ROUND by ROUND: Joe Calzaghe vs. Mikkel Kessler

Dsimon writes:

Hopkins would fight him on the inside more and would not stand in front of him for one thing.

 

Yes, sure, but he would fight him on the inside throwing 20 punches a round, simply getting outworked. It would be calzaghe setting the pace and doing the pressuring, not hopkins.

If hopkins tried to keep up, well quite simply he couldn't.

 

dsimon writes;

Christ that REid Lacy fight was one of the ugliest sorriest matches::

 

dsimon writes:

Hopkins would neutralize a lot of things that Joe did tonight to keep up that pace against Kessler imo. Including attack his body and make him fight from a range where he could not get off so easily.

Not everything is how many punches you throw a round.

 

And kudos to you, MWS. :clap:

Let me put it this way: the fact that Calzaghe beat him doesn't make Kessler not special....it makes Calzaghe that much better.

I consider this a HUGE win for Calzaghe.

I had it 7-4-1, so I don't go with the "easy win for Joe" bandwagon.

Net, what is missing from Kessler is the ability to ratchet it up to those upper gears consistently. When he did though - Calzaghe was hard-pressed.

I won't deny I like Kessler, though. Can't help but like good fundamentals. Funny thing is the closer the fight got the more I thought Calzaghe could take this...but I still went with my traditional position- maybe my heart. :doh:

I dunno....I don't see your premise as mutually exclusive.

Don't know why you insist it must be so....but then again, as per your reaction after Pavlik-Taylor, you do like to go to extremes. ::

And everyone is wrong now and again, eh?

Great pick.

Peace.

 

Double L is wrong more then now and again.

 

But I'm not talking about Double L. ::

 

Tonight he didn't because his stuff didn't work on Calzaghe.

There are 39 more fights to watch and it won't take many of them to understand why Kessler was so highly regarded by a lot of big boxing fans.

 

Of course Donny, that's just my style.

I guess it's just that I know that you, Musze and a few others know your stuff, and are very good at analysing fights and fighters.

For example, I've been on a pretty good streak recently, you cleverly picked Vazquez, I got that one wrong.

So with that said, I was a little surprised by how highly regarded Kessler was in the eyes of yourself and others. I was thinking "What am I not seeing"?

I saw a very solid fighter, a very good fighter, but one that is fairly predictable and robotic, and simply not good enough to beat a highly talented and seasoned champion like Calzaghe, and really - the best SMW of all time.

Calzaghe saw the same thing, he said one of the keys would be his versatility, and Kessler's predictability.

 

I had Calzaghe 8-4.

There was one round I slightly favored Calzaghe because he boxed well early in the round, but kessler closed the round with hard shots.

That round easily could have been a draw or scored for Kessler so a 7-4-1 score or 7-5 is certainly reasonable.

As far as I'm concerned there were two fights, the first six where Kessler looked good and the last six where Calzaghe looked great.

Calzaghe clearly won, but Kessler had his moments.

 

agREED. There's no way this was an easy fight for Calzaghe. Calzaghe won, but Kessler definately had his moments and made him work for it.

 

haha Lampley and Steward had to use the same stinky pissoir as we did... ::

 

:dunno: I get fights wrong, too. Sometimes, quite a few in a row. ::

What did I see in Vazquez that I picked him over Marquez in the rematch - what did I see that you didn't?

What did I see in Mijares that you didn't? What did I see in Mayweather that you didn't?

It happens, bro. It's no biggie!

My streak lately has been quite good...and this is one I wrestled with for a while, as I said in my prediction.

And like I also said...probably went a little bit with my heart on this one.

But again I had it 7-4-1 or 7-5 kinda fight; so to me it was a very good fight where Kessler had alot of moments.

You telling me that after the first 5-6 rounds you weren't worried? And throughout most of the 8th...and then Calzaghe being shook up a bit in the 12th?

If this would have been Calzaghe-Lacy II I can understand your questioning folks who picked Kessler so much.

But you keep downplaying a guy who just made Calzaghe work harder than he ever has in his life to get a W, even in the rounds he won.

A guy who actually stepped it up enough to continue to cause Joe problems even when Calzaghe was more dominant in the fight....and Kessler DID show adjustments.

Kessler is clearly #2 at SMW.

He wants a rematch desperately....and Calzaghe isn't as keen.

That should tell you something right there.

I don't get this "robotic" thing, frankly. Yes, he's methodical and very fundamental in his approach.

So were alot of other 'greats' I mentioned.

So kudos, bro, you got this one right.

I still like Kessler - that won't change.

Peace.