This Friday night sees two fighters coming back from long breaks as former Super Six contenders Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell co-headline a card at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California to be aired live on Showtime. Taylor, not having fought for more than two years, wins the prize for longest inactivity but Dirrell himself hasn’t stepped between the ropes for 21 months so both will be hoping for a smooth transition back into the sport. Luckily for them opponents Jessie Nicklow and Darryl Cunningham appear hand-picked for the occasion.

Dirrell (19-1, 13KO’s) has the tougher test of the two, and that’s to be expected. Although a head injury has kept him out of the ring after suffering a concussion when taking an illegal blow in his winning fight with Arthur Abraham in March 2010, big things are still expected of the Flint, Michigan fighter.

Will Dirrell be the same following his traumatic fight with Abraham?

Having lost to Carl Froch in England in a close, ugly fight in Oct. ’09, Dirrell rebounded with an impressive performance against Abraham in Detroit, frustrating and confusing the German with impressive speed and movement, before he was struck by a punch when he was on the floor that ended the fight and saw Abraham disqualified. It was an unfortunate incident for Dirrell, who was on his way to a good win. The problems he suffered as a result of the punch, both immediately and in the longer term, will have undoubtedly soured the victory, as will the accusations that he faked it to get the win.

The real test for Dirrell, as it will be for Taylor, will be purely psychological. It will be interesting to see how both fighters react to traumatic losses and whether that fighter’s instinct still remains. Dirrell was knocked silly by the punch from Abraham make no mistake, and even believed he had lost the fight despite being told otherwise, such was his confusion initially. That’s the sort of thing that can destroy a fighter’s self-belief and only time will tell if Dirrell will feel a little gun-shy in there when the punches start flying.

Although Cunningham (24-2, 10KO’s) is a decent fighter he is not at Dirrell’s level by any means, and should Dirrell lose he will have lost the fight himself rather than having been beaten by Cunningham. In any other circumstance this fight would be an open and shut case but how Dirrell reacts will be a major factor in the final outcome.

Taylor has been knocked out in three of his last five fights

Arkansas’ former middleweight champ Jermain Taylor (28-4-1, 17KO’s) will also be feeling the pressure, having been knocked out in his last two fights, and losing four of his last five, albeit in good company.

Quite what Taylor aims to achieve with this return is questionable. Back at middleweight, Taylor has obviously decided to give it one more shot against fighters not quite as big as the likes of Froch and Abraham, but big question marks still remain. It seems unlikely that Taylor can achieve the giddy heights of years gone by, highlighted by a reign as the undisputed 160lb champion, at this point in his career. It’s true he was winning against Froch before getting starched with seconds left on the clock, but many people still believe he should have taken the decision to call it quits after a tumultuous few years inside the ring. Only time will tell.

We wont truly see what Taylor has left against Nicklow (22-2-3, 8KO’s) however. At best Nicklow is a clubfighter, at worst he’s a tomato can. Should Taylor lose it will emphatically prove his decision to return was the wrong one, but it will do little for his standing should he win, and will just be getting back into the groove, but either way until he faces a higher level of opposition we will really be none the wiser as to how he will fare back up at World level.

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