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Agreed.
Right now, Ward's resume is pretty thin outside of the Kessler fight, and there are still questions about his chin (maybe the early troubles were him cutting too much weight), but I'm choosing him based on him being the more well-rounded fighter who just seems more comfortable and "natural" in there. I mean natural in the sense that Khan tends to look jittery in there, looking like he's thinking what to do, while Ward's moves just seem to flow more naturally and smoothly.
If you were to just look at the physical side of things, Khan has the edge. He's faster and has that frame where he looks like he can fight in numerous weight classes. But he has so many flaws, and is getting by a lot on physical gifts rather than skills. And not in the Muhammad Ali/Roy Jones like "I'm breaking the rules but I'm so gifted I can get away with it and make it work." As we saw against Maidana, and earlier fights, he was paying for his flaws. He has very little inside game, and not really much mid range either. Just a long range guy. He doesn't move his head enough or parry shots that effectively, his defense is basically his feet. And despite having fast feet, his footwork isn't good.
Ward is effective at different ranges, up close with that ugly style, and at a distance. Unfortunately he lacks power. Seems to lack a real snap/thud in his punches. He also needs to fight away from Oakland, it isn't right if he gets another tournament fight at home. But due to the reasons above, I expect him to have a better career, at least in terms of inside-the-ring-performance, if not box office appeal, than Khan.
Right now, Ward's resume is pretty thin outside of the Kessler fight, and there are still questions about his chin (maybe the early troubles were him cutting too much weight), but I'm choosing him based on him being the more well-rounded fighter who just seems more comfortable and "natural" in there. I mean natural in the sense that Khan tends to look jittery in there, looking like he's thinking what to do, while Ward's moves just seem to flow more naturally and smoothly.
If you were to just look at the physical side of things, Khan has the edge. He's faster and has that frame where he looks like he can fight in numerous weight classes. But he has so many flaws, and is getting by a lot on physical gifts rather than skills. And not in the Muhammad Ali/Roy Jones like "I'm breaking the rules but I'm so gifted I can get away with it and make it work." As we saw against Maidana, and earlier fights, he was paying for his flaws. He has very little inside game, and not really much mid range either. Just a long range guy. He doesn't move his head enough or parry shots that effectively, his defense is basically his feet. And despite having fast feet, his footwork isn't good.
Ward is effective at different ranges, up close with that ugly style, and at a distance. Unfortunately he lacks power. Seems to lack a real snap/thud in his punches. He also needs to fight away from Oakland, it isn't right if he gets another tournament fight at home. But due to the reasons above, I expect him to have a better career, at least in terms of inside-the-ring-performance, if not box office appeal, than Khan.
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