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SMW is imo one of the best divisions in the world right now up there with the WW's, jnr WW's and the lightweights. initally i thought the SMW division might suffer with joe leaving, in fact you could argue that the opposite is true, alot like when mayweather left it made the division more competitive.
the division has just about everything world class p4p talent (kessler, taylor), good contenders and title holders (froch, andrade, jean pascal, bute) and even further down the line names like lacy, bika and miranda are household names.
so i thought id rank the fighters:
1) KESSLER - without doubt the no.1 in the division, should be in the top 10 p4p
2) TAYLOR - close but imo we have yet to see him against the best the division has to offer
3) FROCH - WBC champ, showed a good jab, has good power and a granite chin, imo a handful for anyone
4) BUTE - smart boxer good handspeed and enough pop, imo he should have lost to andrade but didn't, maybe he needs to work on his conditioning
5) ANDRADE - SMW version of marg, deserves abother shot but probably wont get it just yet.
6) JEAN-PASCAL - 7) MIRANDA - 8) LACY - 9) BIKA 10) INKIN
the great thing about the division is this, none of the top 3 have anyone else that they are scheduled to fight so there is no reason why we can;'t see at least 2 of them get it on.
both froch and kess will want taylor as he brings the american market with him, mainstream recognition and that will allow them to secure a bigger purse in other fights. however imo he is also more likely to avoid a match with either froch or kess right now. he may well wait until froch and kess unify the belts and then take on the winner, seeing it as less risky. taylor may choose to fight bute or maybe even andrade.
personally i think that froch and kess will have to get it on first and then go for taylor later on. froch is a good fighter, he has an awesome chin, is big, strong and has more than enough in his punches. however he often relies on one punch to KO his opponent and his loopy shots and awkward angles look good on the higlight reels but don't allow him to string his punches together like bute, taylor or kess.
if i was kessler or even taylor id look at froch and think he is wide open to be countered all night, he often leaves his chin in the air, his left hand is always very low and imo hes also quite slow. a fighter with a good right hand and fairly decent chin would outclass froch, thats why i think that kess will win the UD aganst froch and then go on to fight taylor.
your thoughts?
the division has just about everything world class p4p talent (kessler, taylor), good contenders and title holders (froch, andrade, jean pascal, bute) and even further down the line names like lacy, bika and miranda are household names.
so i thought id rank the fighters:
1) KESSLER - without doubt the no.1 in the division, should be in the top 10 p4p
2) TAYLOR - close but imo we have yet to see him against the best the division has to offer
3) FROCH - WBC champ, showed a good jab, has good power and a granite chin, imo a handful for anyone
4) BUTE - smart boxer good handspeed and enough pop, imo he should have lost to andrade but didn't, maybe he needs to work on his conditioning
5) ANDRADE - SMW version of marg, deserves abother shot but probably wont get it just yet.
6) JEAN-PASCAL - 7) MIRANDA - 8) LACY - 9) BIKA 10) INKIN
the great thing about the division is this, none of the top 3 have anyone else that they are scheduled to fight so there is no reason why we can;'t see at least 2 of them get it on.
both froch and kess will want taylor as he brings the american market with him, mainstream recognition and that will allow them to secure a bigger purse in other fights. however imo he is also more likely to avoid a match with either froch or kess right now. he may well wait until froch and kess unify the belts and then take on the winner, seeing it as less risky. taylor may choose to fight bute or maybe even andrade.
personally i think that froch and kess will have to get it on first and then go for taylor later on. froch is a good fighter, he has an awesome chin, is big, strong and has more than enough in his punches. however he often relies on one punch to KO his opponent and his loopy shots and awkward angles look good on the higlight reels but don't allow him to string his punches together like bute, taylor or kess.
if i was kessler or even taylor id look at froch and think he is wide open to be countered all night, he often leaves his chin in the air, his left hand is always very low and imo hes also quite slow. a fighter with a good right hand and fairly decent chin would outclass froch, thats why i think that kess will win the UD aganst froch and then go on to fight taylor.
your thoughts?