The bout was a chess match from the start with the two boxers spending most of the first round circling each other and trying to find openings but neither found many open spots and the first round ended with Despaigne holding a 2-1 lead. The second round told a similar story but the leather started to fly slightly more and the Cuban picked up a 5-3 lead as the bout hit the halfway point. Dirrell increased the pace in the third round, throwing combinations and scoring points on his tactical opponent and his work earned him a 7-6 lead as the bout went into the final round. Both corners knew that the bout was close and looked for their athletes to win the tactical chess match but only one boxer could emerge victorious and Dirrell went into the final 30 seconds up one point. He began to circle Despagine as the final seconds ticked away and he survived the bout to win the one-point victory.

“Going into the bout, we knew it was going to be a chess match,” Head Coach Basheer Abdullah said. “The Cubans are very smart, they always adjust to situations and I totally believed that they weren’t going to come out and be aggressive against Andre in this particular bout because at the Pan American Games, he lost to the Cuban by one point with that style and almost humiliated the Cuban with that same style of boxing at the Athens Test Event, being aggressive.”

“He came out trying to box and I knew that I was a better boxer so I tried to make him move forward,” Dirrell said. “I saw that he was trying to counter and if I threw my left or moved to my right at the same time, he couldn’t land that power punch. I was patient when throwing it because I knew he would be looking for that so I took my time and most of the times that I threw it, I landed it.”

“The Cubans are too smart, they respected his ability to counterpunch and I knew they were going to play a chess match and take him out of what he does so well,” Abdullah said. “The idea came when we were reviewing the tapes and I saw him boxing in his last two bouts and it came to my mind that they were preparing for Andre’s bout.”

Dirrell knew that the stakes were high not only because he was not only boxing for an Olympic medal but also facing a Cuban boxer, but he looked to use the added nerves to his advantage.

“I was extra nervous (about boxing a Cuban), but I just had to be more cautious and aware,” Dirrell said. “The Cubans are great boxers but they get their style from us so I was aware of what he was going to come with and the coach knew exactly what they wanted to do. I felt good, I knew I could out-box him.”

Dirrell felt special vindication after being on the opposite end of a one-point decision in their first match-up at the 2003 Pan American Games. Dirrell avenged that loss with a 41-28 in their second bout but clearly his win in the Olympic match-up was the pinnacle of the three contests.

The 20-year-old looked back at the conversation he had with his grandfather at age 12 and is clearly happy that his grandfather kept him in the ring.

“I was happy that when I asked him that question that he didn’t whip out his belt,” Dirrell said. “He told us that he didn’t want us out running around on the street and now I look at where I am and I thank him for that. He’s a great grandfather and I wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world.”

Both Andres will compete in semifinal action on Friday, August 27 with Dirrell facing 2003 World Champion Gennadiy Golovkin of Kazakhstan in after competition light heavyweight Andre Ward taking on of Uzbekistan in evening action. The bout will be the second match-up between Dirrell and Golovkin with Dirrell winning the first by the familiar one-point margin, 15-14 at the 2003 USA vs. Kazakhstan Dual.