Andre Ward is fighting in his hometown. Mikkel Kessler is the champion and favorite. This is really the defining fight in the young career of Ward. For Kessler, it’s a fight that will probably give him troubles, but is a fight that the champion wins. We’ll see what happens tonight.

Duan had Kessler winning by KO in the 9th. I have Kessler winning by decision. Tim Kawakami took Kessler by decision as well. But Kevin Iole has Ward winning the entire tournament, and Tim Starks has Ward winning by decision here as well.

Andre Ward vs. Mikkel Kessler

R1
Good round for Ward. He looks quick and is scoring with jabs and left hooks and is staying away from Kessler’s right hand.

R2
Better round for Kessler. He was able to close the distance better and scored to the body. Ward went back and forth between stances. They got into a clinch battle near the end and Ward got off a couple of good shots.

R3
This was Ward’s best round and he’s up 3-0. He’s beating Kessler to the punch and is able to get off punches when Kessler seems to be reloading and not ready for them. He hit him with a nice flush right hand that was the best shot of the fight thus far.

R4
Ward caught Kessler with a great straight hand after they were in a clinch. It’s the story of the fight thus far. He’s throwing punches and landing when Kessler isn’t expecting them. Yet another strong round for Ward. He landed a nice flurry late in the round and he’s up 4-0.
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What I really like about this card is that we should get some answers about contenders in two divisions. Is Tito Ortiz still the real deal? Can Forrest Griffin get over two straight losses? Is Anthony Johnson the real deal? Can Josh Koscheck make the leap? I have a feeling we’ll get most of those questions answered tonight.

1. Phil Baroni vs. Amir Sadollah

That was a pretty fun first round. Both guys came out strong. Baroni came out throwing bombs. Sadollah stuck him in the clinch by grabbing the back of his neck and starting ripping up knees. Baroni was also landing uppercuts from that spot. Baroni got a takedown and Sadollah looked like he wanted to grab an arm bar, but nothing happened. As is usually the case, Baroni got tired about half way in and Sadollah took over.

It’s actually pretty amazing that Baroni stayed on his feet for the entire round. Or, Sadollah isn’t a good finisher. Sadollah was all over him for the entire round. Sadollah was using kicks to keep Baroni at bay and digging with knees in the clinch. Baroni had a few nice shots, but you can tell that there wasn’t as much on them as there was in the first round.

Baroni took a beating the likes of very few this year. He was a mess by the time the fight was over. He was getting hit with kicks to the thigh, shin, and body, elbows and punches to the head, and knees to the head. It was really hard to watch Baroni take so much punishment late in the round, but he wouldn’t go down.

Winner: Amir Sadollah by way of unanimous decision

2. Antonio Rogerio Noguiera vs. Luiz Cane
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Tonight sees Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward face off for the WBA Super Middleweight title in Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic.

This is Andre Ward’s chance to make a real name for himself in the Super Middleweight division. Ward is a Gold medalist from the 2004 Olympics, who has gone undefeated in 20 bouts since turning pro. The guy is a superb natural athlete, incredibly quick, and has exceptional technical skills. He has everything that is required to become a breakout star, but he has never truly been tested inside the professional ring. Tonight, he will be.
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I was able to catch some of the Strikeforce Challengers show on Showtime last night. I have to admit that I was intrigued to see Kerry Vera and Kim Couture, more so to see how far Vera has come as I enjoyed her on the Oxygen show “Fight Girls”, which also starred Gina Carano. And I wanted to check out Tyron Woodley as well.

I’ve seen Kim fight live and she has a ton of heart, but isn’t ready for some of the better female fighters. But she sure as heck doesn’t shy away from contact. Vera is a kickboxer and is as quick as a hiccup. It didn’t bode well for Couture. Couture did something odd in her stand-up and I think it was so that she could throw her right hook. Her stance was right-handed and then right before she threw a punch, she’d chance her stance and throw a lunging right hook. I don’t think she landed with that once. But she did land a few hard jabs, only to receive a shot in return from the quicker Vera.

Vera was impressive in that she was in and out and she was landing with accuracy. Couture had much slower hands and as much as she tried to cut off the cage, Vera was just too quick. Vera got her up against the cage and just unloaded on her. Couture had a noticeable hematoma and was bleeding from what looked like her nose.
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Big D and I are back to preview this weekend of wrestling and fighting. We also discuss the superb buy rate of the Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto fight and argue who is the bigger star between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.

Listen below.

Right click to download.

It’s preview time again at FGB. It feels like just last week when we did this last. Wait, it was.

With UFC 105 just one week ago, I have the “there’s too much stuff going on” feeling. I’m intrigued about a couple of fights on this card, but I’m not all that hyped for this one. Some of that has to do with the injuries and illnesses suffered by fighters which has killed off some money fights. But with Strikeforce and the UFC running so many shows, you don’t really get a chance to miss MMA.

But that doesn’t stop us. All of the crew is here with predictions, including Stevie J from AngryMarks, on the top two fights on this card. And away we go.

Anthony Johnson vs. Josh Koscheck

Big D: Johnson by 2nd round TKO
Duan: Koscheck by 2nd round submission
Alan: Koscheck by 2nd round submission
Stevie J: Koscheck by decision
Jim: Johnson by 2nd round TKO
GG: Johnson by 3rd round TKO

Big D says:

I am VERY interested in this fight. These two guys are eerily parallel to each other – great wrestlers who hit pretty damn hard who are probably two of the best pure athletes in the sport. We could see a true classic here. If I was a betting man though, I’d say Rumble Johnson is slightly stronger than Kos and earns the knockout in the 2nd round.

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