Kessler was great, and he fought Ward in Oakland. The fight was stopped on cuts caused by headbutts which were ruled unintentional, and at the time I thought they were. I guess you've got a point. As I recalled the fight, I thought Ward the better fighter that the favorite afterwards but now I want to watch it again. I guess holding and head butts that might be unintentional did not make the impression on me that the low blows did.boxing_rocks wrote:If Kessler was such a minor threat, why did Ward need to repeatedly headbutt him and hug him for most of the fight ?willyjwalsh wrote:Ward's resume is the best on paper. PFP No. 1 to me means that you have demonstrated a clear and legitimate superiority over great opponents in a way that sets you above everyone else fighting. Froch and Kessler were formidable fighters and Ward made them look like minor threats. Still, Ward now looks like he had some help when he got in the ring with the one guy who really seemed a threat to him. I don't rate him PFP No. 1, or even top five. He should stop complaining about what respect he gets and be grateful for he what he got. Some people don't get breaks.
Also, Ward has always seemed sour because he was not a bigger star, but he would never credit his opponents which actually dimmed his own star. He handled Froch by being a lot stronger infighting than Froch thought he would be, but Froch--who can be a very egotistical ass himself--was very gracious and said Ward was the better man afterwards. Ward didn't say a thing about Froch as I recall that gave his opponent any credit.
I'm becoming more critical and losing my respect for Ward the more I think about it. Ward fought twice in the Carribean early in his career. Otherwise he never fought out of the US, or even California/Las Vegas. He fought Froch in NJ and acted like he had traveled to Britain as I recall. Other than that fight he won the super six in Oakland. Now he gets the benefit of being the house fighter again and wants to be No. 1 PFP?
Kessler's comeback vs. Skoglund I won't miss and if he has much left he'll win but like a lot of guys he should stay retired.