Anthony Dirrell vs Norbert Nemesapati Preview January 13th
Former WBC Super Middleweight Champion Anthony Dirrell of Flint, Michigan will engage in a 10-round super middleweight bout against Norbert Nemesapati of Budapest, Hungary at the Hialeah Park Racing & Casino in Hialeah, Florida this Friday, January 13th. The bout can be seen live in North America on the Spike network. Dirrell last fought on April 29th and beat Caleb Truax by a first-round TKO. Nemesapati’s last contest took place on November 12th and he stopped Przemyslaw Binienda by a second-round TKO. Nemesapati often fights as a light heavyweight, so will be coming down to the 168 lb. division for this fight.
Dirrell vs Nemesapati Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- Norbert Nemesapati +26500
- Anthony Dirrell -6000
My Pick
The 32-year-old Dirrell will enter the ring with a fine record of 29-1-1 along with 23 Kos. He’s a good boxer, but not quite in the upper echelon or elite class at the moment. His best performances have come against Truax, Marco Antonio Rubio and Sakio Bika, who he fought on two occasions. Dirrell fought to a 12-round draw with Bika in their first meeting in December of 2013 and then took Bika’s WBC crown via unanimous decision the next time out in August of 2014. However, the lost the crown to Sweden’s Badou Jack by majority decision in April of 2015. His next fight was a 10-round unanimous decision over Rubio five months later.
Dirrell stands is just over 6-feet-2-inches tall and has a 74.5-inch reach. He’s beat everybody he’s faced other than Jack and has an impressive knockout rate of 74 per cent. Dirrell was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma back in 2007 and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments for close to two years before fighting again. He turned pro back in 2005 and has met the likes of Bika, Anthony Hanshaw, Rubio, Truax and Jack. Other than that really, there aren’t too many opponents anybody is going to recognize in the 118 pro rounds he’s fought. Unfortunately for most fans, Nemesapati is a boxer they’ve likely never heard of.
Nemesapati will climb into the ring with a record of 24-4 with 17 Kos and it’s hard to believe he’s just 21 years old and turned pro back in 2012. He’s fought 137 rounds since then and has decent power himself with a current knockout ratio of 61 per cent. However, his chin may be questionable since he’s already been stopped twice. Callum Smith stopped him after six rounds in London, England last August and Schiller Hyppolite stopped him in the 11th round in December of 2014. Nemesapati has also dropped an eight-round unanimous decision to Jason Escalera in August of 2014 and a 10-round unanimous decision to Umar Salamov in August of 2016.
Nemesapati is a very active fighter who seems to be in the ring every couple of months. He fought seven times last year alone and won five of them. He stands just under 6-feet tall and has a reach of 70 inches so he has disadvantages in both of those departments. There isn’t much known about the young Hungarian and he’s obviously a good prospect at his age even though he’s tasted defeat four times. Nemesapati is doing the right thing by keeping himself busy and he’ll gain valuable experience against an ex-world champion in Dirrell.
Prediction…
This fight seems to be a learning curve for Nemesapati as it looks like he’s meeting Dirrell for experience rather than adding a W to his record. Of course, if the 21-year-old wins it’ll be an unexpected bonus. Dirrell has shown he’s got a good chin up to now and although the Hungarian is looking to learn a few things in the ring, it won’t really help him if he suffers a third KO in his career. Dirrell is motivated at this point in his career as he tries to earn another title shot to reclaim his lost crown. Look for him to take the bout by decision or late stoppage.
Dirrell should be too experienced and powerful.
Play: Dirrell -6000 @ 5dimes.eu
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Anthony Dirrell betting • Norbert Nemesapati betting