The Army Boxing Thread

[sonrisa salvaje]

I've got to go with Ward in this one. I will be cheering for Kessler but i just don't think he can catch Ward. Hopefully, i'll be wrong.

[binnie]

Good call Sonrisa - the fight ended on cuts in the 11th, with Ward taking the decision. I haven't seen it yet, as the cable company that bought the Super Six over here is inept, but from what I've read Ward was too quick and smoothered Kessler. Maybe Kessler's gotten old? Maybe he's never recovered from Calzaghe?

There are some complaints about Ward's headbutting not really being 'accidental' - it is kind of hard to imagine 11 'accidental' headbuts in a fight! That being said, Kessler should have found a way to win.

[binnie]

Ok, so I've just watched it on youtube. A couple of observations:

1) Ward impressed me. Pretty fast hands, good reflexes, good punch repetoire. Some of the reports overstated his working of 'angles' a la Manny Pacquiao or Joe Calzaghe, but he's certainly a raw talent. Many congratualtions to.

2) Contrary to what the commentary team would like to think, the first half of this fight was no shut out. Ward was ahead, but Kessler had picked up a couple of rounds, IMO. The second and fifth, for sure.

3) Kessler did not look himself. I am not seeking to detract from Ward's performance. Kessler looked flat, even gun shy. Why wasn't he throwing the right? Whether its the length of the layoff (only 4 rounds in the last 18 months!), the fact he gotten old, or a lack of preparation. I suspect the latter - it seems that Kessler had no southpaw sparring at all, which is suicide against a switch-hitter. Also, had his team watched any tapes of Andre, they'd have seen that he likes to hold (watch the Miranda fight.) Working on inside fighting should have been a crucial part of Kessler's prep. His corner was shocking - if he'd started to double the jab he'd have gotten himself more into this fight.

4) Headbuts. I wouldn't call them deliberate, but they were certainly careless. Add that to Ward's hitting on breaks and excessive holding, and you have to wonder why he wasn't warned. Very smart use of rule bending on his part ot completely break Kessler's rhythm.

5) From round seven, Kessler couldn't see. The cuts finished him. Against a guy who wasn't as fast and mobile as Ward it might have been less significant, but how the hell are you going to beat a guy that fast with only one eye?

I hope that Kessler can bounce back from this, and I hope that this is the springboard for a great career for Ward. I have a feeling that only the latter hope will come true.

[sonrisa salvaje]

I agree with you. I think Kessler was just flat and under prepared by his camp. It was pissing me off when Ward kept holding and hitting. I would have liked to have seen Kessler use the same tactics and "fight fire with fire" so to speak by roughing Ward up as well. Totally agree on the double jab aspect. Props to Ward for being so ready and executing his game plan to perfection. I don't think Froch could even hit Ward. I think Abraham has the best shot at beating Ward because he has the speed plus the power and matches up better. I'm not saying Ward is the next Roy Jones but it is going to take someone's best effort to beat him.

[binnie]

I think you're right. Ward just became the man to beat - he can learn a lot from Dirrel if he comes to fighting Froch. Essentially, all he has to do is exactly what Dirrel did but with slightly more aggression and he'll win. Abraham is a different prospect, but Ward is much, much bigger and faster than him. I see a 12 round shut out if that fight comes off.

The problem I see for Ward in this competition actually comes in his next fight: Jermain Taylor. He may well be done (I guess we'll find out), but he still has the boxing skills and handspeed to give Ward problems.

[sonrisa salvaje]

That is going to be a good fight. Taylor, despite his propensity for running out of gass, poses a good threat for at least the first 8-9 rounds. Think of what Taylor could have accomplished if he could actually fight 12 solid rounds. It is a shame. However, that is what makes Taylor's fights so exciting. I am really looking forward to that one.

[jhale667]

Watched the Andrade-Bute and Guzman/Funique (sp?) fights last night...interesting Guzman pulled out a draw when the latter half of the fight he was basically blocking shots with his face, and was hurt a couple of times....

I missed the first Andrade-Bute fight, but from watching that F*ed up count, Andrade got robbed in the first fight, and he basically knocked Bute on his ass twice for seemingly longer than a normal 10 count. But Bute destroyed him this time, using the premise "OK, we've seen you can take almost any shot to the head I throw at you. How 'bout we try the BODY this time?"

The commentators indicated he may have busted a couple of Andrades' RIBS with the body shot that took him out; it was indeed kinda brutal. From the angle I saw, and where the punch appeared to land - looked like it more likely may have fractured his sternum....OW....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/8385217.stm

[sonrisa salvaje]

Nasty body shop from Bute, no doubt. I was impressed by Bute in this one but somewhat dissapointed that it ended so quickly. I thought Andrade was getting to him with some early shots that he was unable to do in the first fight. Anyway, it gave me time to get over and catch the John Molina fight. He ended up losing a unanimous decision in which he was given a thorough boxing lesson. All in all, it was a good boxing weekend. Just think, only 5 more days until we see Joe T make his prime time debut with his soul mate Mento.

[binnie]

Bute just went WAY up in my estimation. Andrade is renowned for being impossibly durable, so Bute must have some power we didn't know about. I think the problem was that Andrade just didn't see that left hand to the chin that caught him when they were on the ropes - its always the ones you don't see that hurt. The body shot was the icing on the cake.

Bute is remarkably easy to hit, but I like the development I'm seeing. If Taylor drops out of the Super Six, he'd be a good replacement.

Andrade is an unlucky guy. He definitely won the first fight. I wish him the best for the future, but I don't see him beating any of the top guys at 168. As for Guzman-Fukena, what a robbery. Guzman lost pretty much every round from the third.

[sonrisa salvaje]

As for Guzman-Fukena, what a robbery. Guzman lost pretty much every round from the third.

For sure.

[binnie]

Roy Jones - Danny Green is imminent.

I imagine it will look a lot like Roy Jones - Jeff Lacy.

[binnie]

How wrong can you be?

Roy Jones got stopped in the first round (I guess that the fight with Bhop is off.) Time to retire Superman. Without question, Roy is one of the greatest fighters ever. Losing all of the weight after he beat John Ruiz shot his body, and he's never been the same since.

Congrats to Danny Green. A big right hand put Roy down, and then he failed to answer the barrage of blows against the ropes so the ref stopped it.

Why do most great fighters go on too long?

[binnie]

Don't know how long this will stay on youtube, but here's the fight.

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Roy looks old.

[jhale667]

Wow, would not have expected that one to go that fast, or in that manner, especially after the way Roy took Jeff Lacy to school (he looked more like young Roy than a 40-yr old) in that last fight...

[sonrisa salvaje]

I saw the Bernard Hopkins fight last night and they showed the Jones fight afterward. They then talked with Hopkins and got his reaction. Hopkins said that he thought the Jones fight should not have been stopped and that a legend like Roy should have been given more of a chance to recover or go out on his back. Bernard also tried to make it out like the fight was stopped only because it was in Australia where the hometown guy was. This kind of pissed me off a little bit. I understand that Bernard was upset that his next payday was detoured, but to say that the fight shouldn't have been stopped? It looked to me like after Roy got up his legs still looked terrible and he was wobbling back toward the ropes prior to the finishing barage of punches. I agree Roy is a legend, but the images of his knockout losses to Tarver and Johnson loom large in people's mind. No one wants to see Roy get hurt and go out permanently affected. Anyway, Bernard went on to say that he thought the fight would still happen because Roy got tko'd instead of knocked out. I don't know anyone that would have paid to see the fight even if Roy had won, much less now.