Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell isn’t licking his wounds after defeat, preferring instead to raise his hackles at a new challenger.
Anthony Dirrell looks to rebound from his April loss to Badou Jack against Marco Antonio Rubio.
After suffering his first loss in April, former 168-pound champ Anthony Dirrell (27-1-1, 22 KOs) returns against tough, battle-tested veteran Marco Antonio Rubio (59-7-1, 51 KOs) on September 6 at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas in a CBS-televised fight (4 p.m. ET / 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," Dirrell says. "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.”
Rubio, who’s been in tough against the likes of Julio Caesar Chavez Jr., Kelly Pavlik and Gennady Golovkin, and who owns a knockout win over David Lemieux, is no mutt, however.
“I’m very excited to face Anthony Dirrell,” he says. “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."
In the co-main event, 118-pound dynamos Jamie McDonnell (26-2-1, 12 KOs) and Tomoki Kameda (31-1, 19 KOs) meet again after their scintillating clash in May, which still stands as one of the more dramatic, exciting fights of the year with McDonnell surviving a knockdown to win a narrow decision.
“I am delighted to be going back to the States and facing Kameda again," McDonnell says. “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."
Like Dirrell, though, Kameda says he’s determined to bounce back from his first loss in convincing fashion.
"This is the fight I wanted, and I'm thankful to have the opportunity to rematch Jamie McDonnell,” he says. "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."
