By Coach Tim Walker – Boxing fans get answers tonight! Andre Ward, the last and most recent American Olympic gold medalist, will get the opportunity to answer many questions on Saturday, November 21, 2009 when he faces Mikkel Kessler in his home town of Oakland, California. Questions such as: Is he legitimate? And, Can he really compete with the current crop of European champions? And, was winning Olympic Gold the panicle of his career?
Though heralded following the Olympics, Ward and his team were forced onto the path less traveled though not necessarily by choice. This happened when Ward, who might have been feeling the Showtime pro jitters, faced off against Kenny Kost. Kost, an 8-0-0 fighter at the time, donned a good record but was viewed by most analysts to not have the tools to deal with the Olympian over the long hall. Ward won round one easily and it appeared that a short night was in the works. Then came round 2. Kost landed a well-timed left hook that badly hurt Ward. Getting his wasn’t such a big deal. Fighters take shots. It’s part of the business. What was bit unexpected was that the shot seemed to affect Ward for the remainder of the fight. He seemed to never fully recover..
Possibly as a result of that left hook, and the way Ward responded to it, his team took a pragmatic look at their young charge and embarked on a slower developmental approach to his career. Six fights in 2005 then 3 or 4 fights per year each year after that is not high activity for a young fighter. Needless to say it is absolutely not a path that Olympic Gold medalists typically take. But to his credit he has handled every challenge and inked in a response to every question his competition has offered up.
Kessler, whose sole loss came at the hands of now retired undefeated ex-champion Joe Calzaghe, trumps Ward in nearly every category. He has more than twice as many professional bouts as Ward, has faced considerably tougher competition than him and by the time he reached the age of 25, Wards current age, he had 12 more bouts and was afforded the opportunity to pound Manny Siaca into submission on his was to winning the WBA World Super Middleweight Champion. A title he has successfully defended 8 out of 9 times. The only clear advantages that Ward has are speed and athleticism.
Kessler, is no stranger to tough fights. His resume reads like a who’s who of the 168 pound division and he has only one loss to show for it. Andrade, Mundine, Lucas, Sartison and of course Calzaghe highlight his record. In contrast, Ward’s record displays potent wins over Miranda and Kolle. Miranda we know. Kolle we are getting to know. Ward’s other competition, if I listed them only by last name, most fight fans wouldn’t know of whom I spoke.
So who wins?
Kessler is a deserving established champion with credentials that stretch a mile long. But Ward has a speed base that Kessler has only faced when he took on Calzaghe. In that bought Kessler won battles but didn’t win the war. I think he learned many valuable lessons in that loss but think the he might not have learned enough. Speed kills! I’m picking Ward to upset the Viking Warrior.
Coach Tim Walker is a contributing writer for the Eastsideboxing.com and his own blog at boxing4life.blogspot.com. To make fighter suggestions for Weekly Stud, The Prospect or to contact him with questions or comments please email him at tpwalker@hotmail.com.