FightHype.com caught up with world-renowned trainer Naazim Richardson to get his thoughts on the recent clash between Andre Dirrell and WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch. "I think they took that one from Dirrell. The only way you are supposed to get a point deducted is if you're not letting go when the ref separates you and then you can take a point. It's not illegal to clinch in a fight, but it is illegal for a fighter to punch to the back of another fighter's head," remarked Richardson, who obviously felt that poor officiating was the ultimate reason why Dirrell lost via split decision.
Richardson continued, "The sad thing is Froch admitted it after the fight. He was like, 'Yeah, the only thing he gave me was the back of the head, so I took it!' He was just like, 'Fuck him!'" Although Brother Naaz went on to give Froch credit for the victory, he was bothered by other comments that were made after the fight. "I hate when I hear fighter's say, 'He wouldn't bang with me.' That's the dumbest shit in the world to say," he added. "If I'm challenging an old man, I'm going to challenge him to a race to the end of the road, but if I'm challenging a kid, I'm going to challenge him to a game of Scrabble. You go to your advantages. It was not in Dirrell's best interest to bang with him; his best interest was to swim and not get wet. The name of the game is boxing not banging." Richardson used Shane Mosley's fight with Antonio Margarito as an example, stating, "I told Shane tie him up on the inside because I'm not saying you can't win on the inside, but the ratio of you landing on the inside is 60 his way and 40 your way, but on the outside, the ratio is more like 80 your way and 20 his way. So I thought Dirrell fought smart.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]