BoxRec

Posted: **17 Aug 2006, 14:37**

glahn wrote: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.

Calzaghe has had nine years as a champion. Kessler's in his 2nd year. It's unfair to say that he's had beter comp than kessler. In nine years time will Calzaghe's levekl of comp be close to Kessler's?

I know Calzaghe's an excellent fighter. But he's been allowed to get away with too much.

Every meaningful fight he had (Eubank, Brewer, Reid, Mitchell, Woodhall, Lacy) was counterbalanced by stooping down to the likes of Pudwill, Ashira, Salem. Let's face it, and let's be cynical: Calzaghe & SN took the fvcking piss out of us all in 2004-5! Kessler doesn't mess about & if you look on his record, he even traveled to the home country of a very difficult opponent.

The year or 2 before he won the title, Kessler has been in serious fights: former middle titlist JC Green, former super middle titlist Thobela, hard headed Andre Thysse (has anyone else stopped this man, wicked puncher Lucian Bute couldn't!), Siaca (a man who was robbed v Byron Mitchell and who beat Mundine), Mundine (who looked great in his last fight &has been a titlist himself), Lucas (whom most felt beat the very good Beyer). & Kessler broke Lucas' face to pieces with the jab.

Posted: **17 Aug 2006, 14:39**

I totally forgot that Kessler has been fighting vastly superior opponents to those Reid did. I mean Reid wouldn't have stood a chance against Manny Siaca, Andre Thysse and Eric Lucas. I know people moan about Calzaghe's opposition, but truth be told Kessler's have been worse in the last 3/4 fights.
Still, don't let me blow a hole in the hype balloon.

Posted: **18 Aug 2006, 05:39**

viciousmaussa wrote:
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 smeg 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'

Peak Tyson was a nightmare for a fighter who relies on the jab, look at the effort that Douglas had to put up to beat Tyson down, and Tyson was a little off colour that night. I could well see Tyson getting under the jab, coming up and battering Larry, but I think it would have come late and Larry might have survived it to win a decision. Then again, maybe Larry would have discouraged and hurt Tyson early on. Holmes trained for 2 weeks after a 2 year layoff for that fight, bit silly. Would have liked to have seen a well trained Holmes with a couple of fights under his belt take him on.

In any case, Kessler is quite robotic compared to Larry. I was so bored watching the Lucas fight, Kessler didn't start throwing the right hand until about the 7th round, and that's with Lucas offering virtually no resistance!

Posted: **18 Aug 2006, 05:47**

jamesmcdonnell wrote:
viciousmaussa wrote:
jamesmcdonnell wrote: 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 smeg 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'
Peak Tyson was a nightmare for a fighter who relies on the jab, look at the effort that Douglas had to put up to beat Tyson down, and Tyson was a little off colour that night. I could well see Tyson getting under the jab, coming up and battering Larry, but I think it would have come late and Larry might have survived it to win a decision. Then again, maybe Larry would have discouraged and hurt Tyson early on. Holmes trained for 2 weeks after a 2 year layoff for that fight, bit silly. Would have liked to have seen a well trained Holmes with a couple of fights under his belt take him on.

In any case, Kessler is quite robotic compared to Larry. I was so bored watching the Lucas fight, Kessler didn't start throwing the right hand until about the 7th round, and that's with Lucas offering virtually no resistance!

Tyson has definitely become underrated a little bit. He had a superlative style for a squat heavyweight, though his prime was only 3 years. Somehow I never believed Holmes trained 2 weeks for that fight. Holmes looked pretty sharp. But when you read about his preparation and physical ailments at the time, I'll give larry the benefit of the doubt. Must have been the pressure that made him pull off some good moves...

But in his prime, Holmes always got caught by raw or crude sluggers. Weaver and Shavers doing it perhaps with more impact than anyone else.

Kessler is a bit one paced. But I like a fighter who doesn't get impatient & try to bomb people out. The fact that he's beating Mundine and Siaca proves he's an excellent fighter, and as boring as that jab is, it broke Lucas' face to pieces.

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Kessler on Calzaghe