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Officially the only saddo who has had a girlfriend
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Officially the only saddo who has had a girlfriend
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ward IS dirty, and he is boring as hell to watch. fuck that clinching hugging rabbit punching SOG hypocrite. id rather watch golf.
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People are really exaggerating how dirty Ward is and I do it also because I dont like him or his attitude. When really its the appearance of impropriety for the most part. Home field advantage? Well lots of fighters have had that over their careers and many of them all time greats. I often comment on Jack Reiss seeming to be his homer ref but in fairness he's on the rotation with all the other refs that are local and on the CSAC list. Yes he got away with shit in the Kessler fight but I dont recall all of this holding and hitting or punching off the break. Besides, I'd much rather see fighters punch and get out w/o the refs becoming camera whores every time the fighters are in tight. Please refer to the last ten prime time fights reffed by Cortez for examples of that phenomena.
In addition the Kessler fight is a little deceiving. I doubt very much that a boxer like Ward intentionally uses his head. The risk in that intent is just as high for the giver as it is the receiver unless the giver has a frontal skull like Vassiliy Jirov. Kessler gets clipped standing still because he's trying to set to throw a punch and Ward is operating on the fly and doing a fair amount of switch hitting. Wards head is in front of his body at times but I dont see him "using" it.
Excessive holding? Again I just dont see it. I mean consider where the BAR is for that. The heavyweight champion of the world fights like a set of living room drapes and to my knowledge has never been warned.
Boring fighter? Each to their own. I like watching him fight and what he does and the mans a technical wizard. I'm pissed off at the guy and think him a tool for selfish reasons. Guys this good dont come around much and when they sit out for the reasons he is, it really picks my ass. Talent wise, its a little like living through the 40's and 50's and having Robinson sit out. Its his choice to compost over his prime years but he's the one that said following the games that he wanted to be remembered as the GOAT when he's finished boxing.
Its all well and good that the Kazak can cut off the ring and that has worked for him but with Ward its once you get to him that the building starts to collapse. So far Ward has turned people inside-out in the pocket and I dont think 3G can box with Ward either. I see Ward winning a ud.
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"Let's be honest here, Ward came in like a billygoat" - Al Bernstein
(Video) Ward-Kessler: The Clinches
How many times do I have to say that there is no rule against clinching. And in that video, ward wasn't holding and hitting. That is the problem. Tons of fighters throughout history clinch a lot. Some styles just lends itself to clinching. When you jump in, the natural thing to do is clinch. The other fighter can avoid it by moving to the side and countering. If you can't do that then too bad. It means you got outboxed.
There is a rule against clinching
In fact clinching is very much against the rules
Unless of course you're gonna nit pick as it's not actually ever referred to as "clinching" in the rules as far as I know
P.s. I'm not in any way suggesting that ward holds with this post I'm just clarifying the rules![]()
Officially the only saddo who has had a girlfriend
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Al Bernstein can be a tad dramatic and tends to follow whatever the accepted talk is at ringside.
Here is the fight. Show me all the intentional head butts? The clinch vid you posted is slanted. Put it in context and watch the entire fight.
I already said he got away with some shit but Wards fouling prowess is starting to make its way into urban legend status. I dont like the twat either but people are piling it on a little thick. You concluded in your opening post that he would need to cheat in multiple ways to win and that's ridiculous given the mans skill level.
In addition you cant just pick and chose what holding is or excessive holding based on whether you like the person or not and if I'm a Wlad fan I'm not even bringing up the topic.
And eric clinching has been a part of boxing since its grappling days and countless people both famous and not have used it as a tactical offense and defense.
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I actually rewatched the fight here and there were only a few times when I was bugged by the clinching, but all in all, it wasn't nearly as bad as that clinching compilation video made it out to be. Actually I find it a worse habit that Ward likes to stick the left hand out there often to use as a range finder rather than throwing a jab. An opponent might be able to use that against him if he doesn't learn how to suppress the urge to do that. But, yeah, not a bad fight.
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