Wow Andre Ward is only 19-0...

[MJ406]

Ward has the easiest route to the semis. He avoids Abraham and Froch, and all of his fights will be in the U.S. including the fight vs. Kessler.

how do you figure that? how is fighting Kessler first the "easiest"

yes he avoids Froch and Abraham .. but Abe is not so proven at Super Middle (fought majority of career at Middle)

as for Froch, while undefeated and tough .. is very limited in his overall skill set, and needed a come from behind kayo in the last 15 seconds just to beat Taylor

**so with that in mind, how does Ward have the "easier" route, considering he's facing what is seen by many as the best Super Middleweight in his first fight?

[Squabbles94806]

I'ver always been a fan of the guy. I'm not a die hard or nothing but I've always liked his style and the way he carries himself (he's a good role model he's not a punk or anything like that). I've been following his career since he fought that Molina dude on HBO in like his first or second fight. Plus he's an American gold medalist why not root for him?

He's in tough though against Kessler....

Cus everyone was countin him out before he even began. I remember on the local news they were hyping up his trip to the Olympics. That's the first i've ever heard of him. Prior to '04 when he went to the games.

Apparently, everyone knew him in the amatuer ranks in the Bay

[TyrantT316]

I am very surprised Alan Green was overlooked for Dirrell...unless it was just easier to get Dirrell...or the unbeaten record of Dirrell "looked" better, being that Miranda beat Green and Ward beat Miranda

[MARKBNLV]

Thats deceiving Ward has a crap load of amateur competition against good fighters under his belt.

[catalinul]

I am very surprised Alan Green was overlooked for Dirrell...unless it was just easier to get Dirrell...or the unbeaten record of Dirrell "looked" better, being that Miranda beat Green and Ward beat Miranda

Bute or Andrade or Bika not being there is more surprising.

Green has yet to beat a top 10 SMW.

[Mary Jane]

how do you figure that? how is fighting Kessler first the "easiest"

yes he avoids Froch and Abraham .. but Abe is not so proven at Super Middle (fought majority of career at Middle)

as for Froch, while undefeated and tough .. is very limited in his overall skill set, and needed a come from behind kayo in the last 15 seconds just to beat Taylor

**so with that in mind, how does Ward have the "easier" route, considering he's facing what is seen by many as the best Super Middleweight in his first fight?

Because he doesn't have to go to Germany, Denmark, or the UK to fight. He stays at home for all of his fights. And while he does fight Kessler, he also fights Taylor and Dirrell after.

[Mary Jane]

Bute or Andrade or Bika not being there is more surprising.

Green has yet to beat a top 10 SMW.

Honestly, Bute is the only one people can have a gripe about, then again I don't know how willing Bute was to enter this tourney. Bute-Andrade II is a good fight anyway. Plus, these guys need someone to fight after the tourney is over anyway.

[MOTHER DUCKER]

how do you figure that? how is fighting Kessler first the "easiest"

yes he avoids Froch and Abraham .. but Abe is not so proven at Super Middle (fought majority of career at Middle)

as for Froch, while undefeated and tough .. is very limited in his overall skill set, and needed a come from behind kayo in the last 15 seconds just to beat Taylor

**so with that in mind, how does Ward have the "easier" route, considering he's facing what is seen by many as the best Super Middleweight in his first fight?

Please you would rather him face Froch and Abraham or Taylor?? AA will do better going up in weight. Froch managed to KO a Taylor who was pretty much the best he could be for 7-8 rounds..

Ward ain't gonna do **** same with Dirrel in this tournament..

[MJ406]

Please you would rather him face Froch and Abraham or Taylor?? AA will do better going up in weight. Froch managed to KO a Taylor who was pretty much the best he could be for 7-8 rounds..

Ward ain't gonna do **** same with Dirrel in this tournament..

**well Ward fighting home aside, I don't see how he has the easiest Draw with going up against Kessler, Taylor and Dirrell. Out of those 3, I like Ward's chances best vs Taylor.

regardless Ward and Dirrell might just be in over their heads for the Tourney, certainly a possibility

as for Abraham, it's not a fact that he'll do better going up, we'll just have to see when he fights Taylor (but I'd favor Abe in the fight) but im pretty sure he was having trouble making Middle, so being less weight drained should help him quite a bit.

regardless of how many rounds Taylor was good for, a title fight is 12. Yes Taylor was good while he lasted, but it didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things (as he lost.)

[Ryn0]

Which is one of the main reason I think Kessler will stop him. Though another reason is I think Mikkel is just better than him.