Calzaghe/Kessler

[swerb]

Fired up for this one tonight. 43-0 vs 39-0. Over 60,000 fans expected in Calzaghes home country of Wales. Super middleweight belts all on the line. Both of these guys are potential future opponents of Pavlik.

Calzaghe is looking to continue to legitimize himself with American fight fans after beating up Jeff Lacy and Peter Manfredo from The Contender on PPV and HBO respectively. Kessler is seven years younger, not quite as battle tested .... making his second appearance on US TV.

Calzaghe throws tons of punches from different angles, alot of people has questioned his punching power. Kessler is a very busy fighter as well and is taller, younger, and stronger.

Should be a good one tonight.

[peeker643]

Unbelievable action. And not a boatload of defense.

Kessler looks like he was badly burned on the right half of his torso. Even in HD I ave a tough time making out that tattoo.

[swerb]

Great fight between two great fighters. Both likely top 6-7 pound for pound in the sport.

Calzaghe is a bad ass. Hes just so hard to beat. Great defense. Strong chin. Always has you moving backwards. Fast hands. Hits you in different spots, from different angles, with different punches. Right now Calzaghe has to be considered one of the three best pound for pound fighters in the sport along with Floyd and Cotto.

Hopkins is the champ at the weight class above him at 176. Pavlik at 160 in the weight class below him. Next fight seems like its going to be vs Bernard with Kelly set to fight Taylor again.

[peeker643]

Great fight between two great fighters. Both likely top 6-7 pound for pound in the sport.

Calzaghe is a bad ass. Hes just so hard to beat. Great defense. Strong chin. Always has you moving backwards. Fast hands. Hits you in different spots, from different angles, with different punches. Right now Calzaghe has to be considered one of the three best pound for pound fighters in the sport along with Floyd and Cotto.

Hopkins is the champ at the weight class above him at 176. Pavlik at 160 in the weight class below him. Next fight seems like its going to be vs Bernard with Kelly set to fight Taylor again.

His defense to me seemed more like cocking his hand to throw another punch. Although as aggressive as both those guys were Calzaghe kept Kessler off him more often than Kessler did Calzaghe.

Kessler is one tough out too. Excellent fighter who simply ran into a better one IMO.

[Guest]

Very good exciting fight.
Calzaghe's defense really isn't that good. A bigger puncher would have had him in a ton of trouble(ex: Kelly Pavlik)
Kessler a top 6 or 7 guy? You are crazy and must not be watching too much boxing seeing you're now on the UFC bandwagon.
I will be putting together my top 10 after the Mayweather Hatton fight and Kessler won't be anywhere near it.
He's good, but not close to that good.

[swerb]

Kessler is a helluva fighter. He was made to look bad last night by one of the best fighters in all of boxing. It happens. Kinda like your boy Jermain Taylor. All that UFC you're watching ... I think it's hurting your boxing prediction skills. You're like 0 for your last 6.

And Calzaghe is a very good defensive fighter in my view. Didn't have a mark on his face after going 12 with a big, big puncher. I think the biggest part of the reason he got hit a couple times in the middle rounds was because he was starting to cruise and getting cocky. The guys got a great chin. Hes constant motion, and one of the bets parts of his defense is how many punches he throws. Its hard to hit a guy thats throwing 100 punches a round at you.

Despite throwing alot of punches, Calzaghe doesn't tire. Hes got great stamina and maintains the same tempo throughout the entire fight. We saw Kessler last night, when he would start throwing bombs, going for the knockout ... he'd have to rest for 60-90 seconds after.

Theres no rest with Calzaghe. He just keeps comin and comin and comin.

Maybe saying Kessler was top 6-7 lb for lb was a little Christmas Ale addled last night. But hes top 10-12 IMO. A great fighter made to look bad last night by an amazing one.

[Guest]

Kessler is damn good, no argument there.
Calzaghe is amazing, another agreement.
I guess we're just looking for flaws on a guy that might not have a lot.
I just think if he stood in there with a guy who throws bombs(see Kelly Pavlik) then the outcome might not go in his favor.

I hope Calzaghe and Pavlik happens, they might break the record for most punches thrown in a fight.

[swerb]

I hope Kessler is open to fighting in the states after this loss. I'd love to see him fight a Miranda or a Lacy in his next scrap.

[bustedknuckles]

I'm not sure which one had better exchanges Calzaghe/Kessler or Swerb and FightDr on these threads!

This was a very entertaining fight from two very skilled fighters. Obviously, the hand speed of Calzaghe was impressive, as it always has been, but his chin and willpower is what surprised me the most.

The natural question (at least for me) is how would Kelly match up with these guys...and I think the answer is pretty good.

The thing with Calzaghe is that he's 10 years older than Pavlik and not getting any younger...even with his conditioning it will be a tough task for him to last 12 rounds with KP (especially with this chicken-in-a-windstorm style).

[peeker643]

At what weight would they likely fight and how would that affect both?

[bustedknuckles]

Peek-It would be at 168(SM) and if that is to anyone's advantage, at this point, it would be Calzaghe as that is his natural weight.

However, even though Kelly has stated he wants to unify the Middleweight Division, if he beats JT in the rematch at 166 I don't think he'll ever come back down to 160...especially with guys like Calzaghe, Kessler, Mundine, Lacy and even Taylor waiting at 168.

Also, picture this if you've never seen Mike Pavlik (KP's dad)...Mr Clean on the juice. I'll say 6'4" 275 and he's a beast in the weight room. My point is that Kelly's genetics will dictate that he move up in weight several times over the remainder of his career.

[peeker643]

So it would appear Pavlik could add some weight to that frame and still maintain what quickness he has?

Thanks Knuckles.

[swerb]

IIRC, Pavlik has talked in the past about his desire to slowly move up weight classes as he gets older. And I think I remember him making a comment about actually preferring to fight at 168 (actually 166, as it was in reference to a Taylor rematch question).

[Guest]

I am a huge Lacy fan but he doesnt belong in these discussions.
Calzaghe made him looked like a club fighter and he has fought once in the last few years. He is fighting on the Mayweather undercard coming off of a serious shoulder surgery.

[bustedknuckles]

FightDr-we'll see in about Lacy a month from now, but I wouldn't want to be Peter Manfredo on Dec 8. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt right now and I think he can hang with any of these guys.

Also, I neglected to mention Edison Miranda in this group...he had a 5th Round KO this past weekend in a Super Middleweight fight...so he may be a factor down the road as well.

[swerb]

Yeah, I wouldn't count out Miranda either. He just ran into the wrong guy too early in Pavlik. That was such an incredible fight, both guys just throwing bombs ... Kelly ended up beating him up very badly.

With Miranda's upbringing, power, and talent ... I expect him to continue to rebound well from the Pavlik loss. He'll never be able to beat Kelly, and as a result, his celing is only so high.

[Guest]

I wouldn't count Lacy out, like I said I'm a huge fan since the Olympics.
He needs to beat up a few guys before moving up in competition first though. He should fight every other month to make up for lost time.

Manfredo is garbage by the way.