..the more both men grow in my esteem. Kessler had Joe puzzled a fair bit in the beginning with his hard, accurate, pin-point counters. Joe adjusted brilliantly and took risks, took shots, because he had to and pulled out the fight. I hope Kessler gets back on the right track soon. The man is a juggernaut in the division, and I don't want his talent to go to waste.
yea seems like joe will be stay at LHW so kessler should just clear up in the division. only real challenges are Bute and Froch IMO
I think Kessler won't lose until he fights someone like Dawson. Pavlik is a great stylistic matchup for him, as he can counter hard moving backwards and he can outjab Jermain Taylor. I don't see Froch doing it either. The question is, why isn't he in the picture? I heard he was going to fight some Danish guy. He should try and get a top 10 opponent and fix up his ranking. Hell, take on Edison Miranda if you can get him.
I have no idea how I am the only person who sees Kessler's GLARING weaknesses. Dont get me wrong, I think he is a VERY good fighter. His mechanics are superb and he has good power and accuracy. But he is wide open defensively, his timing is BAD, he has average footwork, no head movement, average speed at best, falls in love with the same combos over and over, lacks a "plan B" so to say, etc., etc., etc. He is very one dimensional (but very good at his strengths...dont get me wrong). I said it leading up to the fight with Joe. I said it was why Joe was going to be able to control the pace, take Kessler out of his game, and take over late to win wide.......my exact prediction. Came true....and in all honesty, nothing has changed. He is still the same very good fighter...but the same one dimensional VERY limited fighter. He is not great. Not close honestly. Leading up to the Calzaghe fight, he was overrated....now afterwards....mindbogglingly (is that a word??? LOL!) he is more overrated than he was going into it. With all that said, I do like the guy. I think he is a very good fighter....and he fights with ALOT of heart. I am a fan, but being a fan doesnt preclude me from seeing his obvious weaknesses.
Great post, I felt the same way too. Kessler had opertunities to really catch Calzaghe while he was wide open, but it seemed like he couldnt pull the trigger, aside from the couple uppercuts he caught Joe with, his performance was lack luster IMO. I think in the next couple years he will get better, but right now I dont look at him as any type of world beater.
Average speed at best??? hardly.... hes a very fast fighter imo, and i also think his timing is spot on. How can someone have good accuracy, and also not get hit that often, if they have bad timing? i agree with some of your post though, and perhaps he is overated a bit... but only time will tell.
Of course he was, I was reffering to the most significant punches he was able to land on Joe, which was the uppercut.
He had two titles and was unanimously regarded as second in his division worldwide. If that's not a world beater, I don't know what is. You're not wrong in your criticisms of him, and I see them too. The lack of head movement particularly bothers me. But no fighter is without flaws -- if you look at his strengths, he's tough to beat (great fundamentals -- power in either hand -- can fight going backwards as well as going forwards -- good control of the pace -- is proficent in straight punches, hooks and uppercuts), and it'll take a special fighter to do it. I don't see that fighter in his division.
I'm a Pavlik fan, but Kessler knocks out Pavlik. Pavlik can't win a firefight against a puncher as accurate as Kessler.