Calzaghe Kessler

[Torn-Ado]

this weekend...

Should be one of the fights of the year. I reckon it will go the distance with Calzaghe the winner.

[Dodge]

Agreed. Looking forward to it. First big test for Calzaghe (not his fault) in years.

[shakermaker1982]

Kessler is a lot more experienced than Lacy and it should (on paper) be a close fight. He carries a decent dig and Calzaghe will need to be careful. I rate Calzaghe as a fighter but as a person he comes across as a bit of a **** so I might root for Kessler! Bloody 1.15am start though :(

[Aberdonian Stu]

Crikey I'm shocked ITV allowed that. I know it's for US viewers but Calzaghe and Amir Khan are the two main reasons ITV started taking boxing seriously again and would want to get good ratings from the fight.

[Dodge]

Crikey I'm shocked ITV allowed that. I know it's for US viewers but Calzaghe and Amir Khan are the two main reasons ITV started taking boxing seriously again and would want to get good ratings from the fight.

its not on ITV. Its on Setanta, and HBO pays more

[Torn-Ado]

I also see John Duddy is fighting Howard Eastman in Belfast in December.

It will be the toughest fight yet.

[Cymro]

To be honest I expect Calzaghe to have enough here. He'll be well up for this as it will be the hardest fight of his career. He's got the home advantage and has the experience of fighting the highest rated boxers before.

It will be close but the odds are stacked in Calzaghe's favour and I predict a win on points.

[Aberdonian Stu]

Ah right that explains it perfectly then. So is Calzaghe no longer with Warren then or has his deal with ITV elapsed?

[Dodge]

No Warren is still his promoter. Not sure about the ITV deal

[shakermaker1982]

I think ITV are only bothered about Khan. He's an Audrey Harrison (as Herbie Hide used to call him) waiting to happen anyway!

[passinginterest]

I also see John Duddy is fighting Howard Eastman in Belfast in December.

It will be the toughest fight yet.

Was thinking the same. I remember seeing Eastman a few times and being impressed by him. I think he's well past his best though. Risky fight to take on, Eastman will still be a very dangerous puncher.

[osarusan]

Joe Calzaghe takes a unanimous decision to become the undisputed super middleweight crown.

Judges scorecards: 117-111, 116-112, 116-112

[Aberdonian Stu]

Watched it on my phone til the 6th round but at that stage the need to sleep took over and I had to give up. Pity.

[De Town]

Watched up until the 7th round myself, and thought Calzaghe was just on top, apart from the fourth round when he took a few serious hits. Was a very good fight up until the 7th round anyway.

[shakermaker1982]

Kessler was a little too laid back for my liking. He has an absolute killer of an uppercut that stunned Calzaghe a few times but he couldn't catch him with anything else when he had him hurt. Calzaghe won by 4 or 5 rounds IMO, fought intelligently and was always pressing. Please give Carl Froch a fight now and knock the cobra out!!!

[paul_oshea]

watched it on a great HBO stream, they had calzaghe way ahead constantly and pronounced his name as though he was japanese.....

Kessler was too one-dimensional, reminded me of dolph lundgren, big powerful and able take a punch but rather limited. I thought if calzaghe tired then that was kesslers only chance. I also learnt a bit about the points system, they will always vote in favour of the agressor, especially if punches landed are relatively the same.....anyhow back to the fight, amazing, definitely one of the best ive ever seen ( my limited knowledge of boxing )and it was great to see the humility from both figthers afterwards, but more than anything going full trothle for the whole 12 rounds none of that mincy crap like taylor and mayweather. Pavlik is the only one i would say could match him in those stakes ( ferocity and fitness mainly ), would be interesting to see that fight if calzaghe is still around. maybe even macklin the rossie who knows!!! :D

[paul_oshea]

meant to add above, i thought kessler felt he could catch him with a sucker punch, but it never came, thats why he appeared so laid back shakermaker. Naivety i spose..

[drinkfeckarse]

Watched it with interest. Would like to see Pavlick in with Joe but can't see it happening. Calzaghe was always in control due to his work rate but I felt he never hurst Kessler at all where as Kessler rocked Calzaghe on 3 or 4 occasions and with a bit more guile could have REALLY tested him to the limit.

Calzaghe is a master in the art of boxing but doesn't do enough to excite me.

[paul_oshea]

Watched it with interest. Would like to see Pavlick in with Joe but can't see it happening. Calzaghe was always in control due to his work rate but I felt he never hurst Kessler at all where as Kessler rocked Calzaghe on 3 or 4 occasions and with a bit more guile could have REALLY tested him to the limit.

Ya kessler admitted as much at the end by saying he didnt realise how good he was, and his corner kept telling him to knock him out after every round. I think he thought calzaghe wouldn't be able for his punches and would eventually draw the KO blow. Calzaghe knew he was getting the more accurate punches so he countered it after the 5th or so, by just a continuous flow of punches, to make up for the fact he wasn't as accurate or as long a reach as kessler. This is where the punches thrown comes into play in scoring as well. Smart thinking by calzaghe, to know how to change his style throughout, particularly in the later rounds where he reverted to his southpaw stance, wrong futting kessler. THe one time kessler really hurt him was when calzaghe did the litle dance, it was obvious he was counter bluffing and kessler should have went all in there. He was too conservative overall, based mainly on teh belief he "didnt think calzaghe was that good".


Calzaghe is a master in the art of boxing but doesn't do enough to excite me.

How can ye say that? He was giong toe-to-toe in the last round when all he needed to do was run around the ring for 2 odd minutes......add to that the fact that he changed his style throughout the match. Fiercely entertaining even if its a bit unorthodox from time to time.

[Real ale Madrid]

This fight is being repeated on the bbc, saturday about 1ish if anyone missed it - its well worth a look.

[shakermaker1982]

anyone watch Cotto/Mosley? Great fight.

[paul_oshea]

nah unfortunately missed it. ppl alawys watch the big ones though, even though not necessarily the big fights, haye - did ye watch that?