Greatest Super-Middle of All Times

[Rustle Wilson]

[Humean]

European fighters in particular, but most contemporary fighters don't utilize fighting inside and even think it is illegal. Ward is highly skilled at this range. Kessler is a perfect example of a fighter who has no concept of either how to fight inside, or how to deal with a fighter who specializes at that range. So yeah....Kessler got beat up, but 95% of that beating was legal infighting. One hand free is allowed and the fighter can work from that position. What Ward did essentially is to not deal with matching skills with Kessler at a range where Kessler has skills....thats called fighting smart.

American referees expect fighters to fight out the clinch, European referees are more inclined to step in quickly and break them up. The American way of refereeing gives an opportunity to crafty fighters to engage in holding and hitting without it being deemed illegal. Hopkins and Ward are the best practitioners of this. Proper in-fighting doesn't involve holding with one hand and hitting with the other, that is holding and hitting and is illegal. Both that and the billygoating from Ward meant Kessler had genuine justifications for the way the fight was (not) refereed. If Ward wasn't such a complete **** he'd have given Kessler a rematch. However Kessler should have known the tactics Ward would use and that the ref would allow it and therefore should have been better prepared for it. I'm sure Ward would actually win a clean contest because he was also better on the outside than Kessler.