It so appears that Ward is counting on cheating. His venue, judges, referee, commentators, ring, etc., but I still think Kessler will knock him out in spite of what appears to be planned cheating.
You must be a new boxing fan who just read a shitload of outdated magazines. You have been exposed as a nauseating armchair fan who doesn't have his facts straight, and is just trolling around for an argument. Seriously newbie, welcome to ESB. Now please lof off and don't come back!
I'm sure you say that to every guy you meet, ******! However, unlike you twirp, I have a girlfriend. GIRLFRIEND. Understand noob? Now go get your shine box! Let the men here talk boxing who know it.
This is totally fine, thanks for your comments. Here's my response to some of what you said: 1. I thought he bullied Miranda in the sense that he dominated the entire fight, was able to push Miranda around during the clinches, and put Miranda against the ropes as opposed to the other way around. He didn't overpower Miranda, I'll agree with that. I don't think athletic ability alone won the fight. Intelligence, strategy, and stamina played a huge role. If you've watched some of his other fights you'll notice that he has never clinched that much before. He usually favors footwork, head movement, angles and in and out movement over clinching. It seems to me that his team decided that in order to beat Miranda, who is a dangerous puncher, Ward had to fight a different style. He was able to stick to the plan for all 12 rounds to pull off a convincing win, which to me demonstrates something rare in fighters: the ability to adapt to their opponents. Sure the way he fought required a lot of athleticism, but the athleticism actually isn't the main point, that was just a tool at his disposal. The main thing to notice with this fight is that Ward had the ring IQ to understand what was needed to win, and the focus, athleticism, and stamina to implement the strategy. He also has a lot of variety in his offense which makes him harder to predict and plan for. That's a nice combo. Sorry if this sounds like a rave review, it's not really. I'm just saying that combination of traits is pretty rare and indicates some potential. He has not proven that these traits of his can help him beat fighters at the elite level yet though, so we'll have to wait and see. Again, I'm not predicting a Ward victory. Just my analysis of the Miranda fight. 2. I agree, he has subpar power, but he has KO's on his record, therefore he can sometimes KO guys. I didn't distinguish between TKO's and KO's, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to do that? My apologies if I used wrong terminology. Before a few months ago I was merely a casual fan but just started getting into it this year. 3. By handicap are you referring to his broken jaw? Miranda didn't cause any significant damage at all against Ward, let alone break his jaw. Take that for what it's worth. If Miranda broke AA's jaw, that just comes with the territory he can't claim that as a handicap. As I said he redeemed himself in the 2nd fight. 4. True, Abraham might beat Ward. As we all know in boxing A>B, B>C, does not imply that A>C. We'll just have to wait and see who wins. 5. What if Ward lost to Kessler but beat everyone else in the Super 6 in a convincing fashion?
Thank your for your reply, for a new fan of the sport, your analysis to my opinions are, well, pretty well informed. Welcome to ESB, you seem like a level headed guy to debate with instead of the regular childish name calling if one does not agree with the other!:good
To be honest with you...I believe I saw them matched up in a proposed second round matchup, in Germany. I don't know how reliable this source was, and am unable to find anything backing it since. I am actually thinking of starting a new thread asking if anyone knows of any further schedulling. I believe Ward was to face Dirrell in the third round, and Abraham was to face either Froch or Kessler, can't remember.
How do you think the fight will play out between the two? I think I mentioned who I think would win, I know you are in favor of ward:good
Kessler was a bit rusty. Understand that Ward is very fast on his hands and feet. Kessler will have to sharpen his footwork and accuracy. Positive though - has never seen Kessler more determinant, strong and killer instinct.