Who looked worst? Kessler or Abraham???

yeah kessler admitted he wasn't himself or he would have beaten wardatsch.

give me a break.

 

He didn't say that he would beat Ward if they fought again, just that he should have used a different tactic, and kept his composure.
He had alot of problems with the clinching like he had against JC so he should learn the lesson now.

 

I think Kessler looked worse than Abraham in there. Dirrelll's style is a stylistic nightmare for Abraham but I didn't feel he was quite as dominated as Kessler was, I was stunned how Kessler was absolutely manhandled in the clinches.

 

Kessler looked worse.

 

I'll second this. Abraham was coming on a bit at the end, the same could not be said for Kessler, and Dirrell has always been acknowledged as the more talented of the two, just not as disciplined historically.

 

which is all just excuses, why didn't he do all that in the actual fight instead of crying everytime things got tough?

 

Well I guess it depends on the way you look at it. I don't think it's an excuse as much as it is a boxer aknowledging his mistakes.
Alot of this has to do with Ward's flawless performance, but he could still have made it more of a fight like AA did, I mean he hardly won a round.

 

Kessler looked completely clueless. Abraham had a few good moments and some momentum (albeit a little too late momentum)

 

Kessler looked worse, IMO.

 

I basically agree. Having said that I actually believe that Kessler could have been far more in the fight if he had made a few basic tactical changes. To name a couple:

1) Double up the jab.

2) Add more lateral and head movement.

Of course a ref reacting to Wards foul play would also help Kessler's chances. Ward clearly benefitted from being allowed to hold Kessler at bay with a stiff left arm, headbutts, shoulders, clinching. Another thing that has not been mentioned much here on ESB is the fact that Kessler's breaks between rounds were used to deal with injuries from headbutts instead of what they should have been used for, namely, discussing a different tactics.

 

Kessler looked far worse. AA actually hurt Dirrell and had the evil satisfaction of at least laying out his man, even if in an underhanded, unsportsmanlike fashion.

 

All things considered, based on the styles, quality of opponents they were up against etc then you've gotta say AA looked much worse, he actually had the style and all the tools to defeat Dirrell and thats why he was a big favourite going in but he just fought a horrible fight. Kessler loses to Ward 9 times outta 10 and Ward is the most complete fighter in the tourney IMO, just the worst possible match up for Kessler.

 

You could at least imagine Abraham having a big 12th round and taking Dirrell out. There's no way to imagine anything like that about Kessler. He looked like a rank amateur.

 

Kessler looked worse - AA was excuting a game plan and although he stepped it up a couple of rounds too late, he certainly looked to be wearing Dirrell down a bit.

Ward looked like he could have gone 20 rounds with Kessler.

I am sure part of this is because Kessler had the cuts while AA had done **** all for 9 rounds so was quite fresh (but obvioulsy heavily losing).

 

Kessler looked worse but he was also a huge favorite to win the fight.

Besides - he got headbutted in the early rounds and got three nasty cuts because of it.

Abraham looked as expected against Dirrell. I do think btw that Dirrell is better to watch and more technically sound than Ward, who relies too much on roughing things up on the inside.