Mikkel Kessler: "If Joe Calzaghe Won't, I'll Fight Pavlik"

[BattlingNelson]

Kessler would beat Pavlik at SMW and as that is the weight class that the fight would happen at then I'd go for a dominating Kessler win. Pavlik has fought Taylor twice but apart from that he hasn't fought anybody.

Joe is right not to fight him as he isnt a big enough name yet and it would be a total dismantling of Pavlik by Calzaghe, similar to the Lacy fight!
Calzaghe is invincible!
Kessler to dominate SMW for next few yars!

You said that Kessler would dominate SMW. Howcome Froch is placed higher at your p4p list??

[Chase8400]

Pavlik is considered a hype job because certain fans on here talk as though he is the proven dominant fighter in and around his weight range. He isn't, he is a young champ with wins against two good fighters, neither of whom are truly premier grade. He has potential, but that's all it is.




Kelly Pavlik has never faced anyone anywhere near as good as Joe. Kessler has and although he was beaten, he put in what was probably a career best performance in which he demonstrated skills Kelly Pavlik never has. It required arguably Calzaghe's best ever performance to beat him.



This is not a valid criticism. What boxer doesn't take a fight they are expected to win after coming back from a loss. There are a lot worse out there than Sartison.



Kelly's chin has been tested and the answers came back inconclusive. He was badly wobbled against Jermain Taylor, more than Kessler has ever been. We don't really know HOW strong either guy's chin actually is.



Kessler's best wins Andrade, Mundine and Beyer were all on the same level as Edison Miranda and may very well be on Jermain Taylor's level too. Jermain did not look impressive even in beating B-Hop and in many people's opinion is nowhere near the fighter he is made out to be. If Kelly Pavlik had beaten the same fighters, throw in Eric Harding too, his fans would be crowing about it.



Joe Calzaghe is undefeated in his career, has reigned as SMW champ for almost 11 years, is in the P4P top 3 and holds two Ring belts simultaneously, and yet you write him off as though he were nothing and your opinion is fact. The Hopkins he beat was in the P4P list, was Ring LHW champion and was coming off his two biggest wins. There is literally no more credible opponent that Kessler could have faced, as Joe proved then and since. Pretending that anyone should give him fits is just silly.

Here we go again! You never cease to amaze me. By some of this you acually degrade Calzaghe's win over B-hop. There should be no bones about the wins over Taylor. Jermaine beat Hopkins more decisively both times than Joe did. By taking any credit away from Taylor makes you sound either ignorant or blinded by the sheer ball-huggery of Calzaghe. I will not dispute Joe's greatness, but by building up his credintials it is impossible to knock Pavlik's based on the B-hop performances over the last few years. Simple as that. One thing is for sure. If Pavlik and Calzaghe met, Joe will be going away with some serious lumps. Whether he wins or not. Pavlik deserves respect. And, not only for the way he fights inside the ring. He is a class act all the way around.

[fightingfigs]

I really want to see Taylor vs. Kessler.

Taylor Kessler would be something great to see

[abadger]

Here we go again! You never cease to amaze me. By some of this you acually degrade Calzaghe's win over B-hop. There should be no bones about the wins over Taylor. Jermaine beat Hopkins more decisively both times than Joe did. By taking any credit away from Taylor makes you sound either ignorant or blinded by the sheer ball-huggery of Calzaghe. I will not dispute Joe's greatness, but by building up his credintials it is impossible to knock Pavlik's based on the B-hop performances over the last few years. Simple as that. One thing is for sure. If Pavlik and Calzaghe met, Joe will be going away with some serious lumps. Whether he wins or not. Pavlik deserves respect. And, not only for the way he fights inside the ring. He is a class act all the way around.

I'm glad I amaze you, but if so I suggest you stop looking at boxing from a US only vantage point. The only possibly contentious thing I said was that beating Jermain Taylor might not actually be that big a deal. I agree on paper he appears to be a vastly superior boxer to those on Kessler's resume, but that is on paper. Using the evidence of my eyes and experience of watching fights I have determined that Jermain Taylor is actually quite ****.

Even when he beat B-Hop he didn't exactly perform well, nowhere near as well as Calzaghe for example, and won both of those two fights basically by default, over a Hopkins who could no longer find the workrate required for middleweight and needed to move up, which he later did. You can judge boxing absolutely and solely by records if you like, but I prefer to use my eyes, and I saw Jermain gassing out and getting smacked all around the ring by Hopkins late on in both fights. Also, you may notice, in his two fights with Pavlik, how did Taylor look, thats right, he looked ****, because he is. Its a decent enough win for Kelly, not a bad result, but for a set of "career best wins" it should not be enough to elevate Kelly to the P4P status he currently enjoys. I'd say if Kelly is up on the P4P list then Calzaghe should have been on there years ago, sometime after he'd beaten all of Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Mitchell and Brewer, probably before.

On a side note, you like many, think that the win over Hopkins is the defining fight of Joe's career, and maybe it is if you're an American, but I and many Brits knew he would beat the old Hopkins and would vote both the Kessler and Eubank wins as better. Calzaghe beating Hopkins might have proved something to you, but it proved **** all to me, which was the reason I so confidently predicted a JC victory. Calzaghe answered all my questions when he beat Kessler so convincingly.

So if you consider me such a nuthugger, answer me this: what is your opinion on Kelly Pavlik, do you 1) believe he is indisputably better than Mikkel Kessler, 2) believe in his short career he has defeated genuinely stellar opposition, 3) believe he has proven himself to have an iron chin and 4) is conclusively the best MW in his division, let alone the most credible challenger for Joe Calzaghe?

The funniest thing of all is, that I don't even dislike Kelly Pavlik, I think he is quite good, but questioning some of the wilder things his fans say about him, and picking a better fighter to beat him is not "disrepecting him" its just assessing boxing. I may like the guy as a fighter but it doesn't mean I can agree when people say he KTFO the world.

[fightingfigs]

Even when he beat B-Hop he didn't exactly perform well, nowhere near as well as Calzaghe for example, and won both of those two fights basically by default, over a Hopkins who could no longer find the workrate required for middleweight and needed to move up, which he later did. You can judge boxing absolutely and solely by records if you like, but I prefer to use my eyes, and I saw Jermain gassing out and getting smacked all around the ring by Hopkins late on in both fights. Also, you may notice, in his two fights with Pavlik, how did Taylor look, thats right, he looked ****, because he is. Its a decent enough win for Kelly, not a bad result, but for a set of "career best wins" it should not be enough to elevate Kelly to the P4P status he currently enjoys. I'd say if Kelly is up on the P4P list then Calzaghe should have been on there years ago, sometime after he'd beaten all of Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Mitchell and Brewer, probably before.

Your eyes are in your ass if you think Calzaghe beat hopkins better than Taylor did.

[BattlingNelson]

I'm glad I amaze you, but if so I suggest you stop looking at boxing from a US only vantage point. The only possibly contentious thing I said was that beating Jermain Taylor might not actually be that big a deal. I agree on paper he appears to be a vastly superior boxer to those on Kessler's resume, but that is on paper. Using the evidence of my eyes and experience of watching fights I have determined that Jermain Taylor is actually quite ****.

Even when he beat B-Hop he didn't exactly perform well, nowhere near as well as Calzaghe for example, and won both of those two fights basically by default, over a Hopkins who could no longer find the workrate required for middleweight and needed to move up, which he later did. You can judge boxing absolutely and solely by records if you like, but I prefer to use my eyes, and I saw Jermain gassing out and getting smacked all around the ring by Hopkins late on in both fights. Also, you may notice, in his two fights with Pavlik, how did Taylor look, thats right, he looked ****, because he is. Its a decent enough win for Kelly, not a bad result, but for a set of "career best wins" it should not be enough to elevate Kelly to the P4P status he currently enjoys. I'd say if Kelly is up on the P4P list then Calzaghe should have been on there years ago, sometime after he'd beaten all of Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Mitchell and Brewer, probably before.

On a side note, you like many, think that the win over Hopkins is the defining fight of Joe's career, and maybe it is if you're an American, but I and many Brits knew he would beat the old Hopkins and would vote both the Kessler and Eubank wins as better. Calzaghe beating Hopkins might have proved something to you, but it proved **** all to me, which was the reason I so confidently predicted a JC victory. Calzaghe answered all my questions when he beat Kessler so convincingly.

So if you consider me such a nuthugger, answer me this: what is your opinion on Kelly Pavlik, do you 1) believe he is indisputably better than Mikkel Kessler, 2) believe in his short career he has defeated genuinely stellar opposition, 3) believe he has proven himself to have an iron chin and 4) is conclusively the best MW in his division, let alone the most credible challenger for Joe Calzaghe?

The funniest thing of all is, that I don't even dislike Kelly Pavlik, I think he is quite good, but questioning some of the wilder things his fans say about him, and picking a better fighter to beat him is not "disrepecting him" its just assessing boxing. I may like the guy as a fighter but it doesn't mean I can agree when people say he KTFO the world.

THAT, my friend, was a great post!

Although I disagree on your assesment on Taylor who I think is the only one around able to defeat Mikkel Kessler, the rest was SPOT-ON!

[Stickman]

Your eyes are in your ass if you think Calzaghe beat hopkins better than Taylor did.

Better? I don't know. But he was sure as hell more active against Hopkins than Taylor, and the decision wasn't nearly as controversial. One judge in the Taylor/Hopkins (1) had it for Hopkins by 4 rounds. There was only a single point for the Calzaghe/Hopkins fight, and that would've been accounted for by the first round flash KD, otherwise he gave the fight to Calzaghe by a point.

And whatever else can be said, Calzaghe did beat Hopkins. You can make all the cases you want for slapping, shoe-shining, whatever, but that's usually what it takes to beat HOpkins, if you're not far smaller than him. He will NOT stand toe to toe with anyone his size or bigger, hasn't in 10 years. If you're his size, all you can do is chase him around the ring and throw whatever you think might land. Hopkins will do nothing but counter once in awhile, hold constantly, cheat like a ****ing 10 year old girl, and pray for a close, controversial decision in his favor.

[Sir_Joe]

Calzaghe beat Hopkins far easily than Taylor did and Calzaghes a southpaw!

[abadger]

THAT, my friend, was a great post!

Although I disagree on your assesment on Taylor who I think is the only one around able to defeat Mikkel Kessler, the rest was SPOT-ON!

Thanks. Taylor might have a chance against Kessler if Kessler decides to try and box with him, since I'd say Taylor has a very nice jab that may even be faster and more powerful than Kessler's. However, Taylor is a fighter who does not like being hit and if Kessler took the fight to him and stood toe toe then I think he would win quite easily.

[Chunk..]

Calzaghe beat Hopkins far easily than Taylor did and Calzaghes a southpaw!

Get the **** outta here _Ricky_!