Should Kessler go for broke or wait until the end to break Calzaghe down first?

Kessler will do what he always does, fight with every ince of he's body, and dominate Calzaghe who will stay in his corner after the 10th.

 

Kessler believes that he is the better boxer. Because of this, he thinks that he can do to Calzaghe what he has done to every other boxer. I expect Kessler to try and impose his usual style on this fight by planting his feet and picking off Joe with solid jabs and following through with his the right cross. If that isn't working, try something different. What that something different is, I have no idea. Kessler has never had to resort to plan B. Here lies his problem, plan B will need to be tested for the very first time against the best in the division.

Mikkel categorically will NOT be able to win this fight with just his usual tactic. He needs something different. He needs to let Calzaghe open up combos. This is when Joe is at his most vulnerable. To win this fight, Kessler has got to nail Calzaghe on the chin every single time Joe threatens to open up a barrage of punches. MK has the accuracy, but can he do it under pressure?

 

I am completely supportive of Kessler having Calzaghe on the defensive instead of that wicked waiting game he's expected to build. But that would take more punching improvisation than mere patience ( which is Kessler's great asset btw), he can't move forward with one-twos all the time but if he's able to "push" Joe back with his big bombs for a good period of time and without punching himself out, Mikkel may have Joe thinking twice in his own attacks and building a very strong case to get a decision, which is not impossible, Kessler can out-score Calzaghe with aggressiveness, stronger punching and boldness only. I wish Mikkel to stalk him and try to hunt him down, he doesn't increase Joe's chances that way by any means.

 

Calzag can't stay in rhythm and has to be worn down to lose the fight. He is going to pile up rounds no matter what.

 

If Kessler stalks Calzaghe, Mikkel will end up on the wrong side of a VERY wide UD.

 

http://jp.dk/sport/kessler-calzaghe/article1145012.ece

If you ask Jack Loew, the trainer of Kelly Pavlik, then Kessler should take it easy from the start.

He believes that Kessler will win, but it is too risky to rush over Calzaghe from the start.

"Kessler is more solid in everything he does compared with Calzaghe", Loew says.

He also states, that Pavlik will stay at middleweight at least for the entire year of 2008.

So we will have no Kessler/Calzaghe vs. Pavlik-fight in the near future.

 

Kessler needs to keep a distance

 

The real question for Kessler is can he get Calzaghe off of him on the inside when Joe tries to tie him up constantly. I see Joe trying to fight Kessler in a similar way that he fought Sakio Bika. He was constantly landing a couple of shots on his way in, and then tying up and dirty boxing Bika on the inside. I see him trying the same tactic on Kessler.

Also, does the referee in this fight allow Joe to hold and hit, or does he give him warnings and then start deducting points?

I have never seen Kessler have to deal with someone holding a lot on the inside so it will be interesting to see what he does once Calzaghe is in there. The obvious solution is to use hard lead rights when Joe tries to come in, but will Kessler have the accuracy and or power to stop Joe's advances?

I usually have a fairly certain opinion on what is going to take place in a fight, but this one has me absolutely mystified as to what is going to take place. My gut feeling is though that it will be a fairly boring fight similar to Calzaghe-Bika, with Joe getting a close and controversial decision with Kessler complaining about Joe not wanting to stand and trade and also holding too much.

 

How come? Joe is not a counter-puncher who picks his shots from defensive stance a la Mayweather. As far as I know, he comes light on his feet and with wild two-fisted attacks from awkward angles... If he's balanced backwards with big punches landing on his arms and shoulders, he can't use his agility as much. Then, I don't believe Joe can feint and counter-move Mikkel that easily from his defensive stance, remember that the first thing he may not do so well is make perfect use of the legs, not at his mid-thirties, but you should know better.. I was just suggesting that Mikkel should not just stand still and wait cause that way, he's surely gonna be behind in all stats and he'll have no argument in the judges eyes. I consider myself mostly unbiased and I don't see nothing close to impossible for Kessler to win a decision.

 

Kessler should fight in his usual distance vs. JC implying good footwork...and you can't force a KO to happen, it comes naturally...

 

Joe is not a counter puncher but he is more comfortable at dealing with boxers who come at him more than any other style. Calzaghe is an absolute master when his opponents come forward. All of his most dominent performances have come against the following fighters: Mitchell, Brewer, Lacy, Sheika are good examples. What do they all have in common? They all came looking for Joe, they came forward from the first bell until the end. He dealt with them so thoroughly because he's so quick on his feet and in his hands. He won't hurt Kessler much by fighting in a counterboxing style but his speed of punch and accuracy would make Kessler look silly. I maintain that Kessler cannot win this fight by stalking Joe.

 

Obviously, Tom, but if he's gonna stand in there like against Beyer with very, very low punch output until the knockout punch happens, then he's not playin smart or else, he already knows that his only chance is to catch Joe. He should consider options cause he's not fighting Sven, Markus, Henry, Mario or whoever - Joe is coming forward and has two options from the very beginning, outscore him or dismantle him and Mikkel should use more than one hand of cards here...

 

Kessler has a far greater chance of breaking down into tears than he has of breaking Joe Calzaghe down. This thread is irrelevant.

 

We are talking about two fighters who can fight a HARD 12. Neither will do any going for broke. They can fight a fast paced chess match for 12. That can be very exciting ala MAB v JMM.