What that was a tough fight for Ward!

Wow after watching the first few rounds I thought Ward would gradually start dominating Froch more and more, he had the distance and timing and everything, then he would get on the inside and let Froch get busy again, and it seemed like Froch was in better shape, and Ward started getting hit by jabs he never would have earlier in the fight. It was a lot sloppier fight than I expected from Ward. I thought he would control it much more convincingly, but still a great win, and he really showed that he was the better fighter. Despite the fact I think he was pushed much further than it showed I think he won it handily (like Pacquiao-Margarito) I thought it should have been around 116-112 for him at least.

I've gotta break this shit down in super slo mo to see who was really faster but generally I agree.

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Originally Posted by OumaFan

I've gotta break this shit down in super slo mo to see who was really faster but generally I agree.

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Me too. I am thinking about watching it at a 60th of the actual speed tomorrow and will build my meal breaks around it. Maybe even shoot off a few emails between rounds.

Ward did exactly what he was supposed to. I dont think it was a tough fight for him at all..

The 2 judges were too kind to Froch cuz the fight wasn't that close.. The judge who had scored it 118-110 was the most accurate..

In this fight Froch, lack of hand speed let him down, Ward did not
fight any, different,too the normal way he fights.?
Yes he did beat Froch, but all the hype surrounding Ward, too me
he will never be exiting,yes a good fighter but to early to say he
will be a great one .?;D

I don't think it was a tough fight for Ward. He dominated from start to finish and I found it hard to give Froch any of the rounds. Maybe 1 or 2 at most. Ward vs Bute needs to happen.

I seriously don't even think that was a tough fight for Ward. He controlled the tempo of the fight from the inside and outside and he never let Froch have the centre of the ring. He won the battle of the jab and landed the more meaningful shots. Froch simply couldn't let his hands go because ward was too quick in either getting out of there, countering or wrapping him up whilst landing his own shots on the inside. I gave Froch the 5th,11th and 12th. Froch left it too late, but I don't think that was his fault, it was just that Ward was so good. It was an all round great performance from him and nothing can be taken away from him. He looked tired at the end, but that was from being in pure control of the fight.

It's a shame for Froch to stumble at the last hurdle like this, I really thought he would struggle early and make it closer in the middle and win the later rounds and thought he would have made it a lot closer of a fight. But as he said he simply couldn't get going because of how slippy and good at defence ward actually was. Its a credit to ward because nobody has beaten Froch so convincingly, but it's shown slick boxing ability with someone who is confident enough to control the centre of the ring and battle for 12 rounds is too much for Froch. However if Froch is put in there with somebody who loves to come forward and isn't technically as gifted as ward I think Froch will still do damage at 168. I don't thInk anybody in the weight class would be able to match wards ability and this is why Froch can still win big fights at 168. By no means is he washed up, I just want him to fight Kessler again and we see a true war.

You could tell this fight pushed Ward, he even said it was a tough fight. It was one of those fights where he clearly dominated but probably didn't feel like he did.

I think Dirrell showed that Froch can't beat a slick boxer, I still have no clue how Froch won that fight when he landed hardly any clean blows. ALmost everything was rabid punches, and he got rocked by Dirrell.

Ward fought too much on the inside, and he could have made it a truly dominant performance, but he let Froch get back into the fight, and it really surprised me, usually great fighters build momentum as fights go on.

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Originally Posted by Taeth

You could tell this fight pushed Ward, he even said it was a tough fight. It was one of those fights where he clearly dominated but probably didn't feel like he did.

I think Dirrell showed that Froch can't beat a slick boxer, I still have no clue how Froch won that fight when he landed hardly any clean blows. ALmost everything was rabid punches, and he got rocked by Dirrell.

Ward fought too much on the inside, and he could have made it a truly dominant performance, but he let Froch get back into the fight, and it really surprised me, usually great fighters build momentum as fights go on.

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I agree this was a tougher fight for Ward than a lot of people expected. It's not like Froch ever was forced to retreat. I thought this was going to be Ward's coming out party. Dirrell (Andre not Anthony), assuming he is healthy, mentally and physically, could give Ward problems if the same Ward shows up. Froch just didn't have the speed to compete, but it seemed to me that someone with speed may give Ward trouble or at least that Ward.

On first viewing, and I'll rewatch it again, I gave Froch the 3rd, 9th, 11th and 12th. But, going into the 10th round, I was thinking to myself, Ward could put an explanation point on this fight if he started backing Froch up and letting his punches go, but then Ward just clintched the rest of the fight. I didn't really get it.

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Originally Posted by Rantcatrat

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Originally Posted by Taeth

You could tell this fight pushed Ward, he even said it was a tough fight. It was one of those fights where he clearly dominated but probably didn't feel like he did.

I think Dirrell showed that Froch can't beat a slick boxer, I still have no clue how Froch won that fight when he landed hardly any clean blows. ALmost everything was rabid punches, and he got rocked by Dirrell.

Ward fought too much on the inside, and he could have made it a truly dominant performance, but he let Froch get back into the fight, and it really surprised me, usually great fighters build momentum as fights go on.

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I agree this was a tougher fight for Ward than a lot of people expected. It's not like Froch ever was forced to retreat. I thought this was going to be Ward's coming out party. Dirrell (Andre not Anthony), assuming he is healthy, mentally and physically, could give Ward problems if the same Ward shows up. Froch just didn't have the speed to compete, but it seemed to me that someone with speed may give Ward trouble or at least that Ward.

On first viewing, and I'll rewatch it again, I gave Froch the 3rd, 9th, 11th and 12th. But, going into the 10th round, I was thinking to myself, Ward could put an explanation point on this fight if he started backing Froch up and letting his punches go, but then Ward just clintched the rest of the fight. I didn't really get it.

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He knew he had the fight in the bag if he didn't do anything stupid and get caught with a lucky punch. Was it exciting? No. Was it smart? Ask Yvon Durelle, Billy Conn, Jersey Joe Walcott, John Tate, Meldrick Taylor, or, heck, Jermain Taylor.

it was a harder fight then would seem, he had to keep out of harms way while geing inside and out the whole fight as he knew froch can land big.....he fought a very good fight and is rightly the number 1 super mid in the world now

The fight went as I thought it would bar the fact that Ward was a little frazzled by the end. I figured he'd be in complete control by the championship rounds, as we all know what way Froch fights when he is behind on the scorecards and so I thought that Ward ward have him all figured out but then I guess that is true testament to Froch as an irresistible force once he his fitness comes into play. I mean it's almost Marciano like, how he can just commit to power punching and walk through shots like that round after round.

However the main thing that upset Forch was Wards ability to bully Froch back to the ropes when ever he wanted to. That really messed Froch up. Although Ward did a lot of things right that night, that was really the only thing Ward did that actually stopped Froch being Froch. (if that makes sense?)

The only time the fight was anywhere near tough for Ward was maybe the last 3 rounds when Froch knew he needed the knockout to win and was really pushing forward. Other than that it was a great display from Ward. His skill level is up there with the best in the sport.

No not really. He didn't accelerate his obvious advantages and lead late and can be blamed for settling but had invested enough to have that. Froch had a couple of combos late that gave him some pause but I didn't see Ward forced into tough.

It was about as one sided a fight as I've seen. I don't know what fight two of the judges were watching - 115 to 113? You've got be kidding. I struggled to give Froch anything at all.

I hadn't seen Froch fight for a long time prior to last night and I couldn't believe how bad he was. How someone as stiff, predictable and frankly amateurish as him has got anywhere near a world title genuinely baffles me. Says it all about the state of the division. The fact that he was calling out Calzaghe a while back is laughable.

As for Ward, sure he looked pretty good, but I didn't see anything to get too excited about.