Why are Ward and Dirrell rated so high?

I don't think anybody thinks Ward or dirrell are HOFers as of now. The prob with smw is that nobodys resume is outstanding........yet. that includes Bute. But in the next 2 years, there should be plenty of great matchups, and those resumes will be hashed out. As for why ward and dirrell and bute are rated so high is that they are the most talented at the weight class and are probably being overrated a bit presently because of it.

 

Because despite being green they competed and/or beat top fighters?

What kind of dumb thread is this? Hahaha!

 

Calzaghe total punches: 285/1010
Kessler total punches: 173/585

Calzaghe total jabs: 137/550
Kessler total jabs: 52/326

Calzaghe total power punches: 148/460
Kessler total power punches: 121/259

Raul Caiz Jr scored it 117-111. Seems pretty one sided to me

 

Ward seems like a twat.

 

Seriously Kessler was in it in the first 6 rounds of the Calzaghe fight and came out swinging for the fences in the 12 round. It was a competetive fight throughout.

Kessler had no clue what to do in the Ward fight. You might argue that Calzaghe had provided the blueprint to beat Kessler though.

 

So... ward gets all his fights at home and is allowed to headbutt so as far as I am concerned even if he wins I refuse to acknowledge him or give him any credit what so ever, simply because of what has already transpired.

People who say the butts made no difference are straight up ******s or just usa/ward nut huggers.

 

Ring Magazine reports

Victor Conte a convicted steroid dealer who specialized in distributing steroids and chemicals that made it difficult or impossible to trace steroids is now peddling chemicals and services to Andre Ward.

Andre Ward who bought Victor Conte's $4,000 quack apparatus that Conte says provides "intermittent hypoxic training" which is supposed to stimulate high altitude and trigger the body's production of red blood cells. Ward told the LA Times that he did this 10 or 11 times before the Kessler fight.

There is no evidence that Victor Conte has any degrees, certificates, or training in medicine, or sports nutrition. Why would Andre Ward want to put his name next to this guy? Ward says his fellow San Francisco Bay resident "deserves to be forgiven". Ok? Should I hire a convicted child molester to take care of my children?

 

Dirrell is not on steroids. His brother Anthony is just as athletic as he is if not more so. It's obviously genetic and you can look at his twin brother and see that.

 

Please ignore: I though you were talking about Ward here.

So just by looking at his apparently athletic twin brother you conclude that he is not on steroids? I think that's a tad simplistic. His brother could even be on steroids also for that matter.

We cannot with any degree of certainty say whether Andre Ward is on steroids or not. The only thing we know for sure is, that he was a customer of Victor Conte who has a history of providing sportsmen (including boxers) with illegal substances. Associating himself with Victor Conte was in my opinion, an incredibly bad display of judgment by Andre Ward.

Luckily, it appears that Andre Ward is no longer a customer of Victor Conte (according to Victor himself).

 

Thats why he refused to do a steroid test?

They are both pussys.

 

Very true

 

I think the super 6 has given the fighters in it alot of recognition that they often wouldnt normally get and got them a bit more known, so if fighter (a) in the super 6 beats fighter (b) its deemed as a big win because fighter (b) is more recognised than alot of other fighters whether hes great or not.
For example WBO SMW champ Steiglitz has wins over Berrio, (undefeated) Gutknecht and (undefeated) Balzsay, so he probably has a better resume than A Green whos just entered the super 6. If Bute beats Steiglitz it would be a good win but not great due to Steiglitz not being to well known and having 2 losses. But if Ward beats Green who has been beaten by Miranda it would go down as a bigger win, because due to the super 6 Green is better known than Steiglitz.

Ward looked impressive against Kessler, but when fighters first bid for world titles they often raise their games and there was a blueprint on how to beat Kessler, yet Wards wins over Miranda werent as destructive as Pavliks, AA 2nd win or Butes win over Miranda.

With Dirrell he lost a close decision to an undefeated world champ in a close fight which could have gone either way. Boxing News and The Ring scored for Froch but it was one of those fights, his win over AA although looking good for the most part is a little mis leading because who is AAs big win in his career? And whats he really done at SMW?

Your right in what your saying regarding Calzaghes wins

Eubank - who had fought around 6/7 months before facing Calzaghe and around 5 months before that scoring KOs in both (against poor opposition), before that he fought Collins to a SD. HE was 31 at the time and after being beaten by Calzaghe he went on to give WBO CW champ Thompson 2 hard fights, so hardly retired or shot like people like to make out.
Also Reid, Woodhall, Sheika, Brewer, Mitchell, (undefeated) Lacy, (undefeated) Kessler and Starie.
Calzaghes win over Manfredo (in the ring top 10 when Calzaghe beat him) is only known because of reality TV and his win over Bika has been enhanced due to the contender series, otherwise this win would probably be discredited also.
Calzaghes win over (undefeated) Veit is also better than it first appears as Veit went on to take Braehmers undefeated record. Braehmer who is now the WBO LHW champ. Mkertchyan even went on to win the European title after Calzaghe beat him.
Calzaghes other wins of note against Hopkins who was Ring LHW champ at the time and beat Wright in his fight before and Pavlik after yet that win gets discredited also, and Jones who although faded was still in The Ring LHW top 10 at the time.
But in general if the fighters arent well known they dont get the credit.
If there was an American fighter known on TV who had wins over Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Veit, Manfredo, Sheika, Lacy, Kessler, Brewer, Mitchell, Starie, Bika, Jones and Hopkins I expect he would have got more credit.

 

Ward dominated Kessler before the first butt. If you don't give him any credit for how he performed in that fight, then I don't know what to tell you.


Dirrell and Ward were both totally green going into the tournament and have proven that they can compete with tested champions at 168. I haven't seen them on any P4P lists. Most people just seem to rank them (rightfully) as two of the top contenders at Super Middleweight. They are no more overhyped here than Bute, who many claim is number one at 168 in spite of the fact that he has not yet faced A-level opposition.

This thread is garbage. It's just a cheap excuse for a few idiots here to vent their own issues that have a lot more to do with nationality, race and personal grudges against other posters here on ESB than how Dirrell and Ward have performed in the tournament.

 

There only rated high until they lose, then they will be overrated, just like happens to a lot of fighters

Dirrell nearly pulled a win out in frochs hometown so that was pretty impressive even if i wasnt impressed with either of them that night and ward did well against kessler but that fight also left a bit of a bad taste with wards tactics and the useless ref. They need to win the competition now to live up to the hype around them, or at least come close, the way some people talk about them here you would think they are almost unbeatable

 

Why? Because no one gave them any chance at all against the Europe "elites" and they came out and beat them all 3(yes I think Dirrell beat Froch).
Just imagine what they would have done if they actually had more experience at the world class level.