Froch vs. Ward - Saturday fight/chat thread

[shza]

Froch can box (Jermain Taylor).

Recall that Froch was losing *badly* before KO'ing Taylor.

I'm curious what the odds are for this fight. I honestly see Froch as a full class below Ward and having virtually no chance of winning the fight.

IMO he lost the fight to Dirrell. He lost to Kessler (which was the ugliest, sloppist, most amateurish looking fight I've ever seen between two supposedly elite fighters). On my cards, he's lost half of the Super 6 fights he's been in.

He looked good in the Johnson fight though, I'll give him that. So maybe he's really just improved drastically since the beginning of the tournament.

I'd still be happy to lay down a wad of cash on Ward with even halfway-decent odds.

Exactly as expected. Easy money.

I'd rather see Froch-Bute than Ward-Bute now. The first is a good, competive fight (that I pick Bute to win); the second is a wide Ward UD. Would much rather see Maravilla come up (which he's said he won't do) for Ward or see Ward go up and fight Dawson -- that's a pick'em.

For the record, I'm a serious atheist and can't stand the god-talk from Ward either - but otherwise I like him and he's very impressive. On the other hand, I've always disliked Froch and thought he was typically overrated as a big fish in a small, British pond (though he's better than Hatton, at least). It was nice to see him stop being such an arrogant jackass for once and admit he was outclassed though.

Those 115-113 judges should be suspended. This thing was 117-112 at the absolute closest. I only gave Froch round 9. (3 and 11 were the only other possibilities) But it's nice that it was the British judge who got it right.

Do the Brits who were comparing Froch favorably to Calzaghe think Ward outclasses a prime Calzaghe now? (Purely rhetorical -- I'm not ready to go there at this point.)

[Gandalf]

Froch can box (Jermain Taylor).

Recall that Froch was losing *badly* before KO'ing Taylor.

I'm curious what the odds are for this fight. I honestly see Froch as a full class below Ward and having virtually no chance of winning the fight.

IMO he lost the fight to Dirrell. He lost to Kessler (which was the ugliest, sloppist, most amateurish looking fight I've ever seen between two supposedly elite fighters). On my cards, he's lost half of the Super 6 fights he's been in.

He looked good in the Johnson fight though, I'll give him that. So maybe he's really just improved drastically since the beginning of the tournament.

I'd still be happy to lay down a wad of cash on Ward with even halfway-decent odds.

Exactly as expected. Easy money.

I'd rather see Froch-Bute than Ward-Bute now. The first is a good, competive fight (that I pick Bute to win); the second is a wide Ward UD. Would much rather see Maravilla come up (which he's said he won't do) for Ward or see Ward go up and fight Dawson -- that's a pick'em.

For the record, I'm a serious atheist and can't stand the god-talk from Ward either - but otherwise I like him and he's very impressive. On the other hand, I've always disliked Froch and thought he was typically overrated as a big fish in a small, British pond (though he's better than Hatton, at least). It was nice to see him stop being such an arrogant jackass for once and admit he was outclassed though.

Those 115-113 judges should be suspended. This thing was 117-112 at the absolute closest. I only gave Froch round 9. (3 and 11 were the only other possibilities) But it's nice that it was the British judge who got it right.

Do the Brits who were comparing Froch favorably to Calzaghe think Ward outclasses a prime Calzaghe now? (Purely rhetorical -- I'm not ready to go there at this point.)

I think Calzaghe/Ward is relatively straightforward for Calzaghe and likewise Froch was always a straightforward fight for Calzaghe too.

Ward is slick and has smarts, but he has stamina issues and there is just no way that he would be able to keep up with Calzaghe. I see it being relatively close whilst Calzaghe feels him out and then once the work rate is jacked up, then Ward is over his head.

Calzaghe has multiple gameplans too, but also has that superhuman workrate. Nobody can keep up with it. Nobody on this earth.

[shza]

Froch can box (Jermain Taylor).

Recall that Froch was losing *badly* before KO'ing Taylor.

I'm curious what the odds are for this fight. I honestly see Froch as a full class below Ward and having virtually no chance of winning the fight.

IMO he lost the fight to Dirrell. He lost to Kessler (which was the ugliest, sloppist, most amateurish looking fight I've ever seen between two supposedly elite fighters). On my cards, he's lost half of the Super 6 fights he's been in.

He looked good in the Johnson fight though, I'll give him that. So maybe he's really just improved drastically since the beginning of the tournament.

I'd still be happy to lay down a wad of cash on Ward with even halfway-decent odds.

Exactly as expected. Easy money.

I'd rather see Froch-Bute than Ward-Bute now. The first is a good, competive fight (that I pick Bute to win); the second is a wide Ward UD. Would much rather see Maravilla come up (which he's said he won't do) for Ward or see Ward go up and fight Dawson -- that's a pick'em.

For the record, I'm a serious atheist and can't stand the god-talk from Ward either - but otherwise I like him and he's very impressive. On the other hand, I've always disliked Froch and thought he was typically overrated as a big fish in a small, British pond (though he's better than Hatton, at least). It was nice to see him stop being such an arrogant jackass for once and admit he was outclassed though.

Those 115-113 judges should be suspended. This thing was 117-112 at the absolute closest. I only gave Froch round 9. (3 and 11 were the only other possibilities) But it's nice that it was the British judge who got it right.

Do the Brits who were comparing Froch favorably to Calzaghe think Ward outclasses a prime Calzaghe now? (Purely rhetorical -- I'm not ready to go there at this point.)

I think Calzaghe/Ward is relatively straightforward for Calzaghe and likewise Froch was always a straightforward fight for Calzaghe too.

Ward is slick and has smarts, but he has stamina issues and there is just no way that he would be able to keep up with Calzaghe. I see it being relatively close whilst Calzaghe feels him out and then once the work rate is jacked up, then Ward is over his head.

Calzaghe has multiple gameplans too, but also has that superhuman workrate. Nobody can keep up with it. Nobody on this earth.

I thought an old, way-past-his-prime Hopkins edged him, actually. Would have been an easy win for a prime Hopkins.

And a prime Jones would have destroyed Calzaghe.

But you may be right about Calzaghe/Ward. Too early to tell IMO.

Not trying to be dismissive of Calzaghe - he was a very, very good fighter and his workrate was indeed unreal. Just that Hopkins and Jones were best-of-generation fighters, and Calzaghe wasn't. Unclear if Ward is or not. Fairly ridiculous to claim it's "relatively straightforward," though.

[GuyIncognito76]

Wow! Via Twitter :-O

danrafaelespn: Looking at official cards from Ward-Froch. John Stewart was absolutely horrible. Had Froch up 49-46 thru 5 rds. ABSOLUTE JOKE. #boxing

I though Ward was excellent but I find his fights dull. A lot of it is not his fault, the Kessler and Froch fights were too one sided. He may have similar skills to Floyd and Roy, but there is no explosions of excitement.

[Rantcatrat]

Froch can box (Jermain Taylor).

Recall that Froch was losing *badly* before KO'ing Taylor.

I'm curious what the odds are for this fight. I honestly see Froch as a full class below Ward and having virtually no chance of winning the fight.

IMO he lost the fight to Dirrell. He lost to Kessler (which was the ugliest, sloppist, most amateurish looking fight I've ever seen between two supposedly elite fighters). On my cards, he's lost half of the Super 6 fights he's been in.

He looked good in the Johnson fight though, I'll give him that. So maybe he's really just improved drastically since the beginning of the tournament.

I'd still be happy to lay down a wad of cash on Ward with even halfway-decent odds.

Exactly as expected. Easy money.

I'd rather see Froch-Bute than Ward-Bute now. The first is a good, competive fight (that I pick Bute to win); the second is a wide Ward UD. Would much rather see Maravilla come up (which he's said he won't do) for Ward or see Ward go up and fight Dawson -- that's a pick'em.

For the record, I'm a serious atheist and can't stand the god-talk from Ward either - but otherwise I like him and he's very impressive. On the other hand, I've always disliked Froch and thought he was typically overrated as a big fish in a small, British pond (though he's better than Hatton, at least). It was nice to see him stop being such an arrogant jackass for once and admit he was outclassed though.

Those 115-113 judges should be suspended. This thing was 117-112 at the absolute closest. I only gave Froch round 9. (3 and 11 were the only other possibilities) But it's nice that it was the British judge who got it right.

Do the Brits who were comparing Froch favorably to Calzaghe think Ward outclasses a prime Calzaghe now? (Purely rhetorical -- I'm not ready to go there at this point.)

I think Calzaghe/Ward is relatively straightforward for Calzaghe and likewise Froch was always a straightforward fight for Calzaghe too.

Ward is slick and has smarts, but he has stamina issues and there is just no way that he would be able to keep up with Calzaghe. I see it being relatively close whilst Calzaghe feels him out and then once the work rate is jacked up, then Ward is over his head.

Calzaghe has multiple gameplans too, but also has that superhuman workrate. Nobody can keep up with it. Nobody on this earth.

I thought an old, way-past-his-prime Hopkins edged him, actually. Would have been an easy win for a prime Hopkins.

And a prime Jones would have destroyed Calzaghe.

But you may be right about Calzaghe/Ward. Too early to tell IMO.

Not trying to be dismissive of Calzaghe - he was a very, very good fighter and his workrate was indeed unreal. Just that Hopkins and Jones were best-of-generation fighters, and Calzaghe wasn't. Unclear if Ward is or not. Fairly ridiculous to claim it's "relatively straightforward," though.

I completely disagree, but we'll never know. Prime is a relative term. When? A prime Hopkins lost by a lot to a prime Jones. I'm in the minority but I believe Hopkins developed into a better fighter as he aged. Hopkins didn't want anything to do with Jones until Jones was passed it. I think Hopkins would have problems with Jones or Calzaghe at any stage of his career. A prime Jones would have given Calzaghe problems, but I'm not sure about the result, a prime Calzaghe had punching power too, and Jones never had the best chin. In terms of primes, I would probably give the edge to Jones, then Calzaghe, then Hopkins. At the end of the day, scoreboard.