Andre Dirrell caused a shock in the Super Six tournament when he beat Arthur Abraham on a disqualification in Detroit.
Intentional foul in 11th round leaves American unable to continue
Andre Dirrell caused a shock in the Super Six tournament when he beat Arthur Abraham on a disqualification in Detroit.
American Dirrell, who had lost his opening bout in the event to Britain's Carl Froch, was in complete control when the fight was stopped in the 11th.
The Michigan native had been much the better of the two in the super-middleweight clash before a glancing blow to the chin led to him slipping over.
While he was kneeling in the corner, Abraham landed a right to the chin that left his opponent unable to continue with just over a minute left in the round.
First loss
The intentional foul meant Abraham, who pleaded his innocence afterwards, was handed the first loss of his 32-fight career. He had knocked Jermain Taylor in his opening fight in the event.
"He wasn't on the ground, I shouldn't be disqualified for this," the Armenian-born German said.
The scorecards showed Dirrell was well clear - two judges making it 97-92 in his favour with the third putting him even further ahead, at 98-91.
He had knocked Abraham down in the fourth round with a sharp right and also opened up a cut above the right eye of his rival during the seventh.
The victory takes the 26-year-old's record to 19-1 as a professional. He will take on compatriot Andre Ward in his third and final fight of the group stages.
