Andre Dirrell promised to shine like a star. He vowed to show the crowd at Glen Burnie's Michael's Eighth Avenue how he could "get it done."
And the Olympic bronze medalist generally had his way with Carlos Jones of Temple Hills last night.
Dirrell dropped Jones twice, bloodying his nose and scoring a technical knockout with 10 seconds left in the fourth and final round of his super middleweight (168 pounds) professional debut.
Dirrell showed a willingness to mix it up, tempting fate by dropping his hands and taking punches. His jab hurt Jones (3-5, two knockouts) and, in retreat, Dirrell also punched well.
Dirrell, who earned $3,000, fought both right-handed and from a southpaw stance, and he punched with power - all to the delight of the packed house.
Overall, Dirrell said, "I give myself an A-minus.
"I'm a freshman. I'm glad I got in there with a guy who can take a lot of punches," said Dirrell, 21, who is thought to be the better professional prospect of the two U.S. medalists in the last Olympics, the other being gold-medal winner Andre Ward.
Earlier in the evening, Dirrell's 20-year-old brother, Anthony, also debuted as a super middleweight. The younger Dirrell did a back flip after scoring a first-round knockout of New York's Henry Dukes, who is winless in five bouts.
Anthony Dirrell was the aggressor from the start, firing hard, fast, crisp punches from nearly every angle. Dukes wilted under the pressure, being cornered, seemingly defenseless, less than 30 seconds into the fight.
Referee Bill Holmes briefly halted the fight, apparently to examine Dukes' temporarily dislocated left shoulder. But after Dukes popped his shoulder back in and indicated he could continue, so did his opponent's vicious attack.
As the newest brother combination on the boxing scene, the question begged an answer from the Dirrells: If their professional careers grow in proportion to the magnitude with which they were embraced by last night's crowd, would they ever face each other in the ring if the money was right?
Or would their relationship be above it, like that of the heavyweight Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir.
"I'd never get in the ring with my brother, no matter how much they offered me," said Andre Dirrell.
In other bouts, heavyweight prospect Chazz Witherspoon of Paulsboro N.J., scored his second knockout in as many professional fights, ending his scheduled four-rounder with Yul Witherspoon (1-1) of Lake Charles, La., at 1:26 of the second round; and Dundalk heavyweight Mike Dietrich (3-0, one KO), earned a unanimous, four-round decision over Royphy Solieau (0-5) of Lake Charles.