Don't you mean fighter as opposed to the warrior class? Or did you just mean warrior in general, heh. The Sword and Fist isn't 3.5 material, do you mean the Complete Warrior?

You might want to consider some of the shield based feats in the PH2, like Shield Specialization and Shield Ward. Those will increase your regular and touch AC. If you want to fight with two weapons and use a shield, there is a feat in the PH2 that greatly reduces the penalty for using shields that way, Can't remember the name though.

You can be combat viable and have a high AC, it just takes a bit of work, thats all.