Bad Left Hook

Bad Left Hook Best of the Decade - Super Middleweight

2009-11-22T18:03:56Z

Calzaghe's victory over Kessler left no room to question who was actually the best super middleweight at the time. via life.com

View full size photo »

Now that 2009 is getting close to wrapping up, it means this decade is almost over. Before the end of the year, I hope to get through all the weight classes, presenting to you some choices for the best fighter in a given weight class in the decade. I'm not going in any particular order here, but we'll get through all 17 weight classes.

When voting, please only consider the time that the fighter was in the specified weight class during this decade. Also, I'm not going to count obvious ballot stuffing when I tally these up at the end of the year.

Super middleweight, much like light welterweight, was one of the few weight classes that was for the most part cleared out in the 2000's. Early in the decade, Ottke defeated many of the top guys and retired undefeated. Then, mid-decade, Calzaghe and Kessler cleaned out every name worth mentioning before fighting each other to create a true undisputed champion in the weight class. And now, the cycle begins anew, as the Super Six tournament includes the majority of the names really worth mentioning, and likely will create a new champ in the weight class in early 2011. That said, there's really only two names that deserve any votes.

Lucian Bute - Bute has gone 14-0 in the weight class, including 4-0 in title fights. Key wins include victories over Librado Andrade, Sakio Bika, Fulgencio Zuniga, Alejandro Berrio, William Joppy, and a number of Calzaghe rejects. He has a rematch coming up next month against Andrade. If he does make a big name for himself, it's a lot more likely he'll be near the top of this kind of poll for next decade than for this one.

Joe Calzaghe - Calzaghe went 17-0 in the weight classes, all of which were title defenses, including two unification victories over Jeff Lacy and Mikkel Kessler, the latter of which probably created the first true super middleweight champion in the history of the weight class. In the decade, the best wins were over Kessler, Lacy, Sakio Bika, Byron Mitchell, Charles Brewer, Richie Woodhall, Omar Sheika and David Starie. One thing that hurts him is that for about half the decade, he really focused on taking mandatories and the weakest defenses possible, leading to a pretty underwhelming collection of title defenses from 2000 through 2005. In addition, he only left England and Wales twice during the reign, and one of those times was on the Tyson-Nielsen undercard where he was facing an unknown American. On the other hand, his last four defenses were fairly strong (the wins over Bika and Manfredo look better now than they did at the time), and he did manage to make himself the lineal, undisputed, unified super middleweight champion of the world.

Carl Froch - Froch has gone 17-0 in the division, including 3-0 in title fights. His important victories are over Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell, Jean Pascal and Robin Reid. Like Bute, he's on this list because he's undefeated and has a number of legitimate wins, but he's more likely to make a bigger name for himself in the future than he is to win this poll now.

Mikkel Kessler - Kessler has gone 23-2 in the weight class this decade, including seven title defenses and unification of belts with Markus Beyer. Kessler has beaten seven former and future beltholders - Beyer, Eric Lucas, Anthony Mundine, Manny Siaca, Julio Cesar Green, Dingaan Thobela and Dmitri Sartison, and one more who still could become a beltholder before the decade is over (Librado Andrade). The two losses came to Joe Calzaghe and in last night's destruction by Andre Ward.

Jeff Lacy - Lacy started off the decade making a lot of noise, and sort of left it with a whimper. Lacy went 22-2 in the weight class, including four title defenses. His best wins include Robin Reid, Omar Sheika, Syd Vanderpool, Epifanio Mendoza and Peter Manfredo. His losses came to Joe Calzaghe (a fight in which he was so thoroughly beaten, that he was never the same fighter again afterwards) and Jermain Taylor. It's pretty easy to look back at his resume now and say that he was probably always overhyped, but for a while, people thought he was going to be the next great thing.

Anthony Mundine - Mundine has gone 33-3 in the weight class, including twice winning belts. The former professional rugby player was a novice to boxing when he vowed to win a title within his first 10 fights, and while he didn't win the title, he did manage to get a title shot against Ottke very quickly. He also lost to Mikkel Kessler and Danny Green. His best wins were over Danny Green, Antwun Echols, RIck Thornberry and Sam Soliman (thrice). More recently, Mundine is campaigning at middleweight, having blatantly ducked out of a potential Sakio Bika fight that would have been big in Australia to go after some easier foes.

Sven Ottke - Ottke also went 17-0 in the weight class, all of which were title defenses, including a unification fight with Byron Mitchell. Key wins include Mitchell, Charles Brewer, Silvio Branco, James Crawford, Anthony Mundine, Rick Thornberry, David Staris, Mads Larsen and Robin Reid (albeit in a fight that nobody other than the judges and Ottke's mum thought Ottke won). Other than the one name that's blatantly missing from his resume (Calzaghe), Ottke actually did fight the best out there, which is commendable. On the other hand, he never once left Germany and was on the right end of several gift or questionable decisions, which is not.

Poll

Who was the best super middleweight of the 2000's?

CompuBox: Inside the Numbers on Ward's win over Kessler

2009-11-22T16:50:22Z

Andre Ward put a pretty thorough beating on Mikkel Kessler last night, and CompuBox has the full numbers. Most telling: Ward outlanding Kessler nearly 3-to-1 in power punches.

For full fight stats, take the jump.

Total Punches Landed / Thrown

Round

Kessler

10/41

13/47

10/33

10/36

18/43

14/44

13/34

12/42

10/43

10/44

5/24

24%

28%

30%

28%

42%

32%

38%

29%

23%

21%

Ward

16/45

14/40

18/45

21/63

16/59

25/81

31/81

27/78

26/71

24/73

7/31

36%

35%

40%

33%

27%

31%

38%

35%

37%

33%

23%

Jabs Landed / Thrown

Round

Kessler

7/27

7/34

6/23

5/23

13/31

8/32

8/23

8/27

5/17

7/28

4/15

26%

21%

26%

22%

42%

25%

35%

30%

29%

25%

27%

Ward

11/33

7/23

6/23

7/28

7/30

8/35

15/43

10/35

10/30

11/41

1/16

33%

30%

26%

25%

23%

35%

29%

33%

27%

Power Punches Landed / Thrown

Round

Kessler

3/14

6/13

4/10

5/13

5/12

6/12

5/11

4/15

5/26

3/16

1/9

21%

46%

40%

38%

42%

50%

45%

27%

19%

11%

Ward

5/12

7/17

12/22

14/35

9/29

17/46

16/38

17/43

16/41

13/32

6/15

42%

41%

55%

40%

31%

37%

42%

40%

39%

41%

40%

Final PunchStat Report

Punches Landed / Thrown

	Total Punches	Jabs	Power Punches
Kessler	125 / 431	78 / 280	47 / 151
Kessler	29%	28%	31%
Ward	225 / 667	93 / 337	132 / 330
Ward	34%	28%	40%

Rankings Update: Shake-Ups at 108 and 168

2009-11-22T16:42:28Z

Andre Ward shoots up the 168-pound rankings after his decisive win over Mikkel Kessler on Saturday. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Another week, another update.

Divisions Affected: P4P, Cruiserweight, Light Heavyweight, Super Middleweight, Junior Bantamweight, Junior Flyweight

Pound-for-Pound: Mikkel Kessler (14) and Edgar Sosa (20) are both out. In their place at Nos. 19 and 20 are Tomasz Adamek and Wladimir Klitschko. Both had been banging on the door, and now they're in.

Cruiserweight: With his title win over Giacobbe Fragomeni, longtime light heavyweight titlist and lineal champ Zsolt Erdei moves from 175 to cruiserweight, into the same No. 4 spot he held there. Fragomeni, previously at four, falls to No. 7. The victim of the movement is Matt Godfrey, who slides from No. 10 to the unlisted No. 11.

Light Heavyweight: Erdei is out, obviously. Everyone from five through ten last time moves up one, and his title replacement, Juergen Braehmer, comes in at No. 10. There are several others who were considered: Beibut Shumenov, Nathan Cleverly, Hugo Garay, Yusaf Mack.

Super Middleweight: New top dog is Lucian Bute, who goes from No. 2 to No. 1 with Kessler's loss. Arthur Abraham moves up from three to the second position, but the big mover is Andre Ward who rises all the way from No. 7 up to No. 3. Mikkel Kessler tumbles from No. 1 down to No. 5, behind Carl Froch and just ahead of Sakio Bika.

Junior Bantamweight: Marvin Sonsona drew and is moving up to 122 pounds, so he's gone. Z Gorres, sadly, is out of the rankings. It's highly unlikely he's ever going to fight again. They were Nos. 6 and 7. Moving in at nine and ten are Tomas Rojas and Raul Martinez. Rojas' win over Evans Mbamba was no joke, and No. 2 Vic Darchinyan may be in for much more of a fight on December 12 that he might plan.

Junior Flyweight: Brian Viloria and Ulises Solis move up a spot to two and three, respectively. Giovanni Segura moves up one to the fourth spot. Rodel Mayol jumps from seven to five, which may seem slight given the upset over No. 2 Edgar Sosa, but there is some controversy to consider there, as Mayol had been docked a point before scoring the TKO, and the headbutt that led to that point being taken may have played a part. There's also just the fact that this is a VERY strong division. Sosa drops to No. 7, but likely will be moving up to 112 pounds in his next fight.

* * * * * CLICK HERE FOR FULL RANKINGS * * * * *

Weekend Roundup: Maidana, Barrios win in Argentina

2009-11-22T16:18:07Z

Marcos Maidana retained his interim 140-pound title with a win in Argentina.

View full size photo »

You surely know the particulars from Oakland by now, as Andre Ward routed Mikkel Kessler, and if you go one post down from this one, you'll find out that Rodel Mayol upset Edgar Sosa to shake up the 108-pound division, and that young Marvin Sonsona had an off-night in Ontario, drawing and leaving the 115-pound division behind.

It was a busy Saturday around the boxing world, so let's look at some of the other results.

Marcos Maidana KO-3 William Gonzalez (Sunchales, Argentina)

Maidana (27-1, 26 KO) acquitted himself quite nicely as a known commodity, stopping his Panamanian challenger in three. Maidana retains the interim WBA junior welterweight title he won against Victor Ortiz in June. Gonzalez falls to 22-6-1 (7).

Jorge Barrios TKO-5 Michael Lozada ... Lucas Matthysse KO-4 Florencio Castellano (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Barrios' improved to 2-0 on the year by stopping the veteran Lozada in five. The big-mouthed Argentine wants a fight next with lightweight titlist Edwin Valero, but we'll see. I think he's exactly the type of guy Valero torches, but Barrios on paper does not lack for guts, nor has he in the ring. I'm not sure he really wants to fight Valero, though. Barrios is now 49-4-1 (35). Matthysse (25-0, 23 KO) continued his impressive streak of beating up nobody.

Chad Bennett UD-10 Aldo Rios (Newcastle, Australia)

Not really a notable fight, to be honest, but you might remember the 35-year-old Rios, another Argentina fighter, from past losses to Stevie Johnston (1999), Artur Grigorian (2001), Ricky Hatton (2003) and Isaac Hlatswayo (2006). Throw in Bennett, 36, a regional fighter, and you've got all of the losses on Rios' sheet. You also have pretty much the only notable fighters he's ever fought. If the Bennett win wasn't home cookin', Aldo should probably stick to Argentina from now on, because Bennett isn't quite in league with the rest of those guys.

Giovanni Segura KO-1 Sonny Boy Jaro (Merida, Mexico)

That should just about do it for Jaro in top-level fights. The Filipino is only 27, but going down in one to Segura -- a good fighter, no doubt -- is pretty rough. Segura is, in my view, one of the more underrated fighters out there.

Rodel Mayol stuns Edgar Sosa, Marvin Sonsona draws in Ontario

2009-11-22T05:46:25Z

Rodel Mayol stunned Edgar Sosa with a second round TKO in Mexico. (Photo by Al Bello / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Andre Ward's domination of Mikkel Kessler wasn't the only upset of the night in boxing.

Rodel Mayol shocked long-reigning 108-pound titlist Edgar Sosa with a second round knockout in Mexico, winning the WBC junior flyweight title and completing what was really a hell of a year for the Filipino scrapper. Mayol (26-4-1, 20 KO) battled to a draw and a tight technical decision loss this year in two fights with Ivan Calderon, and the upset win over Sosa raises his stock significantly. He fought three fights with what were considered the two best at 108 pounds, and he wound up on top against Sosa.

In Ontario, Marvin Sonsona went to a draw with Alejandro Hernandez in an unimpressive performance. Sonsona lost his 115-pound title on the scales in the morning. The Boxing Bulletin's Andrew Fruman was in attendance at the fight, and also described Sonsona's performance as unimpressive. The same was said about Steve Molitor's eight-round win over Jose Saez.

Both Mikkel Kessler (14) and Edgar Sosa (20) were ranked in our pound-for-pound top 20, so look out for two new additions tomorrow when we update our rankings. And look for some fast rises for Andre Ward and Rodel Mayol in their divisions, too.

Shock & Awe: Andre Ward dominates Mikkel Kessler

2009-11-22T04:47:23Z

Andre Ward dominated Mikkel Kessler in Oakland to win the WBA super middleweight title. (Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Andre Ward may have gotten away with some dirty tactics tonight, but you cannot deny one solid fact. The Olympic gold medalist frustrated, outboxed and outclassed Mikkel Kessler tonight, beating the Danish star by technical decision after the bout was stopped in the 11th round.

Ward won on scores of 98-92, 98-92 and 97-93. The fight was stopped on a cut ruled caused by a headbutt. Kessler was also bleeding over the other eye, which was also caused by a butt that wasn't called. Kessler (42-2, 32 KO) complained for the last few rounds in the corner that he couldn't see, and complained after the fight of Ward's holding and his headbutts.

Ward (21-0, 13 KO) also appeared to stray low frequently. California referee Jack Reiss called almost nothing on Ward, but it is what it is. Kessler may have legitimate gripes, but I don't think anyone that watched them tonight would argue that Kessler was beating Ward no matter what was called. Ward was faster, sharper, more confident, and had Kessler confused and frustrated early and often.

Kessler had trouble adjusting to Ward's speed, angles and overall offensive attack. He was not beating Ward tonight.

This was a coming out party for the American Ward, who frankly showed savvy I didn't think he had yet. He looked from the get-go like he knew he would win, and he put it on Kessler. I had Kessler the No. 1 super middleweight in the world coming into tonight. That has certainly changed now. Andre Ward put his stamp on the world of boxing and on the Super Six World Boxing Classic tonight.

We'll have more tomorrow, but for now, Andre Ward and his fans should revel in a career-making victory over Mikkel Kessler.

Bad Left Hook Live Boxing Results and Commentary: Mikkel Kessler v. Andre Ward

2009-11-21T22:29:41Z

Live coverage starts with the Showtime broadcast at 10pm ET / 7pm PT. This is the final fight in the first leg of the Super Six World Boxing Classic.

MIKKEL KESSLER		ANDRE WARD
	Main Event

Record:	42-1 (32 KO)	Record:	20-0 (13 KO)
Age:	30	Age:	25
Hometown:	Copenhagen, Denmark	Hometown:	Oakland, California
Height:	6'1"	Height:	6'1"
Reach:	73"	Reach:	73"
Ranks/Titles:	WBA, #1 Ring, #1 Bad Left Hook, #4 BoxRec, #14 Bad Left Hook P4P	Ranks/Titles:	#9 Ring, #7 Bad Left Hook, #7 BoxRec
TV:	Showtime, 10pm ET	Venue:	Oracle Arena - Oakland, California

The ad for Wapakman which, as we all know, stars Manny Pacquiao. As far as I can tell this film is...

2009-11-22T00:16:30Z

The ad for Wapakman which, as we all know, stars Manny Pacquiao. As far as I can tell this film is meant to be both goofy and fun and apparently Manny's acting, while not nearly as good as his boxing, isn't as bad as his singing!

Zsolt Erdei keeps undefeated record, wins cruiserweight belt

2009-11-21T23:54:18Z

Former light heavyweight titleholder Zsolt Erdei moved up to cruiserweight and captured another belt today. Erdei outpointed Giacobbe Fragomeni.

View full size photo »

Former long-reigning light heavyweight lineal champion Zsolt Erdei of Hungary moved up to cruiserweight (well, sort of) and won a second division title, unseating Italian Giacobbe Fragomeni to win the WBC strap today in Kiel, Germany.

Erdei (31-0, 17 KO) won on scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 114-114, a majority decision victory, and one he definitely earned. Bad Left Hook scored it 116-112, and I thought my card was for sure on the "wide" end of possible scores. It felt like it could have been a 7-5 or even 6-6 bout, and the judges scored this one well.

Erdei, 35, weighed in at just 178 pounds for the fight, three pounds over the light heavyweight limit and 23 under the cruiserweight limit. Fragomeni (26-2-1, 10 KO) came in at 196 pounds on the scales, giving him a rather massive weight advantage. In many ways, that made it like a shrunken heavyweight fight.

The early portion of the bout was all Erdei, who fought backing up, but nonetheless was fighting. He used potshotting techniques and superior movement to frustrate the slower, shorter Fragomeni. But in the sixth, with Erdei visibly gasping for air between rounds, Fragomeni turned up the heat and got to work. He clearly won the sixth and seventh (you could have argued for him in the fourth, too), and won a few more rounds the rest of the way.

Most surprising was the spirit with which Erdei fought. This wasn't a bruising affair by any means. Neither man is a a big puncher and plenty of shots were missed on both sides, but Erdei fought through obvious fatigue for half the fight, and he did so without running, holding or anything else. In the 12th, he was clearly as gassed as he could be, but he fought it out until the final bell. In that respect, Erdei's performance deserves plenty of admiration. He fought to win this fight, and he won it.

On the undercard:

Former Mikkel Kessler victim Dimitri Sartison won "the WBA belt" at 168 pounds, stopping Stjepan Bozic after five rounds due to a pretty nasty swollen left eye. Sartison was breathing heavier between rounds than I can remember any fighter ever breathing, but he also was clearly winning the fight and beating Bozic up. Bozic's corner got into a mad huff about the referee deciding to stop it, even while their fighter indicated he could not see out of his lead eye.
2008 Olympic gold medalist (heavyweight) Rakhim Chakhiev fought for the second time as a pro, demolishing a tomato can in short order. Chakhiev has real potential (obviously with that pedigree), but is also notable for his absolutely awe-inspiring unibrow.
Vitali Tajbert won the interim WBC junior lightweight title from Humberto Gutierrez in a boring fight with little action on scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 116-113. Both guys were extremely tentative to start, but Tajbert took over late in the fight in what was a bad clash of styles.

Early target date for Pacquiao-Mayweather is May 1

2009-11-21T21:47:58Z

Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. could meet on May 1, 2010. Serious negotiations are set to begin for the fight. (Photo by Al Bello / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Ronnie Nathanielsz reports that Bob Arum is hearing May 1 as the date everyone wants to target for a potential super fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao was originally tentatively scheduled for a March 13 return. Had Pacquiao-Cotto been a great, hotly-contested fight, I'd almost guarantee we'd be seeing a rematch on that date. Arum had talked about doing just that as a next step. But since Pacquiao clearly won, the only fight to be made now is Pacquiao against Mayweather.

Richard Schaefer recently disclosed that should both Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. win on December 2, those two living legends will meet in a rematch 17 years in the making on March 13, on HBO pay-per-view.

The first weekend of May is a traditional superfight weekend, with Cinco de Mayo playing some part in that. In 2007, Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. broke all the records with their fight, and this year Pacquiao met Ricky Hatton on that same weekend. May 1 is just logical. It gives them time for a massive promotional effort and plenty of time for what surely will be some drawn-out negotiations, too.

Bad Left Hook Live Boxing Results and Commentary: Giacobbe Fragomeni v. Zsolt Erdei

2009-11-21T18:44:56Z

If we can manage it, we'll bring you live, round-by-round coverage and scoring of the WBC cruiserweight title fight in Germany today between Giacobbe Fragomeni and former long-reigning light heavyweight titlist and lineal champion Zsolt Erdei. The show goes live in Germany at 5:15 ET. There are simply no guarantees whatsoever with this one, but we're going to do our best.

Update (4:19 PM ET): We are live with this show. Dimirti Sartison just beat Stjepan Bozic, and there should be a bit more undercard to go before the main event.

GIACOBBE FRAGOMENI		ZSOLT ERDEI
	Main Event

Record:	26-1-1 (10 KO)	Record:	30-0 (17 KO)
Age:	40	Age:	35
Hometown:	Milan, Italy	Hometown:	Budapest, Germany
Height:	5'9 1/2"	Height:	5'10"
Reach:	N/A	Reach:	72"
Ranks/Titles:	WBC, #3 Ring Contender, #4 Bad Left Hook, #15 BoxRec	Ranks/Titles:	#4 Ring (175), #4 Bad Left Hook (175), #7 BoxRec (200)
TV:	ZDF / SportKlub / Polsat, 5:15pm ET	Venue:	Sparkassen-Arena - Kiel, Germany

Marvin Sonsona drops title on the scales in Ontario

2009-11-21T17:03:56Z

Marvin Sonsona missed weight for his 115-pound title defense tonight in Rama, Ontario. His WBO title is now vacant.

View full size photo »

Filipino wunderkind Marvin Sonsona missed weight this morning in Rama, Ontario, meaning his fight tonight against Alejandro Hernandez will be non-title. Sonsona has vacated the WBO 115-pound title, but the strap will be up for grabs for Hernandez to win.

Sonsona weighed in at 117.6 pounds. At 19, he's just not going to be able to cut to 115 anymore. He's still maturing, his body is still changing, and apparently he's grown three centimeters of late. His promoter Allan Tremblay says Sonsona will skip bantamweight and go straight to the 122-pound division.

"He's a young guy exploding into a man," Tremblay said after Saturday's weigh-in.

Even after giving up solid food mid-week Sonsona couldn't slim down any further. When a Friday night workout only got him to 117, Tremblay decided to forfeit the title rather than try something drastic to make weight.

"He could have drained himself down to 115, but after six rounds he would have been a depleted fighter," he said, noting the danger in sending a dehydrated fighter into the ring. "Why kill him? Why take a possible loss when we have another plan for him anyway?"

I know what he's saying, but it sort of stings to read, "Hey, why make weight? Why bother making weight? We'll just give up this meaningless belt and fight anyway with an advantage. Big whoop, y'know? Besides, we have other plans."

But when all is said and done, it's not unexpected. Sonsona was reportedly having some trouble making the weight, and staying at the weight wasn't in their plans. They knew they were moving up, and soon. It's just coming a little quicker and with a bit of a hiccup.

Fight Preview: Mikkel Kessler v. Andre Ward

2009-11-21T16:19:48Z

Andre Ward is looking to break through into the elite ranks of the sport tonight against Mikkel Kessler. (Photo via Goossen Tutor)

View full size photo »

Tonight in Oakland, a star could be born. Or, if things don't go the young man's way, well, a star could be born later.

Andre Ward has the pedigree. He won an Olympic gold medal in Athens back in 2004, and turned pro in December of that year with a second round stoppage of Chris Molina. Since then, the pacing of Ward's rise has been called deliberate and even slow, something he contends isn't the case. Worth taking into account is a knee injury that surfaced when he started stepping up from the bums to the gatekeepers.

The gatekeepers have really been his main targets. To hear Ward tell it, everyone's been a tough fight, and everyone has taken him lightly, then been surprised by his full package of skills. Ward (20-0, 13 KO) will take a massive step up in class tonight, and even with home field advantage, he might be biting off more than he can chew.

Then again, let's look at what Mikkel Kessler has done lately. Kessler (42-1, 32 KO) is the world's best super middleweight, at least in my opinion. When he fought Joe Calzaghe in November 2007, he was clearly beaten, but gave Calzaghe one of the tougher fights of the Welshman's career. He came into that fight considered the world's No. 2 at 168 pounds, and I felt he left without losing that standing. Yes, Calzaghe was better than him -- but only Calzaghe was better than him.

Since losing to Calzaghe, Kessler hasn't exactly been on a notable tear. Sure, he's wasted the competition, but the competition has been iffy. A promotional dispute with Mogens Palle led Kessler to signing with Sauerland Event of Germany earlier this year. Dimitri Sartison, Danilo Haussler and Gusmyr Perdomo may not be the best of the best, but like Ward has done with his middling opposition, he's done with them as he should have: Blown them out.

Kessler has been called "overrated" by a few people, but I don't see it. When you watch him fight, you can see where his record and his standing comes from. His jab is powerful, sharp and accurate, among the best in the sport. He isn't a tricky fighter by any means; in some ways he's like a superior Kelly Pavlik. Simple, basic, and extremely effective. He's tough to rattle, partially because to get at him, you're going to have to get past that nasty jab of his.

In terms of overall "skills," Ward probably is the better man. He's quick with his hands and on his feet. He's got solid power, not great power; certainly enough to keep opponents respecting him. Ward also has a wrinkle in his game, as he switches from his conventional stance over to southpaw frequently, and pulls that off with pretty much unrivaled success. The power he generates when using his left as his money hand probably trumps what he does fighting orthodox.

What most concerns me for Ward is simple: Mikkel Kessler is really, really good, and Andre Ward has not yet faced a really good professional fighter. The best scalp on his record is Edison Miranda's, and if any fighter has been living off of one trick for a while now, it's Miranda. (Miranda, coincidentally, is now a stablemate of Ward's with Goossen Tutor Promotions.) The rest of the names are what we were talking about before, pure gatekeepers. Guys like Shelby Pudwill, Esteban Camou, Jerson Ravelo, Rubin Williams and "Sugar Poo" Buchanan aren't bad fighters, necessarily, but they come nowhere near Kessler's class.

Bottom line on the potential outcomes of this fight is that if Ward pulls off the upset tonight, he shoots right up near the top of this division. Should he win, he will do so because his pure ability is simply too much for Kessler to overcome, which was in some ways the case for Kessler against Calzaghe. Kessler is by no means unbeatable. A superior athlete with tricks up his sleeve (like Calzaghe) can outpoint him. Should Ward do it, it will mean he's got skills that are more advanced than I'm thinking they are at this point.

These two may well meet again later on in the tournament. Even if Ward loses tonight as I expect, a second chance might not go so well for Kessler. Kessler, at 30, is as good as he's getting. Ward, 25, has the type of upside that could take him from good fighter to elite fighter in a flash if he finds that spark.

I don't see the spark coming tonight, though. I'm taking Kessler by decision.

Other Saturday Results

2009-11-21T14:42:11Z

Other Saturday Results

Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. TKO7 Genaro Garcia. It wasn't pretty, but the legend's son got the best win of his career on the Telemundo main event by fighting patiently, waiting for Garcia to make mistakes, and not relenting when he finally hurt Garcia on a flurry of hooks. Don't be surprised if Vasquez gets a shot at a title when Juanma Lopez moves to 126.
Moruti Mthlane UD12 Julio Cesar Miranda. Mthlane won a wide decision, capturing the belt that was vacated by Nonito Donaire. Nick Durant, who also trained Simphiwe Nongqayi, Isaac Hlathswayo and Malcolm Klassen, is on my short list for trainer of the year this year.
Zolani Tete KO1 Anthony Mathias. Just an interesting name to keep in mind. At 12-0, he's already cleaned out a very strong South African flyweight division (other than Mthlane), winning all but one bout by knockout. Only a year ago, it was feared his career would be over due to severe epilepsy, but he seems to have come back, and on paper, he looks like as promising of a flyweight prospect as anyone.
Avtandil Khurtsidze TKO8 Kuvanych Toygonbayev. Khurtsidze is working his way towards mandatory status in the middleweight division for the WBA.
Kaleb Truax UD10 Kerry Hope. Truax improves to 13-0, and his handlers might want to try to take the next step with him.

Mosley says he won't chase Floyd or Manny in 2010

2009-11-21T13:06:24Z

Shane Mosley won't "chase" fights with Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. next year. He feels he's done enough to let them known he's ready to fight. (Photo by Al Bello / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Shane Mosley told BoxingScene.com that he won't chase after fights with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and/or Manny Pacquiao in 2010, feeling he's made it more than clear he's ready to fight either man.

"I want to fight Mayweather but I want to fight anybody who wants to get in the ring with me. I'm not going to chase anybody. I'm not going to chase Mayweather and I'm not going to chase Pacquiao. I already said what I said and I already did what I had to do to as far as telling them that I want to fight them. It's up to them now to step up and say 'I want to fight you' and I'll make it happen," Mosley said.

You really can't say Mosley is fronting the way some fighters do. He had a fight lined up with Joshua Clottey that HBO fudged up, and when that happened, he made one happen with Andre Berto, an unbeaten young titleholder.

As for Pacquiao's win over Cotto, he still feels that he (Mosley) is the best welterweight out there:

"If Pacquiao wanted to fight the number one welterweight, he would have fought me first - he wouldn't have fought Cotto."

I know he needs to say these things, but it's pretty easy to have made a case for Cotto being ahead of Mosley, considering when they fought in the not-too-distant past, Cotto beat Mosley.

He also weighed in on Antonio Margarito's potential return to boxing. I know it seems like we've been talking about this a lot lately, but there's are reasons for that. Miguel Cotto just fought, and that fight will always come to mind when Cotto fights, plus Margarito's team spoke on his behalf about a rematch next year. Also, with welterweight being as hot as it is right now, a Margarito return shakes things up (in theory anyway). And we're starting to barrel toward a reinstatement hearing in just a few short months.

Anyway, Mosley said nothing new, just repeated what he's said before:

"With Margarito, I think if anything they should get the coach, because the trainer is the one who put the stuff on his hands. I'm not saying he's innocent. I'm not going to say that he's innocent. He probably knew what was going on."

It always bothers me when people answer with something like this, because nobody's saying Capetillo should come back, either. In fact, the entire defense strategy was built around throwing Capetillo under the bus and making him out to be some sort of evil mastermind that took the career of Antonio Margarito and attempted to flush it down the toilet with underhanded tactics the fighter knew nothing about. For all intents and purposes, it seemed to me like they tried to excuse Margarito based on ignorance of the events, and get Capetillo banned for life. It makes sense, since there's money to be made on Margarito and none on Capetillo, but this is not an "if anything" situation. It doesn't need to come down to just one. I doubt they're going to keep Margarito on the sidelines while Capetillo runs along merrily, loading fighters' handwraps in the shadows of the coliseum once again.

Mandatory Eight Count: Tomorrow's "Other" Fights

2009-11-21T07:22:06Z

With Zsolt Erdei moving up in weight tomorrow, he has vacated the WBO light heavyweight title. Juergen Braehmer (pictured) is now the full titleholder. (Photo via www.boxing.de)

View full size photo »

Rumble at Rama X - Marvin Sonsona vs Alejandro Hernandez Preview (The Boxing Bulletin)
Andrew Fruman previews Saturday night's 115-pound title matchup between Marvin Sonsona and Alejandro Hernandez. Andrew will be giving some live updates from ringside tomorrow night. If you're yet unfamiliar with the phenom Sonsona, you can watch his last fight with Jose "Carita" Lopez here.

Q&A: Zsolt Erdei (Fightnews)
Zsolt Erdei challenges Giacobbe Fragomeni tomorrow for the WBC cruiserweight title. Erdei is undefeated and has held the WBO light heavyweight title since 2004. He's vacated the belt, and is going into tomorrow's fight with a black eye suffered in sparring.

Barrios va por el título ante Lozada en el Lawn Tennis (Agencia NOVA)
Story's in Spanish obviously. Jorge Barrios returns to action against Michael Lozada in Argentina. Barrios talked a lot earlier this year about fighting Edwin Valero, then pulled out of the Lightweight Lightning show, and now he's talking a lot about fighting Edwin Valero, which probably still won't happen.

¡González viajó con seguridad a Argentina! (NotiFight)
Also in Spanish, and also in Argentina. Marcos Maidana will defend his interim 140-pound title against William Gonzalez. Different card from the Barrios fight. Big weekend for Argentinian boxing.

Sadinas de Tuxtla - An Anecdote About the Sosa-Mayol Weigh-In (PhilBoxing.com)
108-pound titlist Edgar Sosa makes another defense of his crown, against Rodel Mayol. Mayol drew and lost to Ivan Calderon in two truncated fights this year. This article tells a tale of Mayol's frustrating experience with the weigh-in in Mexico.

Juergen Braehmer named full WBO light heavyweight titlist (Boxing.de)
With Erdei's move up, stablemate Juergen Braehmer moves into his spot as WBO titlist. Erdei's vacating of the belt also means that his argument as lineal champion is dead and gone, which is kind of a relief, really.

Karim Mayfield: "This Time, I Will Make It More Decisive" (FightHype)
Welterweight prospect Karim Mayfield (10-0-1, 6 KO) rematches Francisco Santana (11-1, 5 KO) on the Kessler-Ward undercard in Oakland. Mayfield beat Santana via split decision in March 2008.

Vazquez Jr. Stops Genaro Garcia; Title Fight Within Reach (Boxing Scene)
Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. won a seventh round TKO over veteran Genaro Garcia in Florida. Jake Donovan reports.

Top Rank molding full lineup for December 19 PPV

2009-11-21T00:39:18Z

Humberto Soto meets Jesus Chavez in the Top Rank pay-per-view co-feature on December 19. (Photo by Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

View full size photo »

Top Rank is putting together a full PPV lineup for December 19 that might not make you want to shell out 40 bucks, but isn't for a lack of trying to get some interesting names out there.

We all know that the night's main event from Youngstown, Ohio, will pit middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik against Miguel Espino, a fight that has not been well-received by fans or media at all, really. The show's main co-feature will main event the Mexico part of the card, as Humberto Soto moves up to lightweight to take on former titlist Jesus Chavez.

Soto calls Chavez "very dangerous," but I don't see that claim going over so hot, either. Jesus Chavez was a hell of a fighter in his prime, but he's not in his prime anymore. The 37-year-old Chavez has already lost fights to Michael Katsidis (Chavez quit on his stool) and David Diaz this year. Diaz had been out of action for over a year. Honestly, and I always hate even bringing it up, Chavez has not been the same since the Leavander Johnson incident, and that was over four years ago. He's also had a bad knee injury that has taken a lot out of him. Soto is the one going up in weight, but Chavez is just a name. He's not a legit contender anymore.

The best fight on the card might be interim WBA bantamweight titleholder Nehomar Cermeno defending against Alejandro Valdez. Valdez was involved in a very controversial fight with Fernando Montiel earlier this year, which it initially appeared he had won. That would've been a strong contender for Upset of the Year, but the fight was changed to a technical draw.

Also appearing on the card will be Jose Luis Castillo, who just helped Manny Pacquiao in training camp, and unbeaten flyweight prospect Hernan "Tyson" Marquez.

Rendall Munroe outpoints Simone Maludrottu to retain European 122-pound title

2009-11-20T23:46:06Z

European junior featherweight titleholder Rendall Munroe overcame something of a slow start to outpoint Italian challenger Simone Maludrottu in a terrific fight today in Nottingham. Munroe won on scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113. Bad Left Hook scored the fight a 114-114 draw.

Munroe's victory not only allows him to retain his title, but gives him the right to a shot at WBC titlist Toshiaki Nishioka. After the fight, Munroe said he was ready for the title shot immediately. The 29-year-old bin man by day from Leicester would be a pretty wide underdog against Nishioka, who has not lost a fight since 2004.

Munroe (20-1, 8 KO) used relentless pressure and his size and in-ring weight advantage to pull out the victory. Neither man was particularly accurate, but both threw tons of punches and showed no stamina issues. Munroe turned the fight around after six rounds, after which I had him trailing 58-56.

It was then that he began constantly pressing Maludrottu (30-3, 11 KO) into the ropes, throwing punches in bunches, and getting rises out of the Nottingham crowd. It was the strategy he would use for the rest of the fight, and what gave him the win.

Maludrottu, 31, used effective activity and some nice counter-punching to stay in the fight, but he had a rough spell between the 8th and 10th rounds especially. In the final two rounds, I felt he came back fairly strong to tie things up at six rounds apiece, but he fell short of that on the official cards.

Maludrotto and Munroe both put all they had into what turned out to be a highly entertaining affair. There were almost no clinches, even though they fought the majority of the bout with their shoulders pressed into one another. The pace was brisk starting in the latter half of the first round, and neither used jabs effectively at all. Munroe targeted the body, while Maludrottu tried to work upstairs on Munroe.

Munroe might well do everything he can to get the Nishioka fight first, but he could really stand to take something else first, I think. He's a really likable guy and certainly came to fight today, and he showed an ability to adjust mid-fight that wound up making the difference. But Nishioka is on a different level than Maludrottu. Maludrottu showed no snap on his punches, only once rocking Munroe's head back noticeably. Nishioka would have capitalized on some of those times that Munroe left himself wide open tonight, because Maludrottu actually did capitalize on them, he just wasn't a strong enough puncher to make anything happen.

All in all, though, the focus should be on a terrific effort from both. They put on a hell of a show, and this will be a contender for Fight of the Month.

Kessler-Ward Weigh-In Live at 5pm ET

2009-11-20T19:04:59Z

6:23 PM Update: Kessler weighed in at 167 pounds, and Ward at 166 1/2. Both looked to be in good shape. Waldo will have more from the weigh-in later.

Where's Waldo? He's in Oakland. Waldo Rastel (better known to many of you as waldo47) is on the scene today for the official weigh-in for tomorrow night's Super Six tournament fight between WBA super middleweight titlist Mikkel Kessler and unbeaten American and former Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward.

Waldo covered the press conference a couple of days ago, and will have live updates again today in the comments section of this post, including the weights as they come in. The whole shebang is scheduled to start at 2pm local time in California, so 5pm ET. No word on whether or not there will be another high school cheerleading performance.

Don't forget that Bad Left Hook will also have live, round-by-round coverage and scoring tomorrow night starting at 10pm ET.

Bad Left Hook Live Boxing Results and Commentary: Rendall Munroe v. Simone Maludrottu

2009-11-20T18:30:41Z

For an in-depth preview of this European junior featherweight title fight, check out our friends at The Boxing Bulletin.

Our live coverage will start at 4:30pm ET with round-by-round in the comments of this post, and real time analysis. If you have an SBN account, you won't need to refresh at all.

RENDALL MUNROE		SIMONE MALUDROTTU
	Main Event

Record:	19-1 (8 KO)	Record:	30-2 (11 KO)
Age:	29	Age:	31
Hometown:	Leicester, England	Hometown:	Olbia, Italy
Height:	5'7"	Height:	5'5"
Reach:	68"	Reach:	66"
Ranks/Titles:	European Junior Featherweight, #12 BoxRec	Ranks/Titles:	#27 BoxRec
TV:	Sky Sports, 4:30pm ET	Venue:	Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre - Nottingham, England