Kessler - Can He Become The Greatest SMW Ever?

Nah.

 

I see your point..they probably would. I just dont see longevity at the top when I look at Kessler thats all..but all those fights are all very winnable for him and it will certainly put him on top of the heap.

 

Tournament (clean sweep or close to it) + Bute + Pavlik if/when he moves up + whoever else emerges as top ten material in the interim by 2011 (out of Green, Bika, Inkin, Stevenson, Jacobs) are all a) feasible and b) winnable. And c) would in aggregate trump the 168 resumes of Joe, Roy, Ottke...would be tough to argue with. :think

 

Oops. Not Tiger, meant Ottke.

Benn's title run is probably the only other obstacle. I think the tournament plus a handful more top ten wins, while maybe popping up to LHW to beat a titlist would cement Kessler as #1. I honestly don't think it's a question of his ability but rather the plausibility of all the right matches getting made in time. I give him a good shelf life, given his good conditioning and habits...seven more good years. Tournament eats two of those. We'll see what happens from there.

 

Calzaghe:

Eubank
Reid
Mitchell
Brewer
Sheika
Lacy
Bika
Kessler himself

Kessler:

Siaca
JC Green
Mundine
Lucas
Beyer
Andrade
Haussler

If Kessler comes through the tournament undefeated and topples Pavlik and/or Bute, who knows.....

I rate Kessler though.

 

Calzaghe will always rate over him and I think he's got a little overrated, he has good wins but they aren't amazing wins by any stretch

 

I love the idea of the tournament. If Kessler wins it, he can become a great one. I still think Calzaghe retiring UN-defeated, and owning a clean head to head win over Kessler will always have a notch up on Kessler.

Now that I think of it, Kessler winning the tournament would enhance Calzaghe's legacy too.

 

That doesn't make any sense. How can you say that now? You don't know what Kessler is going to achieve over the next few years, so you can't make that statement.

Calzaghe's supermiddleweight resume is feeble.

By the time Kessler retires if he has beaten a few from this list:

Froch, Bute, Pascal, Taylor, Bika, Dawson, G.Johnson, Pavlik, Abraham

Then of course he would rank higher than Calzaghe. His resume isn't far behind Joe's even now. It could easily be surmounted with just a few impressive wins over top-class comp.

 

Exactly. Especially if Pavlik/Taylor get back on form and then get beaten by him. Those big names **** all over anything on Calzaghe's record... apart from Kessler himself :nut

 

Froch can pass Calzaghe IMO if he wins the tournament. But he won't so :rofl

 

Calazghe beat him in his prime, so Kessler can go and build a massive legacy and still be behind Joe, even if he beats all those names. BTW even a 43yo Hopkins rates over all those names as a win (not that I had Joe winning that 1), perhaps bar Chad Dawson who Kessler ducked anyway

 

Yes Pavlik and Taylor **** on anything on Calzaghes resume despite the fact Hopkins schooled Pavlik and many had him beating Taylor :nut