I Didnt Take It As Ward Being Dirty

[DLT]

Maybe I was the only one but I didnt see it that way. Hopkins is dirty at times. You can tell he intentionaly does stuff. I think in Ward's case, its just his fighting style. I dont think he really thinks about headbutting guys. He's weird because he's like extremely coordinated but uncoordinated at the same time. He has pure boxing skill like a super coordinated guy but alot of his moves are so off beat and not in rythm. It may end up being dirty or looking dirty but I never felt that he did anything intentionaly. Even that 2nd headbutt that they kept replaying and Berstein was going crazy about. That headbutt was no different than the others. Its just his style. He just jumps in.

Trust me, go back and rewatch Chico-Casamayor. There you will see a dirty fighter who purposley leads with his head like Casamayor was doing. He had it down so perfect that it was like a combination punch. He would throw the headbutt, Chico would like lean back to avoid it, and Joel would throw the hook right behind it and drop him. He had it down like a pro. Ward wasnt doing that. He's just herky jerky and erratic at times. Besides, if you watch the fight, he wasnt even doing it much early and he was easily winning. He actually looked better without it and didnt need to do it because he was winning every round but its just his style and it got uglier as the fight went on

[2501]

he did too much holding. this should be changed in this sport. clinching should mostly be allowed as a form of defense when seriously hurt. the ref should have warned Ward at least once, but that still wouldn't have helped Kessler.

Kessler got outclassed by a faster, more savey fighter who obviously studied Kessler style. the majority of the hard shots landed by Ward were from the outside and not from a clinch position.

It's Kessler's fault for not keep Ward at a distance. He could have jabbed more to prevent Ward from coming in to clinche, but he didn't.

[TredKiller]

he would have won, holding or not

[DLT]

he did too much holding. this should be changed in this sport. clinching should mostly be allowed as a form of defense when seriously hurt. the ref should have warned Ward at least once, but that still wouldn't have helped Kessler.

Kessler got outclassed by a faster, more savey fighter who obviously studied Kessler style. the majority of the hard shots landed by Ward were from the outside and not from a clinch position.

It's Kessler's fault for not keep Ward at a distance. He could have jabbed more to prevent Ward from coming in to clinche, but he didn't.

True. For about 5 rounds I was thinking that Ward will be a P4P guy if not after this fight then the next. I remember seeing him early and he looked like garbage coming out the Olympics but Ive been impressed with him the last couple of fights and I rarely see anyone grow so much. After about 5 rounds I thought he was the real deal. Then after that it was so ugly and erratic. All holding & headbutts. His style is ugly. Actually, even in the 1st round he was doing well but I thought that Kessler would eventually win because Ward looked like he was in panic mode at that stage, running around the ring, jumping, holding, and so on. Just like a nervous, inexperinced guy. He settled down and looked great like 2-5. After that it was weird because he was like settled down totally but went back to holding & headbutting anyways. He just has that ugly style but I dont think he does it to gain an advantage or purposley lead with his head & headbutt like Hopkins or Casamayor

[Pullcounter]

Maybe I was the only one but I didnt see it that way. Hopkins is dirty at times. You can tell he intentionaly does stuff. I think in Ward's case, its just his fighting style. I dont think he really thinks about headbutting guys. He's weird because he's like extremely coordinated but uncoordinated at the same time. He has pure boxing skill like a super coordinated guy but alot of his moves are so off beat and not in rythm. It may end up being dirty or looking dirty but I never felt that he did anything intentionaly. Even that 2nd headbutt that they kept replaying and Berstein was going crazy about. That headbutt was no different than the others. Its just his style. He just jumps in.

Trust me, go back and rewatch Chico-Casamayor. There you will see a dirty fighter who purposley leads with his head like Casamayor was doing. He had it down so perfect that it was like a combination punch. He would throw the headbutt, Chico would like lean back to avoid it, and Joel would throw the hook right behind it and drop him. He had it down like a pro. Ward wasnt doing that. He's just herky jerky and erratic at times. Besides, if you watch the fight, he wasnt even doing it much early and he was easily winning. He actually looked better without it and didnt need to do it because he was winning every round but its just his style and it got uglier as the fight went on

after he throws combos he leads with his head into a clinch.

I don't really see the difference between that and Ruiz's jab-n-grab, except that Ward is throwing more punches coming in.

having said that, I thought ward won easily

[MidnightSpecial]

there was nothing wrong with this. there are much better examples of dirty fighting. it wasnt squeeky clean but 7 out of 10 boxing matches have a good amount of holding. the ref aloud it so ward did it.