Any Kessler fans here? Can you answer this for me..

I was surprised at how often Ward telegraphed the right hand and Kessler just stood and took it, it's as though thye never actually taught him how to avoid a right hand.

 

I agree with all posts here basically. I said to my friend in the middle rounds that kessler needs a new trainer. Olson is a regional level trainer
and cannot get his fighter to make adjustments or offer any kind of advice nor teach his charge new tactics in training. All kessler needs to do is imploy a little lateral movement, and bend at the kness and waste more.
That's waht made calzaghe such a nightmare for him. Another thing that i've never liked about kessler is that after he gets his opponent on the back foot, he himself backs up and resets. This is counter productive. Some minor adjustments can turn kessler into a great fighter from just a great boxer. Just don't know if he can implement them this late in his career, or if he even wants to.
Kessler's career might have ended in the calzaghe loss.

 

He also NEVER tried to counter Wards lunging-in 1-2s. Never. Abraham does the strange lean back left hook from his own belt to that, which at least displaces the other fighter to the side so he cannot build a follow up on it. Kessler just leant back and ate the second punch, or avoided it but couldn't counter from being too far away. He also had no side movement.

Kessler needs a new trainer NOW. Someone who goes through the basics.

BTW, isn't Froch Kesslers next fight, and then Taylor ? Then, he won't need that, just get quicker and less rusty. If he cannot beat Froch, he is done. If Froch outspeeds him, there is nothing left he can do better than anyone else.

 

the biggest problem for Euro fighters has to be their trainers doesn't it? Where do they learn their trade?? They can't compare with US trainers can they?

 

Kessler's sytle and corner seem very similar to Pavlik - Loew: both fighters are very good at what they do but have limited options in their style. Loew was as clueless in the Hopkins fight as Olson was with Calzaghe and Ward. America or Europe has nothing to do with it. Sometimes a fighter improves when switching to an American trainer, like Wladimir Klitschko. Sometimes the reverse is true, Sdunek dramatically improved an American - trained Michalczewski.

 

Ward rammed Kessler's right cheek bone with a vicious head butt in the 2nd round, and MK never really recovered from it.

 

Kessler will always be a destroyer when you give him Andrades, Perdomos, Mundines and even Sartisons (though size is a factor there, Sartison should probably be an A- middleweight and not a B supermiddle) - in other words: plodders, sluggers, and fellow textbook circle-boxers. Anything other than busy, awkward, and above all fast types with slippery and erratic (read: untimeable) movement. We saw this first against Calzaghe. My hunch was that Kessler, being an intelligent man, could learn from that loss and adjust to the style so foreign to him (for a long time I vehemently tipped him to make such adjustments and win a fantasy rematch with Joe that nobody, including Mikkel, ever really expected to come off).

I thought he had that extra dimension. I thought that he would take out on Ward his frustrations over his prior loss to a busy, awkward, fast, slippery and erratic type by intelligently applying whatever lessons he had (or, ought to have) learned.

I was wrong.

This is why they fight the fights.

This does not mean Kessler is/was overrated. He will continue to be a destroyer (provided his heart's still in the fight game) against a wide variety of styles, able to dispatch very good contenders who pose no stylistic threat with relative ease, creating the appearance (and perhaps to some extent, the actuality but with an asterisk) of elite talent. He will always wilt under his particular brand of kryptonite, however. Truly elite talents can build an immunity to their poisons and fight through them. Kessler's poisons will hurt him just the same every time. He's 30, he's not reinventing the wheel. He has his capabilities, and they are formidable against anybody who doesn't have the style (and the physical ability to back that style up) to completely disarm and dismantle him.

 

Actually. Based on Kessler's last performance I have some doubts about his intelligence. I did not see any lessons learned from fighting Calzaghe. Okay, it might be inactivity over a long period but still.

 

Jepster: ......... well.............hmm...........if Kessler had listen to his corner in the Calzaghe fight - Kessler would have won ! "Be harder on the guy, throw first" That was the winning formula - but Kessler didn't listen.

I am so disappointed for this lose - why - because it was the Calzaghe fight all over. Ward with faster hands and throwing first. Kessler tries to counter punching and then Ward clinch and hit him ones more. Over and over and ver and over and over and........................................:-(

Hell like i have stated before, Calzaghe, and now Ward fought exactly like Ottke.......... This was a Ottke win... throw first and clinch, throw first and clinch, throw first and clinch....................................:-(

If Kessler should have won, he only should have done a very little thing......................took a little step forward and ............. :bbb

 

He's not "stupid" per se, as a person, but there are plenty of people who aren't stupid but lack "ring IQ". It's something that's partially taught and partially innate. He's double-screwed as he was never taught it, and he doesn't naturally have it.

 

His corner told him to do what he's used to doing. Like Tarver said during the fight when you can't land a jab on someone then forget the right hand. A fighter's good movement can tone down whoever's activity. Calzaghe is known for his insane activity yet what happened against Hopkins?, go watch how his activity dropped big time in comparison to RJJ one fight later and Kessler one fight before.

 

IntentionalButt: Always read your statements with respect and this is sad to say................... a masterpiece........................:good

Its not that to difficult to find the truth..........you only have to be honest ......................:bbb

 

Oh some nice replies here. I started this thread just before i went out...and im not sure i worded it well but most of you got the general point.

I still think Kessler is better overall than what he showed in his last fight...but he still has his flaws. Froch is a more favourable style/match-up but Froch's chances just went up i think. Kessler mentally has to recover now more than anything but the fact that this is a tournament i think makes it easier for him to focus to try and get to the final

I always said Ward had a style to possibly beat Kessler and lets not overlook just how good Ward might turn out to be.

 

Kessler doesn't have to worry about the trainer just now - A Kessler in shape and mentally ready will beat Froch - NP

The problem is that Kessler doesn't seem to be mentally ready for top names - He had clearly not worked on the Calzaghe-loss - it was like he "reset" to the resignation of the Calzaghe-fight, when his plan A didn't work. Often you learn a lot from defeats, but Kessler didn't use the Calzaghe-loss to get any better - he just tried to forget it and move on - You have to deal with the loss - I hope he has learned the lesson this time.

What Kessler needs right now is a mental coach to get him mentally ready for Froch - if he beats Froch, then we can start talking about which coach will teach him to handle fast fighters.

 

:good:good and :good