Kessler past it/ kessler was always ovverated

Some of these judgements are a bit hasty, in my opinion. People sometimes forget that a few years can do an awful lot to a fighter. For example, one year after Roy Jones Junior had beaten Ruiz for a heavyweight belt he got KO'd by Tarver. Then he got Ko'd by Johnson. Than he lost to Tarver again. In the span of 2 plus years he went from the most celebrated fighter on the planet to just another contender.

 

Kessler was always a overhyped fighter,
thats why when Ward gave the supposably "Best SMW in the world" a beating ,i was not surprised one bit

 

The options given are just lame. Come again!

 

people are taking the wrong things from kessler/froch in my opinion.
kessler threw a lot of punches that didn't land on a guy that several people have hit easily. However, froch showed a lot more boxing than he has in the past. he used a jab, stayed on the outside of the ring, and did a lot of cute defensive things that I didn't know he could do. that is a fact-that **** just wasn't present in the taylor or dirrell fights.
furthermore, kessler, who many had written off as a mental midget, is actually tough as nails and very determined. he out-froched froch in the later rounds. a late round surge flat out did not happen in kessler's fights with calzaghe and ward. but it happened saturday
what i saw saturday is that froch has better skill than i thought, and kessler has better will than i thought.
other things to keep in mind - yes, kessler lost to ward, but it was as much a tactical failure as an athletic one. and it was more a stylistic failure than anything else. and let's not forget the headbutts-they were substantial. dirrell was much more impressive against abraham than ward was against kessler in my opinion.
dirrell/froch wasn't even a fight. there's not much that i take from that fight regarding either guy.
the stock for both fighters after saturday should go up. tournament favorites? No. Thats probably still ward, but he hasn't done group stage 2 yet, and pts wise it's up for grabs.

 

Great post, save it for a better tread:good

 

Its so damn easy to say he was never that good to begin with now! You dont become WBA/WBC Champion by being "not that good to begin with" But those who noticed it he looked sloppy and very rusty against (C-fighter as best) Perdomo, and just as bad against Ward who is 3 times better than Perdomo. First two fights after a long lay off, dont expect wonders to happend in such short time after. But against Froch he showed much more heart and will to win, but still needs to get a bit sharper, he punched to much air that night! But he is getting there..
So yes, maybe he was overated by some before this tournament, but he deserves to be in it just as much as the rest of the fighters! They are all world-class fighters, maybe except Green!

 

Not to say Kessler wasn't or isn't world class, but he WAS over rated. And he is NOW past his best.
He achieved quite a bit not moving his head and moving straight in, mostly against others with limited technique, Libarde for example. It was that shutout win over the tough Mexican that started all the delusions of Kesslers granduer.But Calzaghe and Ward showed the ommision of certain skills will not serve Kessler well among those on the most elite levels.
Kesslers still a contender and a tough fight for most, although Dirrell would probably beat him to the punch all night just like Ward did.

 

Stupid poll. It's obvious he's past it, there is no evidence to the contrary. Simply watch footage of him from 2005 to 2008 (you can nitpick and question the opposition all you want, but they were all ranked contenders, and all dominated with the exception of Calzaghe).

That fighter is far superior to the man who faced Perdomo, Ward, and Froch. Unquestionably so. Just use your eyes.

 

Kessler was never that good to begin with. He has barely even fought any legit opposition. When two of your absolute best wins consist of Andrade and an inexperienced Mundine that doesn't scream greatness. He struggled against Froch and got embarrassed by a novice in Andre Ward. He has no talent, head movement, or defensive skills along with overrated power and slightly above average hand speed. He can't even move back to get out of the way of punches.

 

I´ve watched all Kessler´s fights and he has definetely slowed down both hands and feet. I did not expect him to show as much heart as he did against Froch though

 

not surprised cause Kessler is a poor fighter or because you rated Ward so highly?

 

Stupid poll.

Kessler has lost alot of timing and sharpness. But this poll is ridiculous.

Kessler fought his heart out and fought a toe to toe battle against the biggest and strongest SMW out there. In the old days kessler would have won by a larger margin but his new style is at least crowd friendly.

Please stop making these stupid polls. Kessler is a great champion who was forced to waste two of his best years because of a battle with his former promotor and manager. At least give the dude some respect.

Kessler will be a threat to all fighters in the super six. Ward and Dirrell will be his hardest opponents. But he could still win the whole thing.

 

:good

Over twelve rounds, with Montoya shaking the pom poms in his corner...I'm starting to reevaluate Kessler's chances of earning a decision against Ward. Certainly the toughest match out there (unless he draws Abraham in the semi-finals...getting into a firefight with Abe like he did with Froch would be a bad idea) but he could do it.

Green is a pushover, and a motivated Kessler would find a way to get to Dirrell's chin over 12 rounds (I don't rate Dirrell anywhere near Ward). I favor Mikkel 60-40 if a Froch rematch happens after the group stage.

 

I wanted to pick both

 

Yep, both.