were you more impressed with ward or more disappointed by kessler?

A lot of both. Ward was making a lot of technical mistakes - getting out of position, coming forward recklessly - as the fight wore on, and Kessler wasn't taking advantage of it. Not that there's any sort of equivalence between Ward and Andrade, but when Andrade did that Kessler punished him savagely. He also looked sluggish, defensively lax and lethargic.

More than that, though, I was impressed with Ward. For the most part, he showed serious athletic talent, but executed it with a degree of boxing skill that reflected a true professional (something that marks him out as a level above the likes of Dirrell at the moment, I think). Comparisons to Hopkins aren't valid yet, but there were definitely flashes of such tricky skills at times. He absolutely negated Kessler's jab (who would have thought) by staying just out of range, making it fall short and whipping a straight right back over the top. He got off first, beat Kessler to the punch and was clever (if very dirty) on the inside. His movement was well thought-out - enough to stop Kessler getting off, but not so much as not to be in position to punch whenever you need to. It was a very accomplished performance.

I rate Ward at #1 at SMW, right now.

 

Kessler looked pathetic. He really has slipped from the guy who gave Joe Cal his toughest fight and from the guy who put together beautiful combos in KO'ing opponents like Beyer.

Ward is good but Kessler looked awful. Very disappointing.

 

I was more impressed with Ward, that was a good version of Kessler, it's just that he was against a better fighter than him.

 

I voted "more impressed with Ward" but it was a narrow margin. Kessler wasn't beat in spirit. He was still throwing hard and making Ward work. BUT, you have to be dissapointed with Kessler. He didn't look like a smart fighter out there. He also looked susceptible to getting outboxed and even got driven back several times. He didn't win a round.

 

i think both...kess dissapointed...i havent seen 2 much of ward though...

 

I thought Kessler was better. LOL at all the babies on here saying that Ward is a dirty fighter, give it a fukn break. Ward beat him from the opening bell all the way through. Being a Kessler fan, I found it difficult to give him a round..

 

Ward looked more sloppy than usual because he was going for the KO and he isnt a power puncher. If anything, us fans should be appreciative of that effort.

 

He'd be well advised to stick to pure boxing if he meets AA.




Regarding the thread question:

Both.

I was impressed with Ward's ability to spoil Kessler's game. His speed and ring generalship were unprecedented in his career and he fought a very good fight.


He was exceedingly dirty, though. When you lead with your head repeatedly, you can't hide behind 'unintentional.'

It changed the dynamic of the fight around the time Kessler might have been expected to be ad******g and taking over.

It's hard to adjust when you can't see on account of blood flowing into your eyes, caused by headbutts.


And I was disappointed with Kessler's performance. In his post-fight interview, he seemed almost naive in stating he had never dealt wit those kind of tactics before.

Still, I think it's very possible he had an off-night and would be competitive in a rematch.

Hope they meet again in this tournament.

 

Believe it or not these are the raw truths. Jt is from the USA, that makes him an american. Kessler is from Denmark which makes him Denmarkie. Its pretty simple, there's nothing Nationalistic about that, just truths. And I hate to be the one pointing this out, but small-timers like you and your buddy Jepster are quick to make that an issue. A demon ya cant seem to overcome. Its okay tho its not your fault you are forgiven because your prob from some small time place who produce small time people.

 

I was pretty sure Ward would beat Kessler but I didn't expect him to smack him around like he did, that was impressive. I figured he would outbox him, but he appeared to be somewhat stronger than kessler as well. Kessler was the same guy he always was, he just fought a better fighter who would always beat him.

 

I was more impressed with Ward.. he is still a young professional and he did what most youngguns can't.... He managed to execute a winning gameplan through the whole fight.. Pretty amazing IMO

 

Here's a recently released video from Ward's training camp.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG24G-dGzrQ&feature=related[/ame]

 

I never thought Kessler was anything more then a B level fighter at best. I fully expected the fight to happen as it did. Although Ward displayed more punching power then I was giving him credit for. He rocked Kessler.

 

Ward didnt hurt Kessler with a headbut until the 8th round. By then Ward had won every round or lost maybe 1. Kessler was getting his ass kicked long before the head but, which is to expected when fighting southpaws.


Sorry, Kesslers an average fighter who beat a bunch of scrubs. His flaws were easy to see if you took away your bias.

 

Guaranteed that Kessler didn't see this coming. All credit to Andre Ward...he was the hungrier fighter and he took the title.

Kessler, if he is a true champion, will be back and win the WBC title when he fights Carl Froch next year.

I would love to see a rematch...especially if it's a unification.