Ward is better than Calzaghe, would beat Calzaghe, and will soon be the #1 SMW ever.

I will be honest and admit I havent read all of your post, but how can you call Kessler and Froch prime.
Kessler was an unwell double vision suffering fighter.
Froch was 34 was 5-1 in world title fights and struggled with an old glorified journeyman in G Johnson who couldnt compete at SMW previously. YOU think Froch was lucky against Dirrell and Froch was behind against 1-2 in his last 3 fights Taylor before a late KO.

Yet you say Calzaghes win over 31 year old Eubank was a shot Eubank, when in Frochs last fight he fought to a MDec against old Johnson.

Here is an old post I think we debated on
So many people rate Wards win over Kessler as something special yet dont rate Calzaghes victory over Eubank. Why?

It was Wards 21st fight, Ward was 25
It was Calzaghes 23rd fight, Calzaghe was 25

Ward won at home
Calzaghe won away

When Ward beat Kessler, Kessler was 42-1-0
When Calzaghe beat Eubank, Eubank was 45-2-2

Kessler was 31
Eubank was 31

Kessler was 8-1 in world title fights
Eubank was 17-2-2 in world title fights

It was just under 3 years since Kessler beat a world rated opponent
It was just under 3 years since Eubank beat a world rated opponent

Kessler had only fought 3 completed rounds in 1 fight in a year before fighting Ward
Eubank had only fought 7 completed rounds in 2 fights in a year before fighting Calzaghe

Kesslers only loss was clear
Eubanks 2 losses - first was very close (debateable) the second was a SD, to the same fighter.

Kessler was favourite to win.
100 years of Boxing News claims Calzaghe was underdog, I have read Calzaghe was underdog but some posters claim he was betting favourite, though.

This content is protected

Notes Eubank was a strong favourite, but dont know where the site got its info.

Both Ward and Calzaghe had dominant performances with Calzaghe scoring 2 KDs.

After the loss Kessler beat undefeated WBC champ Froch
After the loss Eubank fought WBO CW champ Thompson and lost a close decision scoring a KD. Eubank fought a return with the bigger Thompson and lost on injury when ahead. Thompson was a CW and the only fighter to have beaten D Haye.

I have read how people on ESB say Eubank was shot so -
How far past prime was Eubank to you then?
Eubank had lost a close decision to Collins, that many thought he won, had a couple of tune ups and rematched Collins to a SD, had a couple of tune ups and lost clearly to underdog Calzaghe. After that loss Eubank went up to CW and challenged world champ Thompson losing a very close decision and then rematched Thompson losing on injury when ahead. Thats Thompson who years later past his best KOd D Haye.
Consider Eubank only had 2 losses to one fighter when he fought Calzaghe, the second by SD to a world champ and was 31 then went on to challenge a big CW flooring him etc, how past his prime do YOU think he was?
Remember Kessler is Wards big win and was the same age as Eubank here and had around the same amount of fights, so is Kessler shot as well, because Kessler has a serious eye problems and was an unwell double vision suffering fighter who has been inactive for a while now due to his injury


Remember when you make silly comments about losses was G Johnson considered past his prime when years ago after losing to Hopkins he went 7-9-2 including the Hopkins loss



So why is one victory so highly rated and not the other??

 

So you are saying Kessler wasnt suffering atsch. It was documented unlike Dirrell

 

Roy Jones Jr

 

like i say, judge him in 5 years time, he has done all that could be asked of him at this stage but lets look at him when he has made 8 or 9 defences. 168 does look like a bare division talent wise right now but i'd like to see ward up against a different style of fighter, i'm sure you'll admit that the likes of froch, kessler, and abraham are made for ward stylistically.

i'd like to see ward fight with dirrell and see how he copes with dirrells speed and footwork. after dirrell and bute, theres not a great deal in the division at all, unless the likes of degale and groves can fullfill potential and develop.

"a win over bute and debate is over" doesn't add up if ward then loses a couple of times a few fights down the line, it seems like your desperate to throw greatness at ward too early. i'm sure many people were talking about jermain taylor similarly earlier in his career and things didn't quite follow on, though i think that taylor v ward (before taylor fought froch) would have been a very interesting fight.

 

@ Calzaghe's resume at super middleweight

...and I like Joe. Found him very entertaining and fun to watch and I think his ability in his prime exceeds his resume. But Mikkel Kessler, a shot Chris Eubank, close victory over Robin Reid, Jeff Lacy, Sakio Bika, Charles Brewer, Byron Mitchell, Richie Woodhall, and Mario Veit. Not the stuff of an all-time great. Not at all.

 

tbf you've not acknowledged the points i made in my post. ward's greatness needs to be assessed way down the line and not after 25 fights. he needs to show longevity, show he can fight against different styles and can fight away from home.

with regards to p4p rankings, i would not have a problem with anyone placing ward in their top 10 now because he has now earnt that imo. placing him 6 after a headbutted win over a fighter you have never rated though was a poor justification imo.

 

Most laughable post I have seen on here in a while. This surpasses *******ness.

 

well i think someone like alvarez's skill set is evident from day one and he will be a top p4p fighter, but i wouldn't place him high on a p4p list until his resume is worthy of it.

few posts back you said "a win over bute and debate is over" - that clearly is not true if ward goes on to lose a couple of fights not far down the line or untill he has proved longevity, can fight against different styles, can fight away from home.

like i said, you are trying to throw greatness at a fighter before he warrants it. listenning to ward, he is a level headed guy and i think he would be the first to say you judge a fighter at the end of his career and not after 25 fights.