Kessler on Calzaghe

Chambers2 · Post by **Chambers2** » 17 Aug 2006, 04:43

http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-a ... am-boxing/

Kessler has made no secret his desire to fight Calzaghe. While numerous world titles would be on the line, the all-European appeal would make it one of the biggest fights in that continent’s history. According to Marley, the only thing preventing that fight from happening is Calzaghe.

“The Calzaghe fight will be made if Calzaghe wants it,” said Marley. “If he doesn’t there are other routes to go. Since Mikkel beat Mundine in Australia, Mundine went out and beat Danny Green in what was the biggest fight in Australian history.

Calzaghe-Kessler is the only meaningful fight left for Joe at SM (or it will be once/if Kessler beats Beyer), so Warren and Joe should be bending over backwards to make the fight, then Joe can move up to LH as the undisputed undefeated champ.

Surely even the thought of this fight would make ITV moist

Does anybody know SN's view on why the fight hasn't happened?

Max Molyneux · Post by **Max Molyneux** » 17 Aug 2006, 05:50

Make your voices heard enough and it can happen.

Kessler would barely touch him anyway.

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 17 Aug 2006, 05:52

Max Molyneux wrote:
Kessler would barely touch him anyway.

Rubbish Kessler is better than anyone Calzaghe has faced before and has a better more accurate jab than anyone Calzaghe has faced before. So he will certainly touch him, Calzaghe has been 'touched' by much lesser fighters.

Take your blinkers off!

Max Molyneux · Post by **Max Molyneux** » 17 Aug 2006, 06:00

nickd wrote:
Max Molyneux wrote:
Kessler would barely touch him anyway.
Rubbish Kessler is better than anyone Calzaghe has faced before and has a better more accurate jab than anyone Calzaghe has faced before. So he will certainly touch him, Calzaghe has been 'touched' by much lesser fighters.

Take your blinkers off!

What Blinkers? My post is pro Calzaghe but I still honestly believe that Kessler would not be much of a threat. I want it to happen but only because he holds a belt.

THEBUTCH · Post by **THEBUTCH** » 17 Aug 2006, 06:17

Well after Calzaghe's performance against Lacy, I won't be as quick to bet against Joe next time but Kessler is IMO the most accomplished boxer Calzaghe will have faced, assuming Mikkel gets past Beyer.

Max Molyneux · Post by **Max Molyneux** » 17 Aug 2006, 06:22

I'm not sure who to pick out of Kessler and Beyer.

Beyer's more championship experiance could trouble Mikkel, but he looked crap Vs Colajanni. Lucas Vs Kessler would just Kessler stepping in and out jabbing a shot Lucas, winning every round before Lucas's corner throws in the towel.

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 17 Aug 2006, 06:27

Max Molyneux wrote:
nickd wrote:
Max Molyneux wrote:
Kessler would barely touch him anyway.
Rubbish Kessler is better than anyone Calzaghe has faced before and has a better more accurate jab than anyone Calzaghe has faced before. So he will certainly touch him, Calzaghe has been 'touched' by much lesser fighters.

Take your blinkers off!
What Blinkers? My post is pro Calzaghe but I still honestly believe that Kessler would not be much of a threat. I want it to happen but only because he holds a belt.

"Kessler would barely touch him"

Those blinkers. Be pro Calzaghe but suggesting Kessler wont touch him is ludicrous. Robin Reid certainly touched him a few times, Kessler is better than him in my opinion.

Max Molyneux · Post by **Max Molyneux** » 17 Aug 2006, 06:41

Reid was better back then and how is Kessler better? He's had two defences against a shot Lucas, a timid Mundine and he won the belt from the limited Siaca who was owned by 39 year old Branco.

Plus officially Mitchell beat Siaca and Calzaghe stopped him in two.

Kessler still needs to prove himself and Reid has proven himself already years ago.

Razor · Post by **Razor** » 17 Aug 2006, 06:45

Nick im with MAx on this one, after the preformance against Lacy i wont be matching anyone ahead or near Calzaghe. Calzaghe wins this 1 in an exiting fight.

Chambers2 · Post by **Chambers2** » 17 Aug 2006, 06:51

Max Molyneux wrote:Make your voices heard enough and it can happen.

Anyone got an e-mail address for ITV? you're right its time we made ourselves heard.....Power to the People!!!!!!

Max Molyneux · Post by **Max Molyneux** » 17 Aug 2006, 06:53

It worked for Sky so could for ITV.

http://www.itv-boxing.com/Information/C ... 9,,00.html

Send them an email there.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 17 Aug 2006, 07:26

nickd wrote:
Max Molyneux wrote:
Kessler would barely touch him anyway.
Rubbish Kessler is better than anyone Calzaghe has faced before and has a better more accurate jab than anyone Calzaghe has faced before. So he will certainly touch him, Calzaghe has been 'touched' by much lesser fighters.

Take your blinkers off!

You're right there. Ppl are Kessler ingorant. Kessler is better than anyone Calzaghe faced. A case could be made that beyer is, too. Yet Joe doesn't even acknowledge these men exist.

Kessler has some very good wins already and doesn't take the piss out of ppl who are conned into watching 'world' title fights. he doesn't stoop to the ashiras of the world

For max to say kessler isn't a threat is frankly pathetic. You know nothing about Kessler, boy. You think Kessler wouldn't be able to touch calzaghe, well calzaghe isn't going to go anywhere near him, is he?

cazlaghe is going to be in one of the several joke fights that he's had in his career. Meanwhile kessler is fighting a very tricky boxer. When has calzaghe fought a top class European boxer (outside of the good brits he's beaten)?

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 17 Aug 2006, 07:44

The one thing that has always baffled me is how Calzaghe dismisses the likes of Kessler, Mundine, Beyer, Larsen etc as not well known enough names to be considered worthy opponents yet Salem, Mkrtchian, Pudwill and McIntyre were never household names either? Yet they were all worthy enough.

THEBUTCH · Post by **THEBUTCH** » 17 Aug 2006, 08:02

Yes, at first glance it looks a pathetic statement.

I should imagine it all boils down to money. Kessler and Beyer come at a much higher price than most of the below par dross Joe has faced.

Or it could be he just doesn't want to face them?! Especially Kessler.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 17 Aug 2006, 08:03

Simple, money. All these guys would have been paid absolute peanuts, as seems to be standard when a sports network champion makes his defences. I know Lacy was well paid and Calzahge from what I heard second hand of course, took a substantial drop in his pay packet for that one.

I don't think Joe is keen on too many more. I guess you could say that the fight wouldn't be that easy to sell as the average punter hasn't heard of Kessler, but the counterpoint to this is that you could rightly hype this fight up as the only time all of the Super Middleweight titles would become unified.

I think Kessler is fairly limited, and Joe would give him a right old spanking personally, but I just cannot see the fight happening. A Johnson win would be easier to market, and there's the "two weight world champion" bauble for Joe to grab for.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 17 Aug 2006, 08:26

No one seems to genuinely want to fight Kessler. Beyer didn't want to, when he was asked pre-Calzaghe v Lacy. Lacy didn't want to, and one of his handlers said he wouldn't be ready for MK till 2007! Calzaghe has always been quiet on the subject of Kessler. Only Mundine seemed to genuinely want to fight him, and that was because he had home ground advantage.

I think it's a stretch to call kessler limited, especially with the mastery of the jab that he has. For the sake of comparison, it's like saying Larry Holmes or Winky were limited. Also, he beat a fairly versatile and tricky man in Mundine.

THEBUTCH · Post by **THEBUTCH** » 17 Aug 2006, 08:32

Agree, from what I've seen of Kessler, he's definitely not fairly limited and has beaten a variety of styles. He uses the jab a lot but does have more to his game than that. But if you can beat a guy with the jab, why not?

Taki... · Post by **Taki...** » 17 Aug 2006, 08:47

Who says Kessler is better than anyone Calzaghe has ever fought? I know the old Boxrec hype machine has been bigging up Kessler for months now, but he's really not beaten anyone of note.
If Kessler does beat Beyer, it's hardly startling! Beyer has been well beaten before (as has Kesslers best opponent Mudine). I'm not convinced Kessler is better than a prime Robin Reid.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 17 Aug 2006, 08:56

viciousmaussa wrote:No one seems to genuinely want to fight Kessler. Beyer didn't want to, when he was asked pre-Calzaghe v Lacy. Lacy didn't want to, and one of his handlers said he wouldn't be ready for MK till 2007! Calzaghe has always been quiet on the subject of Kessler. Only Mundine seemed to genuinely want to fight him, and that was because he had home ground advantage.

I think it's a stretch to call kessler limited, especially with the mastery of the jab that he has. For the sake of comparison, it's like saying Larry Holmes or Winky were limited. Also, he beat a fairly versatile and tricky man in Mundine.

Personally I think Winky is overrated anyway, but Larry Holmes had more than a jab. He had very good movement around the ring, very fast hands and was a good combination puncher. He also had good power with the left or right and one of the best chins in the history of the sport, not to mention the heart of a lion. Kessler has a very nice jab, but it's a bit predictable, I find it hard to see someone as mobile as Calzaghe standing there letting Kessler tee off and he would make him pay when he missed the jab for sure.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 17 Aug 2006, 09:33

jamesmcdonnell wrote:
viciousmaussa wrote:No one seems to genuinely want to fight Kessler. Beyer didn't want to, when he was asked pre-Calzaghe v Lacy. Lacy didn't want to, and one of his handlers said he wouldn't be ready for MK till 2007! Calzaghe has always been quiet on the subject of Kessler. Only Mundine seemed to genuinely want to fight him, and that was because he had home ground advantage.

I think it's a stretch to call kessler limited, especially with the mastery of the jab that he has. For the sake of comparison, it's like saying Larry Holmes or Winky were limited. Also, he beat a fairly versatile and tricky man in Mundine.
Personally I think Winky is overrated anyway, but Larry Holmes had more than a jab. He had very good movement around the ring, very fast hands and was a good combination puncher. He also had good power with the left or right and one of the best chins in the history of the sport, not to mention the heart of a lion. Kessler has a very nice jab, but it's a bit predictable, I find it hard to see someone as mobile as Calzaghe standing there letting Kessler tee off and he would make him pay when he missed the jab for sure.

Fair enough, Holmes could hit in fast combinations. But he did rely somewhat on the jab. He would put a heck of alot into his left hand to the point that you'd think his arm must ache like fornicate at the end of a fight. Also, the weight & quantity he put behind the jab, could put him at a disadvantage against someone with good head movement. To different degrees, Witherspoon and Tyson gave Larry hell, and IMo would have given even a peak Holmes hell. because they could roll under his best shot & counter. When that occured, almost everything that larry threw behind that jab would be quite wild & lack accuracy.

Kessler was given problems against Mudine. Interestingly, Mundine was backing away and using shoulder rolls a lot. If there was an aggressive come forward fighter with great head movement Kessler could be in deep shit.

I don't think calzaghe would have it easy v kessler. His speed and variety will definitely give the Dane trouble. But it took him a while to cut down Veit in their rematch, and Kessler's a vastly superuior fighter on the outside.
Anyhow, Mikkel must beat beyer. But if he does I hope there will be more 'Kessler Konverts'

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 17 Aug 2006, 09:36

jamesmcdonnell wrote:
viciousmaussa wrote:No one seems to genuinely want to fight Kessler. Beyer didn't want to, when he was asked pre-Calzaghe v Lacy. Lacy didn't want to, and one of his handlers said he wouldn't be ready for MK till 2007! Calzaghe has always been quiet on the subject of Kessler. Only Mundine seemed to genuinely want to fight him, and that was because he had home ground advantage.

I think it's a stretch to call kessler limited, especially with the mastery of the jab that he has. For the sake of comparison, it's like saying Larry Holmes or Winky were limited. Also, he beat a fairly versatile and tricky man in Mundine.
Personally I think Winky is overrated anyway, but Larry Holmes had more than a jab. He had very good movement around the ring, very fast hands and was a good combination puncher. He also had good power with the left or right and one of the best chins in the history of the sport, not to mention the heart of a lion. Kessler has a very nice jab, but it's a bit predictable, I find it hard to see someone as mobile as Calzaghe standing there letting Kessler tee off and he would make him pay when he missed the jab for sure.

Fair enough, Holmes could hit in fast combinations. But he did rely somewhat on the jab. He would put a heck of alot into his left hand to the point that you'd think his arm must ache like fornicate at the end of a fight. Also, the weight & quantity he put behind the jab, could put him at a disadvantage against someone with good head movement. To different degrees, Witherspoon and Tyson gave Larry hell, and IMo would have given even a peak Holmes hell. because they could roll under his best shot & counter. When that occured, almost everything that larry threw behind that jab would be quite wild & lack accuracy.

Kessler was given problems against Mudine. Interestingly, Mundine was backing away and using shoulder rolls a lot. If there was an aggressive come forward fighter with great head movement Kessler could be in deep shit.

I don't think calzaghe would have it easy v kessler. His speed and variety will definitely give the Dane trouble. But it took him a while to cut down Veit in their rematch, and Kessler's a vastly superuior fighter on the outside.
Anyhow, Mikkel must beat beyer. But if he does I hope there will be more 'Kessler Konverts'

glahn · Post by **glahn** » 17 Aug 2006, 11:46

Kessler looks good, but let's face it, he's fairly unproven. Beyer and Calzaghe have both faced better opposition than him thus far. So while Kessler might prove to be world class in the long run, there's no way you can say that he's better than Calzaghe yet.

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 17 Aug 2006, 11:46

Taki... wrote:Who says Kessler is better than anyone Calzaghe has ever fought? I know the old Boxrec hype machine has been bigging up Kessler for months now, but he's really not beaten anyone of note.
If Kessler does beat Beyer, it's hardly startling! Beyer has been well beaten before (as has Kesslers best opponent Mudine). I'm not convinced Kessler is better than a prime Robin Reid.

Kessler travelled to Australia and beat Mundine on his own turf. Prime Robin Reid was vastly overrated - life and death with Cherifi, losing to Malinga. Hardly the stuff of legends.

THEBUTCH · Post by **THEBUTCH** » 17 Aug 2006, 11:54

Yep, Reid was very overated. I know going to Italy and winning is not easy, but boxing the extrememly erratic Nardielo for the WBC title was practically a gift.

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 17 Aug 2006, 11:58

Exactly, Cherifi was no great shakes at 160 and Reid was off to the hospital with exhaustion after scraping by him at 168. His other defence was against Pretorius a Light Middleweight!!