Andre Ward has the weight of America on his shoulders, can he live with it?

All you can do is hope...that's all you Brits have.

 

Yes since the Funeka vs Guzman fight was in Québec

 

That's more of a personal, supjective outlook on it seeing that he has only did this to one person Kessler. Reason's why he did that I stated also. You pretty much have to think that he has done this every fight to say that this is his style. That simply is not true. Nomatter who has anything to say, the fact remains that he only did this gameplan for one fight. The reasoning is understandable why Ward did that to kessler and it's not ward's fault that Kessler didn't have the foot and handspeed to not let it happen. Kessler was whipped on the outside and inside as well as on the way in. Ward didn't do this all of any round. It was here and there and Kessler had no answers for it.

Call him dirty for this 1 fight which his gameplan to bring out Kessler's weakness was understandable is fine if that's what suits you. Atleast acknowledge that he is a highly skilled all around fighter. Just seeing kessler whipped without landing 1 significant shot on ward, and then coming back to get a very tough, gritty win vs froch tells it all. Ward is real deal whether you like him or not.

 

Mainly Dirrell but Dawson also shouldn't be in the same boat with the one demensional lacy or pavlik. Dirrell and Dawson have never been whipped. Lacy and Pavlik have been whipped on multiple occasions for being one demensional. Ward will never be in the catagory also. Kessler fits into that place more than them even though he isn't american. He's been whipped and shutout on the Cards for being 1 demensional. Dirrell and Ward will never be shut out. They will be knocked out or lose a close decision but never dominated to the point of being shut out.

I wonder what you will have to say when Ward wins this tourney without losing a handfull of rounds the rest of the way out. Dirrell and Bute have the only legit shot at beating him. He's gonna whip everyone else. Froch will not win 2 rounds and neither will AA. They will both be dominated.

 

a post that has all the hallmarks of 'elite status' :deal

you've cut through the delusional hbo/ring magazine brain washing and delivered magnificent cutting edge analysis backed up by irrefutable scientific facts

just a quick question for you bailey - would you rank jermaine taylor alongside the likes of pavlik, dirrell, lacy, tarver, and dawson? after all taylor recieved p4p status and was hyped well beyond his means for beating calzaghe victim bernard hopkins, but once he stepped up to euro level against froch and abraham, he got well and truely exposed as yet another american hypejob :think

 

Hold up bailey, I'll take this one:rasta. Headbanger my biggest fan:hi:. What's going on big homie? Now down to biz.

First off JT beat a younger old hopkins than Calzaghe twice so you got to give him credit for stopping his 10 year reign, even though decisions were questionable. Hopkins is still a tough match for anyone. JT just had a chin and stanima problem. His chin got exposed as well as his stanima (even in the BHOP fights) which led to the decline of his skills due to confidence.

As far as dirrell, He stepped up to that EURO LEVEL COMP LOL very early in his career and didn't get exposed against Froch and also dominated AA prior to the DQ. Shouldn't be on the hypejob list. His skills are for real and you would absolutely have to close your eyes not to see that. His mental state is what's in question.

Pavlik and Lacy are two one demensional fighters who were made to be beat by guys with versitility.

 

tbf bedwetter26, that question about taylor was aimed at an elite poster :think

but since your here i take it you think that taylor has no versitility if he couldn't beat pavlik?

with regards to direll, i totally agree about his skill set, i think he has massive talent and my next big esb drive was that he would expose ward massively in their fight and win a clear decision.

however, his disgracefull mentality has shone through yet again, not only is he a runner and an actor, he is also a repulsive ducker :dead

 

First off you know I'm elite and that's why you went on to show me more respect than other (non euro) posters with your reply. :good

Second, I knew you would go at that little versitility part because it is a questionable hole I left open without explaining the grey area. Taylor isn't versitile IMO. He had all the punches and decent handspeed but fought in the same manner all the time. He was very good at what he did and had enough handspeed to not be completely exposed by the BHOP style. He just let Pav hang around after he should have finished him and got caught thus exposing his chin and lack of killer instinct. For the most part he fights simular to pavlik, kessler, tarver and other 1-2 fighters but had more handspeed. For his handspeed advantage over the other 1-2 fighters, he lacked toughness but still had balls to get in with anyone. Still a pretty much close to perfect textbook guy. Nothing spectacular about him really.

Third, You know my post on how dirrell would defeat ward gave you your push to make a drive at dirrell exposing ward LOL.lol:

As for dirrell pulling out. Time will tell. Even if it was a scheme to not fight his friend now and meet him later on then it's understandable. Them fighting eachother so early is like Meldrick Taylor fighting Sweetpea years before Taylor faced Chavez. They shouldn't have signed the Contract if this is the case but who knows. Time will really judge this move. He has already stepped in the ring with froch and AA and can't really be called a ducker for that. If he is BSing I wouldn't be surprised if Shaw just wanted to get him up to montreal to take on Bute in the next year. Bute has the Comfortable spot at the end of the race and dirrell taking his spot is safer than facing 3 tough fights against Ward, froch or AA.

As for his mentality, He seems too much like a genuine nice guy who is sensitive and soft. He is very honest prefight and isn't afraid to say he's nervous before a fight. He has the skills but he needs to harden his mentality, and add some "I don't give a ****" to it.

Here is that ELITE post I was talking about :deal
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=250545&highlight=dirrell&page=2