I could see McClellan hurting Kessler, as I could see him hurting almost anyone, but Kessler is by far the better boxer and the more consistent fighter (not in a career sense, but in a sense of keeping himself and his gameplan together in the ring), who's proven to be a tough, durable fighter in my eyes. People just have this perception that no matter who he's fighting, McClellan will ultimately land the big blow and it will be lights out, never taking into account his severe limits as a boxer. No doubt he was a better technician under Steward early on, albeit less proven, but he deteriorated into more of a pure power puncher as his career progressed, rather than the skilled boxer-puncher he showed signs of becoming early on. As he fell in love with his powr, his overall skill set eroded. He'd often lunge in with shots, throw himself off balance, leave himself open for counters after throwing his big right hand, hold a wide guard, etc. Also, his variety of punches narrowed. Kessler on the other hand is a text-book technician, even if he's been criticized for being somewhat basic. He still makes few mistakes, has strong power of his own, and has the ability to limit Gerald's effectiveness and ability to land clean shots (as Gerald's accuracy was another trait that devolved as he moved on post-Steward) with his better technical skills and footwork. And I have little doubt that his jab would be working effectively, as would his straight right. I'll take Kessler, probably by Decision though, depending on exactly which version of G-Man is showing up.
Mikkel on points,but to be fair his chin hasn't really been tested yet.G-man had great power but Jackson was the only top fighter he ko'd and Jackson had already been stopped in two by the bodysnatcher.
This is silly, as good as Kessler is, G-man was going to be an exceptional ATG, he had the lot, iron chin, boulder like punch, dazzling skills and footwork, great defence, this was also apparent when he beat a young Roy Jones Junior, and I know people would vote him over Kessler. So G-man takes it, and would be a bigger name today had he not met Benn on that fateful premature career ending night.
I agree that he would have been a star and wuld have beat Kessler in a fantasy match-up on points. Unfortuanately, McClennan would have had that happen to him anyway if he didn't face Benn as his health was declining according to Steward. Steward said he would get frequent splitting headaches and would start blinking heavily.