I give Ward little credit for this win because all he did was use the Hatton tactic of stay out of range then come in and hold wrestle and hit.Ive seen how bad those types of fighters are when the ref stops them from doing it (Hatton vs Mayweather Ruiz vs Jones).
Was that a boxing match or a Headbutt contest? I don't think Ward needed to do that to beat Kessler, the same as Dirrel v Froch, I don't think Dirrel needed to keep holding as much as he did to beat Froch.
Ward & Dirrel are great fighters but what's with the tactics that cheapen their talent and cause contention over their obvious ability.
Ward did great as far as boxing goes, but Kessler could not get off because of all that ****ing holding, and he never even got penalized or warned for it. Instead, Kessler was the one who got scolded by the ref a few times when it happened. I'm not to fond of those headbutts either. The holding really negated everything Kessler could have done. Honestly, Kessler only threw about 5 left hooks, and only one uppercut the entire fight, not to say that he isn't just a 1-2 fighter, but he's got a tremendous right uppercut and a great left-hook when used, but he wasn't able to get off. Ward fought on the outside, which we all knew he would do because he's got the speed factor, but we all know Kesslers main strength is mid-range to pressure, which when tried to apply we saw Ward duck down and wrap his arms around Kessler.
Holding is ok, nearly all fighters do it from time to time, but the fact is the ref allowed Ward to hold with one arm and hit with the other and he always seemed to warn Kessler
He doesn't deserve this victory. His holding, hitting, headbutting is a disgrace to the sweet science.
nah.. ward beat kessler easily, but the headbutts and hold-n-hit made it that much more harder
How about Ward dominating Kessler from the very first round and beating him to the punch...is that cheating too?
you're not taking into account Kessler's pressure and what happened when Kessler tried to throw on the inside. Every single time Kessler came forward Ward would tie up, and then hit and the ref would do absolutely nothing to admonish him.
He doesn't deserve this victory. His holding, hitting, headbutting is a disgrace to the sweet science.
No disrespect to Carnivore.. But I assume he will now switch gears and implement the headbutts and holding into his explanation for why Kessler fought poorly tonight.