What that was a tough fight for Ward!

[Rantcatrat]

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.

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.

[LobowolfXXX]

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.

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.

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.

[NUCLEAR BULL]

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

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

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?)

[Manos de Piedra]

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.

[Spicoli]

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.

[tysonesque]

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.