Charles Martel
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I scored it 115-113 for Froch too. Byrd's 118-110 score was stupid.
Great fight. :thumb:
Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler II
- Thread starter Charles Martel
- Start date
Great fight. :thumb:
Froch gets a UD. Big deal. Kessler just not busy enough. Kessler is the better fighter though. Kessler threw half as many punches and land almost the same number of punches. Kessler loading up too much and not working volume. Bad plan. A busier Kessler beats Froch everytime. Froch's face and ears sure got busted up.
BoxingSpecialist2
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Wow, what a great fight. Both boxers deserve a round of applause, that was an excellent fight. That crowd was awesome as well. 18,000 fans, and the fight sold out in 3 hours!
Personally I scored the fight 117-111 Froch. I will admit that some rounds were close, and could have potentially been given to Kessler, so I could see a scorecard down to 115-113 Froch.
In my opinion, Froch's jab and chin were the difference in the fight. Froch swept the first 4 rounds of the fight easily on just his jab alone. He was throwing 30-40 jabs a round and his longer arms were making it difficult for Kessler to get anything going offensively.
Kessler landed some huge hooks and looping right hands in various rounds in the fight, but except for round 11, Froch took them very well and simply walked through them.
Froch's chin is unreal. Kessler knocked Allan Green unconcsious with those very same left hooks, but Froch took them square on the chin and seemed to just walk through them. Kessler's power is amazing, and its literally unbelievable that Froch can just take those shots to the face.
Kessler had a huge round 11, and Froch had a huge round 12. What a great fight!
I was supporting Kessler, and hoping he'd win, but unfortunately, Kessler stared the fight slow and except for the last 3 or 4 rounds of the fight, didn't seem to have much offense going. That jab of Froch was a killer. Kessler won the first fight, in a similar way as Froch did here, so he always has that to fall back on. From round 5 on the fight was competitive, but I felt all of the early rounds went to Froch.
Kessler as always is an absolutely classy guy and those hooks he landed were amazing. Froch just has an unreal chin so managed to stay on his feet.
Froch has been staying active and fighting the absolute best competition levels. It shows. Froch is an improved fighter. That jab is deadly. He needs to use that VS Ward. If Froch uses that jab, I can see him winning against Ward in the UK.
Froch/Ward 2 will make a lot more money being held in UK. No doubt Ward will prefer it in USA, but for the sake of money it will be hard to refuse the UK. Froch can beat Ward in the UK I think. He's a better fighter than he was 2 or 3 years ago.
Personally I scored the fight 117-111 Froch. I will admit that some rounds were close, and could have potentially been given to Kessler, so I could see a scorecard down to 115-113 Froch.
In my opinion, Froch's jab and chin were the difference in the fight. Froch swept the first 4 rounds of the fight easily on just his jab alone. He was throwing 30-40 jabs a round and his longer arms were making it difficult for Kessler to get anything going offensively.
Kessler landed some huge hooks and looping right hands in various rounds in the fight, but except for round 11, Froch took them very well and simply walked through them.
Froch's chin is unreal. Kessler knocked Allan Green unconcsious with those very same left hooks, but Froch took them square on the chin and seemed to just walk through them. Kessler's power is amazing, and its literally unbelievable that Froch can just take those shots to the face.
Kessler had a huge round 11, and Froch had a huge round 12. What a great fight!
I was supporting Kessler, and hoping he'd win, but unfortunately, Kessler stared the fight slow and except for the last 3 or 4 rounds of the fight, didn't seem to have much offense going. That jab of Froch was a killer. Kessler won the first fight, in a similar way as Froch did here, so he always has that to fall back on. From round 5 on the fight was competitive, but I felt all of the early rounds went to Froch.
Kessler as always is an absolutely classy guy and those hooks he landed were amazing. Froch just has an unreal chin so managed to stay on his feet.
Froch has been staying active and fighting the absolute best competition levels. It shows. Froch is an improved fighter. That jab is deadly. He needs to use that VS Ward. If Froch uses that jab, I can see him winning against Ward in the UK.
Froch/Ward 2 will make a lot more money being held in UK. No doubt Ward will prefer it in USA, but for the sake of money it will be hard to refuse the UK. Froch can beat Ward in the UK I think. He's a better fighter than he was 2 or 3 years ago.
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whiteathlete33
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Ward will never fight Froch in the UK.
BoxingSpecialist2
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Kessler is a class act for having gone abroad to the UK to fight Carl. Kessler didn't need to take this fight, and was not obligated to Froch in anyway. Mikkel came to the UK because he is a warrior and was returning the favour of when Carl fought in Denmark.
You're right that Andre Ward lacks the class to do something like that.
However, in the interest of making money, Ward's promoters may be negotiated into coming to the UK. The fight would simply be a lot bigger and make a lot more money in the UK.
Andre Ward commands no buying interest in USA.
Actually, Ward needs the fight more than Froch does. Ward has not made a lot of money in his career because of his boring style, and he has literally no following in the USA. His recent fights with Chad Dawson and Allan Green were in front of empty arenas. It's pretty sad when you're a world champion and even in your own hometown, no one will come to watch you fight.
Ward needs the fight and needs the money, I think because of that, the fight may be in the UK.
Ward in fact was angry that Kessler and Froch are making more money than him by fighting each other than him. Lol!
Charles Martel
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Video of today's fight (SKY version):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfr-Gal9IEY
Post-fight press conference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FjM3uUFtg&feature=youtu.be&a
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfr-Gal9IEY
Post-fight press conference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FjM3uUFtg&feature=youtu.be&a
Wes Woodhead
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I think you are probably right. I even question if Ward will ever fight Froch again anywhere.
Soccer&track
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This is a good observation. Kessler definitely looked like he was landing the cleaner, better shots in the 2nd half of the fight. But....Froch's work rate was all the difference in this fight and he landed some great shots too. It looked like Kessler wobbled Froch in the 11th with Froch then wobbling Kessler in the 12th. If Kessler could bring his conditioning up so he is fighting the way he was today but throwing 200-300 or so more punches a fight, he would be unstoppable I believe. All in all though, a great fight! Both fighters are incredibly talented. I like both fighters against Ward. It was funny how Ward acknowledged his own lack of power during the fight(I believe it was round 10) when he said "you're not gonna knock anyone out at this level".
Ambrose, why the raining on Froch's parade? yeah its a big deal. He won, beating the 2nd or 3rd best fighter in the 168 lbs division and top 15 PFP fighter. And no, Kesseler is not the better fighter that night. Both of their faces had the signs of a war. Stop with the selective analysis.
Frochy's unreal chin won him that fight. It was amazing watching Mikkel's bombs bounce off him with no effect. I had Frochy winning 115 to 113. I will admit, I started to pull for Mikkel in the middle of the fight and then he arose and began to dominate. But Froch would not be denied.
Congrats to both Carl and Mikkel for displaying elite boxing skills and courage.
If Froch fights Ward again I'll be in Froch's corner. Against Kessler, I don't like him. Kessler is like Wladimir or Vitali in that they rarely have negative things to say against the people they are in contract with trying to make a buck. Kessler always says the same thing (I paraphrase): bring your best game against me and let's see what you got. Froch talks like a prick sometimes.
Froch's point win was predicted by 95% of people with interest in the boxing trade. I guess Kessler knew also he was never going to get a point decision no matter what. Judge Byrd's skewed point count shows how over and over again that's how boxing is judged (home fighter is almost always favoured by judges). So Kessler needed a knock out to win. Didn't get it. No big deal. Its all good. This sets up another million dollars for each. Hey, you gotta make big bucks to take big shots to the head. These guys are not going to be working for the post office when their done.
I love Kessler for the humble, classy, tough, fighting gentleman he is as well. However I don't think you know the full story on Froch, he is actually a very nice guy, he comes off a touch arrogant at times but sometimes Boxing demands that of it's fighters. Froch's trash talk is generally targeted at people who have reputations for talking trash. I remember the Froch Vs Bute 24/7 behind the scenes documentary, Froch said he couldn't even talk bad of Bute because "he was such a nice guy." Also the fact him and Kessler are very good friends and keep in touch outside of the ring speaks volumes for his character.
On to the fight, I know the judges had very different views on the fight, however the fight could have easily have been interpreted between as a narrow or wide win for Froch. Kessler was thoroughly outclassed imo, I actually thought 115 - 113 was generous to him. Kessler was also moments away from being stopped(The ref actually stood in for a second), how many other people have done what Froch did to him like that in the 12th?
I've always said Froch has the best chance out of the two against Ward. He has always been physically gifted; Granite jaw, long arms, KO power, strength, great recovery/conditioning. His boxing skills have also developed massively in the last few years. I did not see in a million years him out boxing Kessler in spells last night. He will however NOT outbox Ward, Ward's boxing ability is incredible, he is very talented at his craft, Froch is a superior physical specimen however(Funny how that works.) I think Carl has a good chance depending on his fights tactics, I would like to see him fight a controlled fight for the first 8 rounds and mount a late rally/ go for a late KO. He actually still had a lot left in him against Kessler in the 12th last night when he was going for the KO, he needs to start that charge a little earlier against Ward or he will lose.
P.S: Ward will never fight in the UK
white is right
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Kessler IMO gave away too many early rounds when he was on his back foot backing off or soaking up jabs and crosses. I had the fight about 8-4 or 7-4-1 for Froch. It was a great fight and proves that in deep divisions like 168 if the guys aren't scared of fighting each other losing in close fights is better for the fighters pocket books than fighting the nominal number 10 ranked cannon fodder opponent. PS Froch keeps on improving skill wise every time I watch and will never think he has no chance against various 168 pound fighters again.
I agree, I wouldn't even mind if his next fight wasn't Ward, but someone very competitive. I actually think that could be a great decision.
1)He is one of the fastest learners in Boxing and will polish off his boxing ability
2)If he loses or gets found out, he never had a chance in the first place
I like to see Froch or Kessler starve Ward out by not fighting him. Ward has nothing to offer and much to gain by fighting them again. Kessler has a few more fights at home to make $ for his boxing retirement. Froch has the same in Britain. Ward can stay the Oakland, California champion and collect his $75,000 paycheques impressing the boxing writers.