He'll need to fight with more control if and when he faces AA though. There were times, when he was on the attack, he left himself wide open. We all know what happens when you do that against AA.
I think that was at the point he'd taken a lot out of Kessler and knew the situation in there. He knew where Kessler's punches were coming from, knew he was lacking accuracy and not making him pay when he was on the retreat so he took a chance. His approach starting the fight was spot on and indicative of a smart fighter, I'm sure he knows what he has to do against AA.
Good point, can see Ward making the adjustments and wont take chances like he did against Kessler, he wont have the kind of control he had against Kes for one thing. AA is so difficult to fathom for the opponent and yet has such a simple style (mind you I had similar opinions of Kessler). I think Wards body work and Athleticism can see him land enough to get a decision. Hope they meet in the final.
This Calzaghe hate must stop. The dude is a certified hof and beat every guy that was suppose to beat him. JC was a great fighter who gives the greats all they can handle prime for prime. Joe had a style that nobody could figure out. He box circles around some big names mid way through the fight to the bell. One of my best moments was when Jeff Lacy got raped by Joe like a prostitute in a back alley lol Bernard for the 1st time ever! got tired from Joe's tricky style. Joe is a great fighter and he dominated his division for 13 years so he's got my support! We're supposed to be proper fans, we're supposed to look past records, hype and resumes and to see the real meat and bone of this thing and thats the skillset. Just look at Joe's fightgame forget his resume for a second. Like i said he gives hell to some of your favourites.
The Calzaghe thing seems to be a sticking point with a lot of regulars but I can't pretend for him to be better then he is just to make everyone happy. I have nothing against the man, he is a brilliant fighter and I wish I had a millionth of his talent and stamina but thats got nothing to do with my opinion of him in terms of greatness. Everytime my initial point (Calzaghe not been an ATG) then I'm going to re-assert my point. Same way if Kessler had have bossed Ward then there would have been some lunatics using the result to provide backing to their case. :good
I don't see any argument for Calzaghe as an ATG. Kessler was a good win and won't lose to many other SMWs out there. Ward, on that showing, is simply deserving of a top three ranking. the only guys who are going to trouble him are Abraham, Bute, and Dirrell. I think we're watching a future SMW/LHW elite developing.
I was waiting for one of these threads to appear and tbh Jeff you make a good point. I do think he deserves to be higher than Benn/Eubank/Collins though, both h2h and in terms of resume. If he wants to prove himself an ATG then he definitely needs to come out of retirement and beat this new crop of supermiddle's. Kessler was not at his best last night imo but if he was a great fighter he'd still have been able to adapt to whatever situation he found himself and he had no answers. I fancy him to beat Froch though.
:good I'm not normally one for hype, but Ward hugely impressed me last night. Kessler couldn't get going at all and Ward looked incredibly comfortable with, let's remember, the man everyone (including myself) was saying is now the dominant force at 168. Calzaghe is irrelevant, on last night's performance we may well have seen his heir apparent in the SMW division.
Joe was one of the reasons that I got into boxing but the more I learnt the less I rated and respected him. The thing about Joe is that there are so many if's and but's when it comes to analysing his career. But what he did achieve is simple lots of good little achievments say what you like but getting to 46-0, a lineal two weight champ, win all 4 belts at 168 and having 20+ defense's are very good achievments but not great he lacks the great wins for that. Greates Super Middleweight probably, top 50 ATG no.
The man is retired so why cant ppl just leave it alone? Hes overated by some and underrated by many as well (Jeff). He had a great career and in terms of ability, resume and longevity he clearly ranks higher than Benn, Eubank and Collins....IMO. He could only beat who was willing to fight him...the Lacy win paved the way for fights with Kessler, Hopkins and Jones but before then who was there? The Eric Lucas's and Markus Beyers wouldnt have done much to enhance his legacy. Ottke wasnt interested..only lacy and Kessler had the balls to step up. For the most part Joe had Hopkins below him and Jones above him and neither had any reason or willingness to face him.
In fairness, Diablo, after the Lacy win he fought Bika. Now Bika wasn't a bad fighter, but he could surely have looked for a more interesting fight?
ermmmm... this is all a bit weird. Calzaghe was very, very good. But in Ward we're witnessing the early stages of a genuine great. That really takes nothing away from Calzaghe. I stick with my original forecast: the final will be two from Ward, Froch and Abraham, with Ward winning it by a mile.