I think yes, and rightly so. Depending on the details of the outcome we will be able to determine if Kessler would've beaten a prime JC
JC is considered past prime right now regardless, but is still a great fighter, and a victory for Kessler over a current p4p fighter would be a great one.
If Kessler beats Calzaghe then I'll give him his dues. Calzaghe is still fresh and very motivated for this. It would be a great... great win for Kessler. No excuses from me.
More likely :yep Nut huggers who has been bragging here for months needs to "soften" the humilation once their boy gets beaten. :rofl
I thought he was getting on when he fought Lacy. But he still looks excellent and certainly proved me wrong. I think its a very slow and gradual decline for Joe if any, or then again maybe he will grow old overnight one day. I wont put money on that happening against Mikkel though, Joe is taking home the silverware that night.
If Kessler dominates this fight, then one must assume that he would win in a "prime for prime" situation. Given that, he would immediately be one of the top 3 SMW's since the division was formed. If he manages to nick a close decision then he'll have a great platform to achieve a lot in his career. If he loses, he will have lost to the best SMW there ever was.
I feel Calzaghe's in his mid-late prime... that he's not past it. He's probably right in that window where a fighter can "get old overnight". If he's slower and less active against Kessler, we'll be able to tell... and THEN he'll be considered to be on the downslide...
No doubt many will say Calzaghe was well past his best days. He's past his prime, but has still shown that he is one of the elite flghters in all of boxing, so Kessler should get a lot of credit - especially if he beats Calzaghe in dominant/convincing fashion.
Undoubtedly yes. With a 35 yo fighter who loses his first fight and likely retires afterwards, that is almost certain to cause such speculations. As for his fans who say now they wont make such excuses, allow me to have some doubts. Not saying they won't give Kessler credit. But there'll be a lot of speculation about "what if" - 1 year ago, 2 years ago and so. Thing is Calzaghe is gonna be up against an opponent better at nullifying Joe's normal advantages than any he's ever faced. He WON'T look as comparatively fast against Kessler, he WONT be able to swarm Kessler to the extend he's done others and he WON'T be able to dictate the pace of the fight as he's been used to. All that - in the eyes of a fan - and to many others will surely be interpretted as if Calzaghe has lost some of his speed and edge. On the other hand us Kessler fans will ofcourse say the exact same would have happened 2 years ago - or at least prime vs. prime(allowing for Kessler's improvement). Neither case can ultimately be proven.
If that happens, it won't be anything to do with Kessler as technically the fight won't start until the 4th.
I disagree to an extent. If one or the other finds this fight easy then he would also win prime for prime. That's without question for me. There's no way Joe is a shot fighter. It's likely that he's not as fast as he used to be - but then again, he'll still be quick.
