Is Ward this Good?

Look, I had to take Kessler coming into this fight just because he's been in there with the stiffer competition. However, Ward showed me a ton tonight:

He never allowed Kessler to get in his range and smartly - like a seasoned pro - held Kessler and avoided his right with speed and holding. Kessler looked entirely befuddled throughout the bout.

Even Kessler in defeat - as he talked to the crown prince of Jackasses, who should have been KO'd by Pete Rose and Tyson years ago - questioned his abilities after saying that Ward had a home town ref and was intentionally Holyfield-ing him throughout the bout.

I must say that I'm astonished that Kessler put up such a weak performance and I'm certain that copious amounts of pint glasses were being thrown at the HD screens a many back in his homeland.

My question: Is Ward that good, or has Kessler just deteriorated? I've always been impressed with Ward's boxing skills - after all, he's a gold medalist - but he lacks power. I don't see him fairing well against Abraham, if it comes to that.

I'm just curious to get others opinion of the performance and the resultant
havoc this creates in the tournament.

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Originally Posted by The Shadow

Look, I had to take Kessler coming into this fight just because he's been in there with the stiffer competition. However, Ward showed me a ton tonight:

He never allowed Kessler to get in his range and smartly - like a seasoned pro - held Kessler and avoided his right with speed and holding. Kessler looked entirely befuddled throughout the bout.

Even Kessler in defeat - as he talked to the crown prince of Jackasses, who should have been KO'd by Pete Rose and Tyson years ago - questioned his abilities after saying that Ward had a home town ref and was intentionally Holyfield-ing him throughout the bout.

I must say that I'm astonished that Kessler put up such a weak performance and I'm certain that copious amounts of pint glasses were being thrown at the HD screens a many back in his homeland.

My question: Is Ward that good, or has Kessler just deteriorated? I've always been impressed with Ward's boxing skills - after all, he's a gold medalist - but he lacks power. I don't see him fairing well against Abraham, if it comes to that.

I'm just curious to get others opinion of the performance and the resultant
havoc this creates in the tournament.

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For me Kessler was always a bit one dimensional , and wasn't as good as everybody was saying.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dark Lord Al

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Shadow

Look, I had to take Kessler coming into this fight just because he's been in there with the stiffer competition. However, Ward showed me a ton tonight:

He never allowed Kessler to get in his range and smartly - like a seasoned pro - held Kessler and avoided his right with speed and holding. Kessler looked entirely befuddled throughout the bout.

Even Kessler in defeat - as he talked to the crown prince of Jackasses, who should have been KO'd by Pete Rose and Tyson years ago - questioned his abilities after saying that Ward had a home town ref and was intentionally Holyfield-ing him throughout the bout.

I must say that I'm astonished that Kessler put up such a weak performance and I'm certain that copious amounts of pint glasses were being thrown at the HD screens a many back in his homeland.

My question: Is Ward that good, or has Kessler just deteriorated? I've always been impressed with Ward's boxing skills - after all, he's a gold medalist - but he lacks power. I don't see him fairing well against Abraham, if it comes to that.

I'm just curious to get others opinion of the performance and the resultant
havoc this creates in the tournament.

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For me Kessler was always a bit one dimensional , and wasn't as good as everybody was saying.

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Perhaps, but Kessler made good showings against top-tier opponents before. The fact that he didn't have any southpaw sparring partners makes me question his corner. Some of his punches looked amateurish.

I've watched several of Kessler's bouts and he seemed like a talented pro; in fact, he could have beat Calzaghe if he didn't take off the first half of the fight. And Calzaghe is one of the most talented boxers I've seen in decades.

How do you see Kessler as one-dimensional? Are you just trying to point to the fact that he relies too heavily on his right hand? I really thought that there was much more to Kessler than he showed against Ward. But perhaps I completely underestimated Ward, who has proven he can bang with the best after tonight.

I also for a long time havew been saying kessler was being overrated he had one fight with a top teir guy previously where he demonstrated he was unable to adapt to different styles and he showed it again today.

I wouldnt call Kessler 1 dimensional, he is just a classic fundamentally sound european fighter. I think Kess didnt Jab enough, I know Ward had excellent movement and seemed to really lack respect for Kesslers punching power which no doubt surprised the Dane. Ward exploited the fact that Kessler starts off slow and Andre never took his foot off the gas and managed to hit overdrive the whole fight.. I think the rough stuff on the inside was very smart and no doubt unnerved Kessler and wore on him. I dont think he was in danger of ever being stopped seemed to have his legs and crisp punching still and even seemed to come alive a bit in round 9-10.

I just think a Classic fighter like Kessler cant make the adjustments on the inside and cant compete or dosent know how to when it gets rough

Ward was very versatile and gave Mikkel a ton of different looks, he pressed, counterpunched, orthodox stance, southpaw, fought on the inside/ outside and he never took a second of any round off..

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Originally Posted by JT Rock

I wouldnt call Kessler 1 dimensional, he is just a classic fundamentally sound european fighter. I think Kess didnt Jab enough, I know Ward had excellent movement and seemed to really lack respect for Kesslers punching power which no doubt surprised the Dane. Ward exploited the fact that Kessler starts off slow and Andre never took his foot off the gas and managed to hit overdrive the whole fight.. I think the rough stuff on the inside was very smart and no doubt unnerved Kessler and wore on him. I dont think he was in danger of ever being stopped seemed to have his legs and crisp punching still and even seemed to come alive a bit in round 9-10.

I just think a Classic fighter like Kessler cant make the adjustments on the inside and cant compete or dosent know how to when it gets rough

Ward was very versatile and gave Mikkel a ton of different looks, he pressed, counterpunched, orthodox stance, southpaw, fought on the inside/ outside and he never took a second of any round off..

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Very good post.

Ward fought a excellent fight, he mixed everything in really well.

Ward is a very good fighter, but he does a number of things which I can't stand. Now, most people on here know I'm generally a fan of quick, technical fighters & I don't mind if a fighter 'cheats' a little bit, but quite frankly Ward takes the piss.

I'll start with one thing he does that just winds me right up & that's him just holding his left arm out rather than jabbing. I was amazed nobody else has picked up on this, especially when you consider how much shit fighters like Wlad take over it. The reason it's so frustrating is he actually has a very good left jab (he paws with it too much when switching to southpaw) & yet he seems determined to just hold his arm out there, which is actually illegal.

His excessive holding & punching in the clin pissed me off. He basically seemed to be looking for any excuse to clinch & then throw right hooks in there. I don't mind someone clinching strategically occasionally, but doing it constantly is just too much & I'm hoping there's none of that against Taylor.

Finally, his ducking low & charging in like a bull is quite rightly only going to lead opponents accusing him of intentional headbutt as Kessler did last night. I think it's more a case of not having that corrected by his trainer. I actually like a fighter being able to duck low & move away if it is a split second athletic movement like Mayweather often does, but just going down & staying there isn't on & I'm amazed Kessler didn't just drop one on him.

The biggest problem I have is he's good enough that he doesn't need to do these things, certainly not all of them & I still think he would've beaten Kessler without them, but he's not going to have a ref who lets him get away with whatever he wants against Taylor & Dirrell so he really needs to correct those things or hopefully he'll be getting punished for them.

I dint get to see the fight.

Been sick & was doped up on flu-meds & then 5 to 19 minz before the fight...I passed out...& missed the fight.

Totally pissed off!!!!

The thing is...Ward is good...& he's young...so he good become great...but I am shocked that he made it past Kessler so easily as I am hearing.

Happy for the youngin...just curious to see how he fares against my guy Arthur.

Can't wait.

Ward completely outboxed him. I was impressed. I don't know if those headbutts were intentional or part of his game, but they clearly frustrated the hell out of Kess. He did get cut up, but he didn't seem like he was hurt by them like Tyson was in Tyson-Holyfield I.