BoxRec

IMO the thing that makes this tournament so interesting is the fact that nobody, in all honesty, can pick a winner. I'm hoping that Froch will win it but in my head I have Ward. Theres so many questions about each fighter however that it should be in no way a suprise if any fighter wins the whole thing.

Kessler - The favourite, but on what account ? He beat Mundine and Andrade on points and beat a very average champ in Beyer. He was beat by Calzaghe when he was totally dominant over the first 5 rounds. Calzaghe was able to adapt and Kessler couldn't change mid fight ? He's had a long layoff and his last 2 opponents have been sub-par. He'll have a tune up but Pedermo is not going to do anything for him bar keep him in shape. Is strong as an ox though and if his original plan works looks good. Cannot see him being knocked out.

Froch - Second Favourite, but could turn out to be either a huge flop or a huge star. His 'boxing' skills are better than he's given credit for (and I do think the early Taylor rounds had a lot to do with nerves) however along with Abraham is probably the worst out of the lot. He can be outboxed by someone fit who's quick on their toes and fit over the 12. However we all know he punches very very hard, is fit enough and has a good enough chin to take a lesson over 8 rounds and still come back punching like a mule.

Taylor - Is being written off in some quarters which is a shame. The man still has the god-diven ability, is one of the better boxers of the 6 and knows full well now that this IS THE LAST CHANCE SALOON and he should have no doubts about that. Could quite easily outbox all 5 opponents throughout the whole tournament. Nobody in the tournament can punch like Froch so there's every chance that he could get away with fading in the latter rounds against some. On the flip side most can box better than Froch so there's also the chance that he could tire QUICKER than he did against what was effectively a punch bag for 7 rounds.

Dirrel - Now I have probably seen least out of Dirrell than any other in the tourny. Looks a very sound boxer with decent power. Probably stands in the middle of the group with no OUTSTANDING attribute. he's not the hardest hitting of the six, nor is he the best boxer. Will his good 'all round' skills and power be enough. He hasn't fought anyone of the calibre of opponent he'll be facing here so could turn out to be overmatched or could prove that he's the best of them all. Probably the least 'known' of the fighters. Will this be a blessing or prove to be a step too far ?

Abraham - Powerful at Middle but we'll not know how he carries his weight up until he gets in there. From what i've seen out of him, he's a very slow starter and looks easy to outbox at times. Could he get away with being so poor in the early rounds against aggressive punchers like Froch/Kessler? Could he recover from being outboxed by better and bigger fighters for the early rounds or will he carry his power up well. If he does he stands a chance of being able to weather the storm early on (he can stick it out well as we saw in Miranda I ) and come back strong in the mid-late rounds ?

Ward - IMO this is worth a punt at 7-1. From what i've seen from Ward he looks as fundamentaly good as Taylor but with the Stamina. If he has a good beard and doesnt get flustered, he can probably outbox most in it, but there's nothing to suggest he could handle the pressure of the 'big guns' and/or their power. Whats to say that he can't cause a big upset by beating a Kessler severely in need of the rounds ? Would provide a cracking fight with Taylor. Shall wait and see whether he can do it at this level or was looking good solely on the base of his opposition.

Either way, if all goes to plan and there's no injuries, Palle gets kicked out of court and there's no controversies this has the potential to be the biggest/best thing to have happend to the sport in our (my) era.

ward doesn't look very strong though. look at that mincing performance vs miranda, safety first all the way, the same miranda that the slow starting abraham smashed up in four rounds in their super middleweight encounter.

ward is like virgil hill, if virgil hill didn't know what stance to fight in. at a higher level all we'll see from ward is a great left jab and loads of moving (running?)

don't recall any of the, say, yanks hailing virgil hill. are they getting desperate i wonder. then again you don't see much of ward on hbo or showtime, and i would think networks are cautious at developig olympic medallists given the way jermain taylor burned out.

Autobarn wrote:ward doesn't look very strong though. look at that mincing performance vs miranda, safety first all the way, the same miranda that the slow starting abraham smashed up in four rounds in their super middleweight encounter.

ward is like virgil hill, if virgil hill didn't know what stance to fight in. at a higher level all we'll see from ward is a great left jab and loads of moving (running?)

don't recall any of the, say, yanks hailing virgil hill. are they getting desperate i wonder. then again you don't see much of ward on hbo or showtime, and i would think networks are cautious at developig olympic medallists given the way jermain taylor burned out.

Fair enough pal. But like you point out. Each fighter has question marks about whther they can win which makes it so intruiging. I'd hardly say Ward totally outclassing Miranda was a 'mincing' performance You have to give him some credit though for that. He did look very good

It was something like Virgil Hill or Sven Ottke, though. Pecking and LOTS OF moving. not very exciting, but potentially effective.

At least Ward has to fight some tough opponents in the super 6 and he has a tough fight vs kessler. No easy paydays on PPV undercards, beat an old champ then defend vs ppl from 2 divisions lower then lose badly when you fight someone as big as you (ala Jermain Taylor)

rekon we'll know everything we need to know about ward after the super 6, and the same cannot be said about many fighters

Your right its so open they all can win imo I think Kessler will win he is the most expierenced but then you've got the 2 Andre's speed and skills. Froch's chin, determination and staminia and if Taylor doesnt tire in the later rounds he's as good as anyone skill wise imo. You've also got King Arthur who is strong as an ox has massive power may struggle with the size difference but im sure he'll put up a good fight

I dont see not winning a fight

Excuse my ignorance but is Froch's title on the line in each of his fights or will it go to eventual winner (and not change hands in between should Froch lose a fight) ?

I think Kessler might be in trouble with Ward. I was very impressed with his versatility beating Miranda. Kessler always seems to have a good gameplan going in and i've never seen him try to adapt it. When he did need to (Calzaghe) he couldn't and came unstuck.

Ward was very careful to keep switching his gameplan against Miranda so he'll be hard to plan for and if Kessler can't adapt in the ring he could be looking at another UD loss. On top of his inactivity his bad back means he has hardly any head and upper body movement which plays into an athletic boxer's hands too.

Matchfixer wrote:Excuse my ignorance but is Froch's title on the line in each of his fights or will it go to eventual winner (and not change hands in between should Froch lose a fight) ?

Its on the line in each fight, as is Kesslers WBA.

Matchfixer wrote:Excuse my ignorance but is Froch's title on the line in each of his fights or will it go to eventual winner (and not change hands in between should Froch lose a fight) ?

I believe the titles are on the line in each fight...with the whole thing ending in a unification fight?

Autobarn wrote:
ward is like virgil hill, if virgil hill didn't know what stance to fight in. at a higher level all we'll see from ward is a great left jab and loads of moving (running?)

don't recall any of the, say, yanks hailing virgil hill. are they getting desperate i wonder. then again you don't see much of ward on hbo or showtime, and i would think networks are cautious at developig olympic medallists given the way jermain taylor burned out.

haha. nice.

British_Heavyweight wrote:

Matchfixer wrote:Excuse my ignorance but is Froch's title on the line in each of his fights or will it go to eventual winner (and not change hands in between should Froch lose a fight) ?

I believe the titles are on the line in each fight...with the whole thing ending in a unification fight?

My understanding is that the alphabet belts going into the tournament will change hands in normal fashion. Potentially, it could be possible for a fighter to go out of the tournament at the first stage but take a world title with him (losses first two then fights a title holder and wins but doesn't have points to make the semi final stage).

for me it's between 3 fighters.

kessler, abraham & dirrell.

froch - think he's got a very tough draw as he could face them 3. i don't see him beating any of them in a month of sundays.

ward - i think for all his skill he's a bit too fragile and lacking a real wallop.

taylor - stamina not good enough and on the downside anyway.

depends on the draw who gets to the final.

Shirow wrote:I think Kessler might be in trouble with Ward. I was very impressed with his versatility beating Miranda. Kessler always seems to have a good gameplan going in and i've never seen him try to adapt it. When he did need to (Calzaghe) he couldn't and came unstuck.

Ward was very careful to keep switching his gameplan against Miranda so he'll be hard to plan for and if Kessler can't adapt in the ring he could be looking at another UD loss. On top of his inactivity his bad back means he has hardly any head and upper body movement which plays into an athletic boxer's hands too.

i think kessler will do his usual and keep it long.

i think ward will have some success.

but i see kessler's sharper punches winning the day.

i think ward will beat taylor and maybe froch.

although i would tip froch over ward.

don't look like they are drawn together though.

Shirow wrote:I think Kessler might be in trouble with Ward. I was very impressed with his versatility beating Miranda. Kessler always seems to have a good gameplan going in and i've never seen him try to adapt it. When he did need to (Calzaghe) he couldn't and came unstuck.

Ward was very careful to keep switching his gameplan against Miranda so he'll be hard to plan for and if Kessler can't adapt in the ring he could be looking at another UD loss. On top of his inactivity his bad back means he has hardly any head and upper body movement which plays into an athletic boxer's hands too.

I hear what you're saying, but the truth is Ward is no Calzaghe. I fancy Kessler to dominate the fight behind that excellent jab. The long lay-off is an issue though.

states wrote:

Shirow wrote:I hear what you're saying, but the truth is Ward is no Calzaghe. I fancy Kessler to dominate the fight behind that excellent jab. The long lay-off is an issue though.

yep.

u gotta assume it'll be a skills match.

stamina won't be such a big deal.

ward don't set a calzaghe pace.

I can't really find out who each fighter will fight after their first fight but I think Froch has a good chance of winning this even if he loses 1 of his fights, he could still win it.

I think he will probably beat Dirrell and he could beat everyone else. I think the only people he might struggle against is Abraham (If he's as good as he his at middleweight), Ward (because I think that may come down to who can stand the longest, I reckon it will be a great fight) and Kessler (his boxing skills behind that solid and powerfull jab might give Froch a problem).

Overall I think as long as Froch starts well in his fights his power and aggrssion will get the better of anyone in the tournement. I think any fights that are staged in the States might give Froch an added problem but then all fighters will have to fight in places they are not used to.

Does anyone know what the schedule is after the first 3 fights? It would be easier for me to predict an overall winner. I think this is great idea and should be encouraged for other weight classes.