Did Froch beat the best version of Taylor ?

Thanks for that, I'll make a note and be sure to check those fights out. Much appreciated :good

 

Same. Abraham is Taylor's best chance of picking up a win, if he can last 12 rounds. I wouldn't put the house on it though...Abraham seemed stronger at 168, and even his sporadic bursts will wear down Taylor. If he's still upright and in the fight after 10 rounds I can see some scary moments.

 

There're so many unanswered questions that this tournament will iron out. The anticipation is killing me. I just hope that all the scheduled fights happen and nobody drops out, I'd be gutted.

 

JT still has it in there

 

Ahh yes -- questions!

Is Froch a one-hit wonder, or the real deal?

If Jermain Taylor ruined?

Did Palle screw Kessler up?

Can Abraham handle top level competition?

Can Ward and Dirrell swim with the sharks without being eaten alive?

We should get the answers by the time this thing is over.

 

I'm not so sure about that. Against Pavlik the second time, he knew he couldn't match KP for power and work rate, so he just tried to fight in spots and counter-punch well, trying to steal rounds. He did that against Froch, too - just stuck to counter-punching. Unfortunately for him, Froch made so many mistakes that JT could take advantage of, he ended up wearing himself on Carl's chin!

 

Spoken like a true hater.....was quite funny tho

Froch certainly put a few miles on JTs chin. Thats for sure :yep

 

Ward will do the best of the Americans I believe. He seems to have the most rounded game, so I can see him reacting to whatever the various opponents bring better than his American friends. Dirrell still looks raw in certain areas, defensively and under pressure, Taylor has had his bad moments lately and his problems are well documented.

I don't see many problems in Wards game except for top level experience and maybe power, but everybody has to swim in the deep pool eventually...

 

So how do you see Ward vs Kessler going? I'm still not 100% sold on Ward, although he looked ok against Miranda (who doesn't impress me a great deal either). Ward was getting away with a load of holding, I'd like to see what happens when he's in against a top level opponent and gets a ref who doesn't stand for that sort of ****. Having said that Ward did show fortitude by coping well with an early butt which opened a cut on him. That scored him some points with me.

 

50/50.

I see Kessler having a lot of problems in not being able to sit on the end of his jab and play the ring general as he so often does against more heavy footed opponents. Because Ward is a good mover, he moves his feet well and is athletically gifted, therefore I believe Mikkel will have trouble timing his jab as regularly as usual. And furthermore, the right hand comes off the jab, so landing power punches may also be a problem. That is just on the offensive side of things, defensively I can see Ward having flurries of handspeed, and when Kessler jumps backwards as he is prone too Ward will catch him and tie him up on the inside.

However, one trump card Kessler does have is he is very strong at this weight, probably the harder puncher, and I believe he'll realise early he must be the aggressor. He may be able walk down Ward, infact he'll probably have to. A lot like he did have to against Mundine for periods, who was similarly quick and moving a lot. If Kessler can be effective coming forward, he might be able to win enough rounds to make it very close in Ward's hometown, or even hurt Ward who has been down a few times in his short career. I believe if Kessler is going to win it will be an 'uglier' win than usual, he'll probably get hit, not look as effective and 'clean' as usual, but he'll have to grind through and battle it out to win. It's not going to be his typical fight where he simply dominates with the jab and breaks his opponent down.

 

and most froch huggers will even admit that taylor started waning halfway through the fight. one of his many flaws despite all the talent and athleticism he possess

 

Wow. Nice analysis. I can see you've given this much thought. I certainly think that Kessler is the bigger puncher. As you say, it probably won't be pretty but I think that Mikkel will be able to apply enough pressure to wear Andre down and hurt him. I didn't realise it was in Ward's homestown, that's got to be bad for Mikkel! I hope that if Mikkel is winning, he's winning clearly or KOs Ward. I hate hometown decisions. Lets hope the tourney doesn't have any heart breakers.

 

Put it this way Froch beat a better fighter than Calzaghe did in his whole reign at supermiddle

 

:rofl:rofl polluting a perfectly good thread w/ calzaghe bashing

 

Taylor was tiring in proportion with the amount of work he had put in, I agree. I don't think he appeared unduly tired though. At the start of the 10th round, the Showtime commentator commented that Taylor "looks like he has plenty of gas". I remember (as a Froch fan) thinking at the time, **** he does look like he has plenty of gas, Carl isn't going to pull this one back.....