yeah, big accomplishment, dropping a 188 pound man who was far overweight even at that considerably light amount Ali later expressed great admiration for Foster's skills, for what it's worth Foster was a very narrow-shouldered man, he was not meant to be any bigger than 175 but if you were a 175 fighter and were in there with him, there was a very good chance that you were about to die
Which ones do you disagree with? I wonder who Mikel Kessler thinks would win, Ward certainly beat his ass allot easier.
Calzaghe would fuck Ward up mate. Come on man. Calzaghe didn't have to resort to multiple Glasgow kisses either to achieve his win, plus it was an unbeaten, confident Kessler. How about we pit Calzaghe against 168 pounders? Or using your analogy guys like Hagler etc who by the way, he would have beaten. Yeah I said it.
because A) Being among the greatest 168 pounders ever is like being among the very greatest wheelchair basketball stars ever B) Calzaghe weighed in the 170s on fight night, same as the long line of Light Heavyweights who would have smashed his 'Let's Get Physical' ass
A) You say that because it tends to be dominated by Europeans. Doesn't make it a bad division by any means. B) That could apply to many fighters
A) no, because it is a division that has only been around for 20 plus years and until Roy Jones came along was inhabited by fucking nobody... Sven Ottke is a top 5 168 pounder all-time... 'nuff said B) Indeed, it could... All of today's "Junior Welterweights" would be fucking cannon fodder for every good welterweight from 1945 onward
This 'unbeaten, confident' shit has to end. No half decent fighter in history has strewn the floor as shards of an unmendable self-image after one close loss where he takes no sustained punishment. You could just as easily say he was more confident because he had big fight experience now.... afterall Kessler's career best win came after he'd lost to both men. And didn't you just say that visually pleasing doesn't matter? Bottom line is Ward beat Kessler notably more easily than Joe and Kessler represents both mens best win at the weight.
A) No it has had some excellent fighters and names in there, not just Jones. B) That would be an ecumenical matter
A) Sven Ottke is absolutely top 5 EVER at the weight... end of story, it's a GARBAGE division historically B) :laugh11::laugh11::laugh11::laugh11:
Top 5 super middleweight champion perhaps, but 168 was a defacto official catch weight for a long time before that.
Hard to square that with their respective performances against the best supermiddleweight each has faced.
I'd consider Calzaghes performance better, there was alot more on the line, both knew what the other brought to the table. Kessler probably underestimated Ward, and Ward still had to use goat style on him.
if we were to take into account every guy who ever weighed 168 for a fight??? I'd say that's damn close to a sure thing
Foster wins. But if Foster felt that Chris Finnegan was the "smartest guy I ever fought" and needed 15 rounds to get shut of him, then I can see Joe turn in an equally good performance.
Foster basically won 12 rounds out of 13 and a half (not 15) against Finnegan Finnegan was also incredibly gutsy and knew what he was up against... I wonder if the Tae-Bo man will be so bold after he tastes those punches and realizes his opponent isn't Byron Mitchell or Tucker Pudwill Foster would paint Calzaghe
T'was an extremely odd stance Foster had when you consider the combo of how over the front foot he was with how side on he kept. It's a combo which should leave nowhere to go except the jab (which can basically work from anywhere) but I think it was a very deliberate deception because he would shift out of that stance to get work done very quickly when the other guy offered an opportunity. Example, the Rondon KO when he pulled back from the jab onto the back foot to launch the right then let himself become squared right up relative to Vinc to deliver the KO hook.
it worked incredibly well... he was difficult to get to and if you did get close, the price to pay was murderous Foster battered his opponents, punished them for challenging him... and he looked about as nonchalant about it as you can get... the KO of Mike Quarry (a decent enough fighter, and game too) is of course one of the all-time "holy shit" KOs, but did you ever noticed how, while he is walking back to his corner away form the scene of the kill, he gives a little shrug like "so easy"? Classic... total badass
I don't see these standards applied to other fighters, only Calzaghe. As it were, I think there are plenty of guys he could beat.
I see you're still not taking into account that Calzaghe fought a CLEAN fight when both guys knew how good the other was. Ward was an unknown quantity and he was showing heading skills Sir Les himself would have been proud of. Yes siree.