By the elite discussion I mean the top USA fighters. Floyd Mayweather Chad Dawson Bhop Mosley Pwilly Andre Ward? I currently think based on skill we have to rate him above Pavlik and Bradley. Does ward have to win the whole tourney to be in this discussion or is he there now? Thoughts?
absolutely why wouldn't you he just beat the crap out of a fighter who was considered by most people including myself the best at 168
Top US elite? Definitely. Top ten P4P? Not even close. If he wins the whole tournament, or for that matter gets another 2 wins out of the tournament, then he is an elite level fighter.
I'd put him with the elite Americans, but that doesn't seem to be too hard of a club to get into. As far as p4p, I'd say he's somewhere in the top 10. He did just beat the best guy in his weight class, that's got to count for something.
This is just my opinion, but I think Ward and Kessler both looked like **** last night. Ward was diving in like a maniac and Kessler couldn't counter him. It stinks when you think about how bad JT has been his last few fights, how bad the Froch/Dirrell fight was, and now how amateurish Ward/Kessler looked. The tourney has recently lost a lot of its luster.
U.S. P4P List: 1. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. 2. Shane Mosley 3. Bernard Hopkins 4. Paul Williams 5. Chad Dawson 6. Andre Ward 7. Kelly Pavlik 8. Steve Cunningham 9. Timothy Bradley 10. Andre Dirrell **Edit** to include Steve Cunningham; can't believe I forgot about him. Cory Spinks and Andre Berto just miss the list.
Not quite yet, IMO. Btw you forgot to add Steve Cunningham (though his loss to Adamek did set him back).
Concerning skills, I believe Ward is as good as anybody in the world, as I have thought for many years. As far as merit goes, Ward has done nothing yet to warrant being in the discussion of P4P top ten nor being considered amongst the elite. This is just a matter of time though, as is his status amongst the all-time greats. All you need is two eyes to be able to determine this.
Only 21 fights and he's beaten only one top fighter in his career and all of a sudden he's within the top 10 p4p discussion? :roll: Mother****ers over-reacting to a big upset again. As far as top American fighters go, yes, he's right up there, but no way he's top p4p maetrial just yet.
