Froch was a very nasty, sharp broken bottle for anyone and anytime.
Dead awkward style, bloody strong at weight, mentally tough, good chin, worked like a Trojan and often discovered a wrecking punch when he was being given a bit of a boxing lesson.
Time and again, Froch caught people out despite not looking that good.
I thought Ward played a prime Froch just right, engaged him completely on his own terms and never really let Carl get settled or leave the door even slighty ajar for Froch to land a bomb late-on.
I became a Ward-believer when he subdued Froch so effectively and without the dramas most people faced.
I think is best win and defining win was Froch, but you can have an argument for Kessler..
He was relatively unknown entering the Super SIx, even though the fight ended TD, he was clearly dominating Kessler and everyone saw that.
Froch being his best win is simply because it was #1 vs. #2.. and he proved that he was the best 168er.
What was his best KO win?
He very rarely stopped opponents.. Many will say this was unfair, Dawson was drained. Regardless, the fight took place and Ward got the stoppage win. He did well to drop Dawson a few times and worked on Dawson, eventually getting the stoppage. I scored the fight at the time of stoppage. Ward 89-80 Dawson.
Regardless of win/loss.. Who was his best opponent?
Simple answer is Kovalev.
Edison Miranda
Mikkel Kessler
Allan Green
Sakio Bika
Arthur Abraham
Carl Froch
Chad Dawson
Sergey Kovalev
Another question..
Regardless of win/loss.. Who was his best opponent?
I would say the Edison Miranda fight defined him... It showed he couldn't get a chinny character out -- and highlighted the roughhouse tactics he used throughout his career -- including wrestling, elbowing, shouldering, and using his head for leverage.
Defining win to me is Froch, only because it was for all the marbles in the S6 tourney. His coming out fight was Kessler, this is when we knew we had something special, if I remember right Kessler was the favorite to win the S6 prior to fighting Ward. His most impressive win despite the weight excuse IMO, is Dawson. Dawson was still atop many P4P lists, and stop him was impressive. His biggest win is debateable, I'm not all that convinced Kovalev was the best opponent Ward beat, Kessler, Froch and Kovalev are all on Par with each other, but I also believe Froch and Kessler fought a much hungrier and sharper version of Ward.
Edison Miranda
Mikkel Kessler
Allan Green
Sakio Bika
Arthur Abraham
Carl Froch
Chad Dawson
Sergey Kovalev
Another question..
Regardless of win/loss.. Who was his best opponent?
I would say the Edison Miranda fight defined him... It showed he couldn't get a chinny character out -- and highlighted the roughhouse tactics he used throughout his career -- including wrestling, elbowing, shouldering, and using his head for leverage.
Not being able to beat someone inside the distance means nothing except he aint a natural puncher, roughhouse tactics are part of the game like it or not
gilgamesh wrote: ↑21 Nov 2017, 16:15
His best opponent I'd say was Kovalev, but they weren't his best wins because both were achieved in a questionable manner.
I would agree. Kovalev was/is at the top of the LHW division..
You could have an argument for Froch being his best opponent, as at the time, he was arguably #1 at 168 and in his prime!
Edison Miranda
Mikkel Kessler
Allan Green
Sakio Bika
Arthur Abraham
Carl Froch
Chad Dawson
Sergey Kovalev
Another question..
Regardless of win/loss.. Who was his best opponent?
I would say the Edison Miranda fight defined him... It showed he couldn't get a chinny character out -- and highlighted the roughhouse tactics he used throughout his career -- including wrestling, elbowing, shouldering, and using his head for leverage.
Not being able to beat someone inside the distance means nothing except he aint a natural puncher, roughhouse tactics are part of the game like it or not
They're not a legal part of the game... Fouls need to be called -- and boxers who commit too many of them need to be DQ'd.
I would say the Edison Miranda fight defined him... It showed he couldn't get a chinny character out -- and highlighted the roughhouse tactics he used throughout his career -- including wrestling, elbowing, shouldering, and using his head for leverage.
Not being able to beat someone inside the distance means nothing except he aint a natural puncher, roughhouse tactics are part of the game like it or not
They're not a legal part of the game... Fouls need to be called -- and boxers who commit too many of them need to be DQ'd.
Its not a tickling contest Kalan, you do what you can get away with
kessler win is underrated. i think peak kessler was every bit as good as peak froch and ward really deserved all ten rounds of that fight.no idea how the judges gave kessler miltiple rounds. certainly ward was even more of a boss than he was against froch, who came on and won late rounds.
right after ward slapped around kessler kes and froch fought a 50-50 war that couldve gone either way but went to kes.
froch...very strong contender for best win
dawson...too many questions about dawson being drained.
kov...a shaky victory many had him losing first time then a foul ending to the second, though hed taken control and i think was clearly going to win.
Ezzard wrote: ↑24 Nov 2017, 08:07
I'd say Sullivan Barrera. He was a higher weight and I had it 8-4/9-3 so a convincing win over a guy I think is underrated.
Fair play.. What would you say was his defining win and best opponent?
littlepug wrote: ↑22 Nov 2017, 04:43
Not being able to beat someone inside the distance means nothing except he aint a natural puncher, roughhouse tactics are part of the game like it or not
They're not a legal part of the game... Fouls need to be called -- and boxers who commit too many of them need to be DQ'd.
Its not a tickling contest Kalan, you do what you can get away with
And with corrupt, paid off officials you get away with a lot... There's a reason low blows are illegal. They're impossible to defend... Punches or other blows to that area of the body are illegal in EVERY combat sport...
jamamb wrote: ↑24 Nov 2017, 05:28
kessler win is underrated. i think peak kessler was every bit as good as peak froch and ward really deserved all ten rounds of that fight.no idea how the judges gave kessler miltiple rounds. certainly ward was even more of a boss than he was against froch, who came on and won late rounds.
Yeh, Kessler was still top 3 at his weight when they fought. But he kinda gets overlooked. He still beat Froch in the Super 6.
He has fought against top guys in their prime for several times and has defeated all those big names. The best one is probably the 2nd win over Kovalev, because many thought, that Ward had lost the 1st bout, yet Andre was able to adapt for the rematch.
DrDuke wrote: ↑05 Dec 2017, 12:06
He has fought against top guys in their prime for several times and has defeated all those big names. The best one is probably the 2nd win over Kovalev, because many thought, that Ward had lost the 1st bout, yet Andre was able to adapt for the rematch.
I think everyone Ward fought from Kessler to the end was more or less in their prime, with the exclusion of maybe 2-3 opponents.
DrDuke wrote: ↑05 Dec 2017, 12:06
He has fought against top guys in their prime for several times and has defeated all those big names. The best one is probably the 2nd win over Kovalev, because many thought, that Ward had lost the 1st bout, yet Andre was able to adapt for the rematch
Right... He adapted by heaving low blows with impunity from a corrupt referee... When you bend over from a low blow that doesn't end the fight in your opponent's favor... Otherwise Larry Holmes would have lost to Gerry Cooney... Holmes was given 5 minutes rest and Cooney was point deducted. And that's the correct way to referee that particular event.
