Best chance at beating Ward?

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by konaman, Dec 21, 2009.


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  1. konaman

    konaman Boxing Addict Full Member

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    It might be foolish to make such assumptions based on one performance but i think Ward will likely beat anyone in the tournaments ass, decisively.

    As a Froch fan i don't even want to think of how easily Ward would tag Froch and completely negate his offense. He doesn't have the sloppiness of footwork in transition that Dirrell had to allow Froch to land here and there, nor the inactivity. Ward won't miss with the jab in this matchup and his control of range from his deep stance will ensure that clean shots from Froch are few and far between, and countered in earnest.

    Against Dirrell i think he will capitalise on Dirrell's sloppiness of foot, defensive lapses and inconsistency over 12 rounds. Should be a good battle but Ward is too fundamentally sound and should overcome the flashy but somewhat flawed Dirrell pretty decisively, despite Dirrell showing a lot of promise in round one and receiving a shafting in the decision.

    Ward will pickup rounds easily against Abraham with his consistent use of the jab, the difference between Taylor and Ward offensively is that Ward will be sharp enough to capitalise on Abraham's vulnerability whilst punching. He will shoeshine a lot on Abraham's guard, and then land the money shots when Abraham decides to punch. Also scoring easily to the body with a Mayweather style jab when he is having trouble upstairs. With his footwork, upper body movement and his deep stance he should avoid any potential one punch catastrophes. Though i don't think anyone can ever discount someone with the punch of Abraham totally.

    Taylor would give Ward a fun competitive round or two early but will fall behind quickly because he won't be able to match Ward defensively and he will get outworked badly on the inside.

    Who, if anyone, do you favour over Ward?

    I think Bute has the best shot, but i wouldn't favour him as he is still quite hittable, best technical matchup in the division though.
     
    konaman, Dec 21, 2009
    konaman, Dec 21, 2009
    #1
  2. Rhino718

    Rhino718 M.O.B. Full Member

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    Ward will win the super 6.
     
    Rhino718, Dec 21, 2009
    Rhino718, Dec 21, 2009
    #2
  3. Hatesrats

    Hatesrats "I'm NOT Suprised..." Full Member

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    Abraham has the best chance, Why?.... "1 Punch knockout power".
     
    Hatesrats, Dec 21, 2009
    Hatesrats, Dec 21, 2009
    #3
  4. 1-Ton

    1-Ton Walking in the Light Full Member

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    Abraham's style is just so hard to deal with, it will give anyone problems. It will be a terrific fight though as Ward would certainly be more physical than anyone Abraham has faced, too. The clash of styles should be explosive. Let's hope they cross paths at some point!
     
    1-Ton, Dec 21, 2009
    1-Ton, Dec 21, 2009
    #4
  5. KillSomething

    KillSomething Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    I'm giving Taylor a really good chance with Ward. I seriously doubt Ward has the power to hurt Taylor, so he'll NEED to win rounds, and Taylor is a good technical boxer so he'll do what he needs to do to get those rounds. Ward also leaves himself wide open to counters, which Taylor will capitalize on. Taylor probably doesn't have the power of Miranda, but Taylor will definitely hit Ward, and Ward's chin is pretty fragile so we could see a stoppage or at least a 10-8 round for Taylor. Taylor is comfortable brawling on the inside and isn't above fighting dirty if he needs to, so Ward will need to be much more careful about jumping all over him.

    Taylor has had trouble with Pavlik, Froch, and Abraham--all guys with iron jaws and devastating power. This seems to be the way to beat Taylor, and Ward hasn't got the chin or the power to do it that way, so he'll have to make a new template if he's going to win. Conversely, Taylor's best wins have been against Hopkins, the fighter who Ward most reminds me of. Should be an interesting fight.

    Froch will not beat Ward unless he catches him and knocks him out. But since that's pretty much what Froch does best, he definitely has a chance.

    Dirrell is extremely immature, and Ward seems lightyears ahead of him in terms of ring strategy. Dirrell has the speed to hit Ward, and the power to hurt him, but Ward might be able to hurt Dirrell as well. I think Ward pulls it off by breaking Dirrell's gameplan and putting him into survival mode.

    If Kessler wants to beat Ward, he'll need to change his gamplan completely and go after him instead of trying to set him up for a KO. It'll be interesting to see what new ideas Kessler brings to a rematch, but you have to pick Ward based on last time.

    Abraham will get to Ward. He gets to everybody, and it takes a great chin to stand up to his punches. I can see him luring Ward in and dropping him as he flies in headfirst with his arms down and chin held high. I'm fairly confisdent that AA would KO Ward, since Ward would be forced to fight hard and take risks, which Abraham would surely capitalize on.

    So I'm picking Taylor and Abraham to beat Ward.
     
    KillSomething, Dec 21, 2009
    KillSomething, Dec 21, 2009
    #5
  6. Marnoff

    Marnoff Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Abraham has the best chance to beat Ward with Taylor coming second. Froch will get EMBARRASSED by Ward.
     
    Marnoff, Dec 21, 2009
    Marnoff, Dec 21, 2009
    #6
  7. konaman

    konaman Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I wouldn't bet on Taylor.

    I can see why people might think that, but i still think its very improbable. Taylor isn't particularly skilled, much like Kessler he is a naturally gifted guy who is solely reliant on his offensive arsenal which is fairly adequate because his athleticism and speed gift him a tricky jab and some fluidity with his punching. He has a more diversified attack than Kessler though obviously, which is where he would give more trouble, but going against that is his lesser conditioning, physically and mentally, and probably his punch resistance after being sparked badly multiple times, even Lacy had him on the canvas. He also lacks ring IQ and is pretty easy to draw into scraps, and like Kessler he doesn't have much of an inside game.

    He would probably do better than Kessler early on because of his less predictable offensive arsenal and then get a worse hiding later on i think.
     
    konaman, Dec 21, 2009
    konaman, Dec 21, 2009
    #7
  8. HyperBone

    HyperBone Silverback Gorilla Full Member

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    Hm.. dirrell and abraham i think.
     
    HyperBone, Dec 21, 2009
    HyperBone, Dec 21, 2009
    #8
  9. J.R.

    J.R. No Mames Guey Full Member

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    Seems to me like like Abraham is the man to beat right now not Ward. Question is who can beat AA?
     
    J.R., Dec 21, 2009
    J.R., Dec 21, 2009
    #9
  10. punch13

    punch13 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    I'd like to see more of A.A. outside of Germany, and especially in the U.S. I think he's a good fighter, but I need to see how he performs outside his usual circumstances.
     
    punch13, Dec 21, 2009
    punch13, Dec 21, 2009
    #10
  11. konaman

    konaman Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Thats debatable.

    Abraham did as objective fans expected and stopped Taylor late in a half competitive fight. His boxing skills appeared more impressive than usual, though he was still his usual limited output self, and appeared vulnerable to counter punches. A decent boxer mover could easily steal rounds from Abraham, the big question is resilience, however much lesser fighters than the the super six bunch have gone 12 with Arthur, so i don't think its safe to assume that Abraham is going to be putting every world class fighter's lights out, particularly anyone who can box and move and has basic ring smarts.

    Ward on the other hand won every round against a guy he was expected to struggle with, and who was generally favoured to win the tournament. Its hardly clear cut in Arthur's favour.
     
    konaman, Dec 22, 2009
    konaman, Dec 22, 2009
    #11
  12. thewinfella

    thewinfella The Golden Boy Full Member

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    You know im not disagree'ing with you here but it makes me smile as after 1 fight Ward is this and Ward is that , before the tourney began i seem to remember Americans pinning there hopes on Dirrell and saying Ward should be replaced by Allan Green , now while Ward looked very good against Kessler, granted the best performance so far , Kessler just isnt that good , and Ward didnt do anything special against Kessler just moved a lot laterally and didnt allow Kessler to control the range like he likes too !!!!!

    Bute needs to come in , i say if Dirrell stinks the joint out against AA like he did against Froch , he should be dropped , or the more obvious one is if JT takes another TKO or KO loss you'd have to fancy him to be calling it a day , either way once Bute comes in things certainly get more interesting it has to happen basically !!!!!!!!!
     
    thewinfella, Dec 22, 2009
    thewinfella, Dec 22, 2009
    #12
  13. konaman

    konaman Boxing Addict Full Member

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    You are allowed to disagree. :good

    I can't say if one fight is enough to truly judge Ward either, but he does seem particularly well rounded which would make him rare in the SMW division.

    I am not sure your second sentiment is so true though, i think really only the bunch who fall for flashy black fighters leading into the tourny heavily favoured Dirrell over Ward. Most posters thought Dirrell was completely unproven and Ward had at the least shown to be well rounded, although not overly impressive in one area. But he had at least one legit win in his bag already, so i think the majority (american and international) preferred Ward's inclusion and agreed that he was more deserving.

    You are right about Bute though, i have said from the beginning he is certainly more deserving than most in the tournament and without him the super six won't truly settle someone as "the man". It will make for a great unification though, assuming Bute doesn't go and get himself a loss.
     
    konaman, Dec 22, 2009
    konaman, Dec 22, 2009
    #13
  14. Farmboxer

    Farmboxer VIP Member Full Member

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    Abraham will have to fight Ward in Ward's home town, with Ward's own personal referee and probably his judges as well, but Abraham will be very difficult to head butt, even though Ward's referee will allow him to do such. Ward's best punch is his head and he will be counting on it, but Abraham's defense will make it difficult for Ward to land his headbutts, which are illegal for all other fighters.

    Bute is was too much for Ward, he is too fast, too powerful to Ward's headbutts.
     
    Farmboxer, Dec 22, 2009
    Farmboxer, Dec 22, 2009
    #14
  15. thewinfella

    thewinfella The Golden Boy Full Member

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    I know im allowed to disagree but generally i was agreeing with you :lol: , but i was just making the point after just 1 fight the band wagon on Ward is rather large ..................... time will tell .

    Bute has to come in , bear in mind how long this tourney is going on for , we are not even past round 2 yet , Bute will have no one to fight unless he comes in , he's got to come in , personally i think JT will make the fight with Ward more competetive than people think (at least i hope so , i like Taylor) , to that end i hope Dirrell gets the chop for Bute , but overall you make a good point !!! :good
     
    thewinfella, Dec 22, 2009
    thewinfella, Dec 22, 2009
    #15
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