terms of fighters, I always felt that you had a bit more to offer than Pavlik did, but he's still kind of a name, so if you came back and you beat him, that would probably help reintroduce you to the public.
AD: Definitely, definitely. Like I said, I'm looking to make a big statement on my return and once I get that ball rolling, it's not gonna slow down at all, so my name's gonna stay in the loop this time until I retire; no doubt about it.
CH: So in terms of your next opponent, you're still discussing that with your team, but it sounds like a tune-up might make the most sense at this point.
AD: Yeah.
CH: How many times a year would you like to fight, or is that left to your management/promoters?
AD: That's one of the things that I discussed with Floyd heavily when we were talking about the contract. I would like at least three fights a year starting off. That's pretty much a guarantee. I wanna fight three times for the next two years, that's a fact. For the next six fights, no question about it, three times a year. Delete 2012, get a fight this year, then 2013 to 2014, you know it'll be out of this world. We'll be ringing bells, man, constant.
