Froch vs. Ward - Saturday fight/chat thread

[Rantcatrat]

Ward has a suspect chin and his best win was against Kessler, a fight he won with his head

also by the interview given on boxnation by kessler the ward camp was a bit naughty in the build up

all his other big wins his opponents have been soundly beaten by other fighters and in a much ore convincing mannor (Bika, Abraham, Green)

He has spent the whole of the supersix fighting at home, 2 of those fights in his home town

he has also had a much easier route to the final than froch

Ward is overrated

Froch by KO

Erics, the problem i see for Froch is that what's to say Ward won't fight the exact same way that he has in fights past using his head and rough-housing on the inside to smother Froch? It's been effective, why stop? Odds are he'll be the same Ward once again. Then ask yourself what can/will Froch do differently? Froch can fight backing up (Glen Johnson); Froch can box at range (Arthur Abraham); and, Froch can box (Jermain Taylor). When has Froch faced this type of fighter though? I believe it's very tough to prepare for Ward and that is part of what makes him a difficult opponent. Froch had Kid Chocolate and Tony Bellew (and some guy named Richard Pierson) to spar, but I don't see either as being able to replicate Ward well. Hopkins could. Kessler said that he had spoken to Froch on the phone and gave him tips. Hopefully, that will help Froch.

However, Froch has had trouble with speed. Dirrell had him wobbled if I recall once in their fight from catching Froch cleanly when Froch's hands were down and Taylor had him down from catching Froch cleanly in their fight. Ward has similar speed to Taylor although not as fast as Dirrell. Ward's a tough matchup for anyone at 168 and for Froch too. When I saw Ward dropped against ____ (can't recall name now), it was the guy's speed that shocked Ward. Froch doesn't have blinding speed. I believe Bute and Dirrell are tougher match-ups for Ward because of that. However, I can see Ward smother Bute too to be fair. Frankly, if Dirrell's head is in the game and he shows me he can adjust like Froch and Ward can, he may stylystically be the toughest for Ward.

Froch's best chance is that he catches Ward with something heavy earlier in the fight that makes Ward think twice about getting in range. It's possible but I suspect Ward dominates Froch with speed and rough-housing. Ward hasn't stopped anyone recently, maybe he does this time?