Mark Lyons is back with his weekly take on recent and upcoming fights.

A coming out party for Andre Ward headlined last weeks action.  Coming up this weekend, we have a highly anticipated rematch between Lucien Bute and Librado Andrade, as well as a…..wait for it…..relevant fight involving Joan Guzman. Will wonders never cease?

My Take on Last Saturday's Super Six Fight...

--   I liked Ward all along against Kessler, but not this dramatically. Some of that was underestimating Andre and some of that was over estimating Kessler.

--   Lets get to the good, Ward was fast and excellent defensively from the outside, that shouldn’t have surprised anyone. But he also was the stronger man and backed up Kessler whenever he pleased. That couldn’t have been expected and speaks volumes about where the Dane's head is at. Though Ward had control early, it turned into a route after the fourth. Mikkel caught Andre with a hook that appeared to stun him and he immediately fired back and hurt Kessler. From there it was completely one way.

--  Losing your first fight affects everyone differently. Some guys learn from it and come back stronger. Others have a chip in their confidence that takes time to come back, if it ever does. Kessler has looked like the latter since the Calzaghe fight. He pulled out of a Miranda fight and while he had promotional issues, he still managed to fight twice without seeking a difficult opponent.

--  Kessler had no accuracy, which you could attribute to rust, and he had no fire. Ward is open for counters when he presses the fight, but Kessler never even stood his ground to engage. That looked like a guy who isn’t sure of himself.

--  So, I think we saw an excellent performance from a real solid young fighter. I just don’t want to get too carried away because Ward has four and in my opinion five tougher fights ahead of him. Jermain has been completely written off and he will justifiably be a decided underdog. But he brings a couple things that Kessler lacked in there…he can punch from different angles and he will most certainly fire back when Ward attacks him. Andre showed a lot, but we didn’t see him tagged on the chin.

--  Kessler is in a bad way against Carl Froch if he doesn’t want to stand and trade. He shouldn’t have as hard a time landing, but he should be prepared to get hit even more and constantly pressured. If this Kessler shows up, he wont last seven rounds.

--  I didn’t see the fight, but the Philippines claimed another champion when Rodel Mayol stopped long reigning WBC Jr Flyweight champion Edgar Sosa in two rounds. Obviously, I can’t comment on the fight but I wanted to offer congratulations to a guy who had two consecutive abbreviated and controversial losses to Ivan Calderon. Sosa is one of the best in that division and that is a heck of a break through result.

Looking Ahead To This Weekend...

--   As for the Bute/Andrade rematch I think we will see more of what we saw in the first seven rounds of the first fight. Bute strikes me as a mentally strong fighter and just being a bit more relaxed in there will help his stamina. He also knows for certain that Andrade is dangerous all night, that should keep him from getting too cocky at how easy things are early. Librado will press the whole time and Bute will outbox him. 11-1 or a shutout for the defending champion and he puts to rest any debate on the first outcome.

--  Joan Guzman? Yeah, the same guy that was terrorizing Junior Featherweights what seems like 100 years ago is fighting Ali Funeka for an alphabet strap. Lord knows what Guzman has in his tank and Funeka will press the fight to find out. I’m guessing Joan still has enough here and he will hurt the wide open Funeka a few times with counters and cruise to a UD or late stoppage.

A Fight I’ve Been Thinking About...

-- Lets hit the Middleweights for a bar room brawl. Gerald McClellan vs Rodrigo Valdez. Two of the biggest punchers in the divisions history. Valdez was a punishing inside fighter with a lethal hook while the G Man battered men from range with his vintage Kronk right hand. In other words, it’s a distance heaven for Teddy Atlas and fistic heaven for fans.

-- You have to think McClellan would start fast as he had a size and speed advantage. Valdez had a granite chin and I think he forges inside and works McCllelan’s body to wear Gerald down and stop him somewhere around round eleven in an absolute classic.

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