Anthony Dirrell: The champion has survived and thrived

The fighter tries not to think about all he's been through in his short life because it's more than most people can imagine. It can overwhelm him if he dwells on it.

"I try to keep the past in the past," says Anthony Dirrell, the epitome of a survivor, "because what I went through was one of the down times in my life and I really don't want to keep thinking about it and get depressed."

The 30-year-old Flint, Mich., boxer instead looks to a future that is much brighter and more pleasant to ponder.

It starts with defending his super middleweight championship and undefeated record Friday night in Chicago on national television (Premier Boxing Champions on Spike TV, 9 p.m. ET).

Dirrell (27-0-1, 22 KOs) faces Badou Jack (18-1-1, 12 KOs), one of Floyd Mayweather's young proteges looking to snatch Dirrell's title away.

Dirrell represents an extreme rarity in a brutal sport. A cancer survivor who wears a title belt. Nicknamed "The Dog" for his ferocious fighting style, Dirrell was only 21 when was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2006, just as his professional career was taking off. After opting for chemotherapy and radiation treatments that ravaged his body, he didn't fight again for two years. But he did fight again, and that's what matters most to him.

He shares his survivor-title belt distinction with a man he now refers to as "blood," Daniel Jacobs.

Jacobs, 28, from Brooklyn, survived a rare form of cancer in the form of a tumor that wrapped around his spine. He survived six hours of delicate surgery, then eventually returned and won the WBA middleweight title.

Jacobs (28-1, 25 KOs) faces Caleb Truax on Friday night in the PBC co-main event at the UIC Pavilion. He won his title a week after Dirrell last summer.

"We won championships together and it's a blessing we can say we're champions in anything, let alone boxing," Dirrell told Paste BN Sports Tuesday. "If anybody did this sport, they know how tough it is. I'm happy that we're fighting on the same card and doing it together. Cancer story and two champions. That's beautiful."

If Dirrell's only career hurdle was surviving cancer, well, that would be more than enough. But just as his career was taking off after returning from his illness, he was in a bad motorcycle crash, hitting a car that pulled out in front of him. He broke his leg and fractured his wrist. He was sidelined for another 18 months and still has a rod in his left leg from his knee on down.

Asked if he thought it was his fate to become a boxing champion, Dirrell said, "I think it was because I know I was put here to do this and try to make a difference in other people's lives with my stories.

"But that was hard, too, because I was at the peak of my career again, and another accident happened. But I got through that, it's water under the bridge and I'm moving forward."

Riding motorcycles will stay in his past, too.

"I have a son so I'm not with that," Dirrell said. "And I have this career so I'm looking forward to this, and to watch my son graduate instead of getting on the bike and get into another accident where I might be less fortunate."

Anthony is not the only Dirrell to suffer through career hardships. His older brother Andre, the 2004 bronze medalist at the Athens Olympics, was hit by Arthur Abraham when he was down during their 2010 fight and suffered head injuries. Andre fought only once over the next three years. But in May, Andre will fight for his first world title when he takes on James DeGale for the vacant IBF super middleweight title.

"He's back now, he's getting ready for a world championship and that's all that matters," says Anthony, who says they are extremely close. "He put that behind him. . . . We're blessed to be in these situations that we're in."

As for his fight against Jack, Dirrell says he's ready to defend his title like a dog defends his bone.

"He's a pretty good fighter, but I know I can go in there and handle my business, you know?" Dirrell said. "I trained very hard for this fight because I have to prove to the people that I have to keep what's mine. You know they're training hard to come and get what's yours.

"I heard a guy say on an interview that he's trying to come and take my bone, as in my belt. That's not going to happen.

"You try to take a Dog's bone and he gets real upset."