why does kessler get so much praise here?

It's an attempt by Calzaghe's ball-suckers to inflate Joe's record and make him seem more impressive. That's why anytime you see them discussing Calzaghe they immediately bring up Kessler.

Truth be told Kessler is average at best, and will remain so in my eyes until I see him against another elite fighter. Calzaghe is the only elite opponet on his record and he damn near got shutout in that fight. I just find him to be too robotic for my liking. He's got a good jab though.

I'm a big Blow fan, but I can't disagree with that.

[deanrw]

I like Kessler, stylistically he has one of the best games in the sport, but I noticed something discouraging in the Calzaghe fight.

In that fight, he refused to go outside his mold. He maintained the same strategy and pace even when it was not working for him. He basically gave up and stopped trying to win. He didn't show the ability to step up in the situation when he had the tools to win it. He should have gone after it!!

I blame much on it on the general weakness of the 168 lb division, mixed with some safe guidance of his management team. He was never in a situation where he had to adjust and step up. He was never in a situation where he had to dig deep. When it finally came, I don't think he knew how to.

He should have been given tough fights early, where his skill would not be enough alone, where he would have to simply get mad and win in a war of wills.

I am not sure if it is too late for him or not now, but he should get in there and see how it goes.

[Mr. Philadel]

I like Kessler, stylistically he has one of the best games in the sport, but I noticed something discouraging in the Calzaghe fight.

In that fight, he refused to go outside his mold. He maintained the same strategy and pace even when it was not working for him. He basically gave up and stopped trying to win. He didn't show the ability to step up in the situation when he had the tools to win it. He should have gone after it!!

I blame much on it on the general weakness of the 168 lb division, mixed with some safe guidance of his management team. He was never in a situation where he had to adjust and step up. He was never in a situation where he had to dig deep. When it finally came, I don't think he knew how to.

He should have been given tough fights early, where his skill would not be enough alone, where he would have to simply get mad and win in a war of wills.

I am not sure if it is too late for him or not now, but he should get in there and see how it goes.

Exactly bro!

[Mr. Philadel]

Ermmm.... He hasn't fought in Germany yet......

And it's not crowd alone. It's being away from home, hotels, food, different surroundings and so on.

Originally Posted by BatTheMan Perhaps when he travelled the globe to face Anthony Mundine in front of 20K hostile aussies?

Or when he fought JoeC in his backyard with a broken hand in front of 50K hostile sheep****ers?

Or perhaps oct. 25 when he travels to Düsseldorf facing Danilo Haussler in front of 10K hostile germans?

When was the last time Pavlik fought in front of a hostile crowd in unfamiliar surroundings?

my bad I misread ya post.....

[dstew]

Kesslers finally only recently well regarded, because he held two titles has regained one and is widely regarded as the #2 SMW. You don't get there by being just plain good. It's not the strongest division but he's favored over any other SMW bar Calzaghe. And that's above Froch whom Taylor just ducked.

How do you talk up Kessler, who backed out of an easy fight with Miranda to go fight jokes like Sartison and Haussler for some joke of a WBA strap, and who hasn't stepped up to fight Froch himself, and then accuse Taylor of ducking Froch?

We could just as easily accuse Calzaghe of ducking Froch since once Froch was named his mandatory by the WBC, Zags officially relinquished his belt.

[WESS]

I think you could toss a ****ing coin for that matchup. Nobody, and I mean nobody, I don't care how much of an expert they are (or think they are) can call that one before the fight actually starts. About the only thing that's guaranteed is that it would be a candidate for fight of the decade. The styles matchup is ****ing beautiful, and guarantees a memorable bout, one of those you'll daydream about for years to come.

True but , I only give PAV the upper hand because he has shown when he gets his ass beat he can turn the fight around. But it WILL be one hell of a fight!!! STYLE WISE= PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WESS]

Yeah, you are probably right. Whoever wins will probably have to take some very hard punches at some point.

I think they both will. I think Kessler will be faster but I think PAV's power will back him down some. I just cant see him taking ONE HELL OF A SHOT and return it... but I hope I'm wrong which will make for the FIGHT OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WESS]

Pavlik has shown that he has heart....when did Kessler ever have to be a MAN when it counted?

Yeah I only give PAV the advantage because of his heart.... I really hope the fight happens sometime next year.

[BattlingNelson]

How do you talk up Kessler, who backed out of an easy fight with Miranda to go fight jokes like Sartison and Haussler for some joke of a WBA strap, and who hasn't stepped up to fight Froch himself, and then accuse Taylor of ducking Froch?

We could just as easily accuse Calzaghe of ducking Froch since once Froch was named his mandatory by the WBC, Zags officially relinquished his belt.

Miranda was the real deal to practically every yank on NSB before he was flattened by Arthur Abraham. So pre-fight it wasn't going to be easy.

But I will not argue about Team Kessler making a big mistake for not securing tha Miranda fight. I was sad then and sad now. However I still would like to see Miranda squaring off against Kessler, and I think Miranda might fare better than he did against AA i.e. a couple of rounds better.

[warp1432]

I respect Mikkel Kessler as a fighter. He has a pretty good resume with pretty good wins over Andrade, who he destroyed, and Mundine/Beyer. He's a great win for Joe Calzaghe, but I agree he's pretty overrated on here.

Kessler is good, but he wasn't able to adapt when Calzaghe stepped up his game and it showed he wasn't truly an elite fighter. He's very good, but I don't know if I would say elite because he can't seem to adapt.

Oh and I disagree with people saying that 168 is pretty weak when Joe moves up. You have:

-Kessler
-Bute
-Andrade
-Taylor
-Froch
-Bika
-Codrington
-Lacy
-Green
-Mundine (?)
-Inkin
-Pascal

That's a good list of names. Granted some of them aren't that good (Pascal), it'll still be entertaining to watch them get their asses kicked. I don't really consider divisions weak unless it's really that bad (154 right now, even if it's improving with the prospects coming up in it.)