Andre Ward - Break this guy down. What makes him so great?

Systematically cleaned out one of the hottest divisions in the sport at the time. He's a fighter that proves you don't need to jump weight classes to be the best fighter in the sport. You can't criticise him either, he hasn't avoided anyone. He dismantled the top opponents in his division. He OUTCLASSED Carl Froch with 1 hand. He has a 0 that isn't fabricated or well picked out, he earnt it by beating the best available.

Has a mean streak in the ring..plus he does what is necessary to win, elbows and headbutts included.

I can't really say much that hasn't already been said. Andre Ward is an exceptional fighter, for many, many reasons, but I think one of his qualities that is often overlooked (and overlooked in a lot of other top fighters and top sportsmen generally) is his composure. Ward is in a state of zen between those ropes, never panicked, never frustrated, never tense. Achieving a state of mind like this is helped by having all the fundamentals, excellent athleticism and excellent ring intelligence of course, but it's rare even in other fighters who are more or less the full package. It's like being in 'the Zone' permanently.

And you could see how confused Froch was by that. Definitely. You can just imagine the story Carl and McCracken had in their heads preparing for the fight. That this kid Ward is slick and seriously talented, but you're going to take him into deeper water than he's ever seen before. Then he tries to do it and Froch is the one that's drowning, Ward's handing the depth just fine. That had to be a massive blow and Ward clearly knew this as well. He set out to make it clear to Froch early on that 'the way you wanted this to be, well it's not going be that way.'

His focus, instincts, ring awareness those are his strongest assets in my opinion. I still feel people overrate his ability to fight in close, it's great stuff but infighting consists mostly of a two handed attack, not solely tying up an opponents' arm while attacking with the other. I've heard many say Ward's ability to fight inside is only rivaled by Mayweather, which is insane, Mayweather is clearly the better fighter up close. Really? :thinking:

One thing I loved about the Froch fight was how the UK commentators were saying at the start that it was a good thing Smoger was reffing, because Froch wanted to make this a real fight, to really get in close and go to war. Implying of course that Ward would not want to get into a real fight with Froch. Then the fight starts and Ward is right in Froch's face, not just answering back in the close exchanges but initiating them and really bullying Froch in the process. Within a few rounds it was like 'what was all that about wanting to get me into a real fight?' :lol1: He just laid down the law right from the start. It was hugely impressive. And you could see how confused Froch was by that. What a good fight that is to watch, I think so anyway.

One thing I loved about the Froch fight was how the UK commentators were saying at the start that it was a good thing Smoger was reffing, because Froch wanted to make this a real fight, to really get in close and go to war. Implying of course that Ward would not want to get into a real fight with Froch. Then the fight starts and Ward is right in Froch's face, not just answering back in the close exchanges but initiating them and really bullying Froch in the process. Within a few rounds it was like 'what was all that about wanting to get me into a real fight?' :lol1: He just laid down the law right from the start. It was hugely impressive.

The only flaw in Team SOG is his god awful promoter Goosen Tutor. That's it. Dude already cleaned out SMW.

His intelligence and ability to adjust is superb. His timing is as well. He is brilliant at transitioning between offense to defense at a moment's notice. He is quickly becoming a master at inside fighting. He is incredibly calm at all times. I watched Ward vs. Kessler, Froch, and Dawson a couple days ago, and he truly is a brilliant fighter. :fing02::fing02::fing02:

he is fast for 168 I say his ring IQ the only thing special about him he is very confident fighter I like to see how he bounces back after his 1st L which should happen pretty soon IMO he will never have a L on his record he will retire undefeated fighting people in their prime unlike mayweather.

Ward's style has got to be exhausting so that might explain why he fades late. I think Ward can be beaten, but imho it's going to take either a superior inside fighter (unlikely) or a referee who repeatedly breaks up the fighters like Pabon and his opponent being better on the outside (again unlikely). The other thing which could test him is moving up to 175, I'm not convinced he adapts to that weight as well as some others believe. I think he's PFP No.1 right now.

His focus, instincts, ring awareness those are his strongest assets in my opinion. I still feel people overrate his ability to fight in close, it's great stuff but infighting consists mostly of a two handed attack, not solely tying up an opponents' arm while attacking with the other. I've heard many say Ward's ability to fight inside is only rivaled by Mayweather, which is insane, Mayweather is clearly the better fighter up close.

Great at controlling the distance Great at inside fighting Great accuracy Great smarts Very good strength Doesnt waste punches Doesnt waste energy Mentally tough **** I could keep going. He's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but outside of Mayweather there is not a fighter alive as good as he is.

the main things to me is he is very fundamentally sound and has very few flaws, he is not only extremely well rounded but he has the intelligence to know when to apply certain aspects of his game. if you look at his defense he can block and parry, he can move his head and he can use his feet. offensively he has a complete arsenal of punches including a great jab, he can put brilliant combinations together, work the body and lead or counter. he blends offense and defense very well using an excellent sense of distance, brilliant timing, a superb understanding of angles and an ability to fight at any distance or pace. not only is he so extremely skilled and smart but hes one of the most physicly talented fighters in boxing too and tough as nails to boot. his determination gets overlooked a lot. like his skills his athletic qualities are good or great in all areas. great speed of foot and hand, great reflexes, excellent coordination great chin, great stamina and very, very strong. his physical strength is very underrated, froch said ward was extremely strong and it threw him off because he didnt expect it. wards team being extremely smart they said that would happen before the fight, that froch would realize he wasnt the stronger man in there and once he did he would get confused and come apart. ward is an atg in the making for sure. Good post. Agreed on almost all parts. Ward is very good in most areas, exceptional in some, one the inside and timing IMO. His mental strength is also one of his best assets. I'm not sold on his stamina yet though. He was certainly fading in the Froch fight.

As Carl Froch said, he's always either too close or too far away.

the main things to me is he is very fundamentally sound and has very few flaws, he is not only extremely well rounded but he has the intelligence to know when to apply certain aspects of his game. if you look at his defense he can block and parry, he can move his head and he can use his feet. offensively he has a complete arsenal of punches including a great jab, he can put brilliant combinations together, work the body and lead or counter. he blends offense and defense very well using an excellent sense of distance, brilliant timing, a superb understanding of angles and an ability to fight at any distance or pace. not only is he so extremely skilled and smart but hes one of the most physicly talented fighters in boxing too and tough as nails to boot. his determination gets overlooked a lot. like his skills his athletic qualities are good or great in all areas. great speed of foot and hand, great reflexes, excellent coordination great chin, great stamina and very, very strong. his physical strength is very underrated, froch said ward was extremely strong and it threw him off because he didnt expect it. wards team being extremely smart they said that would happen before the fight, that froch would realize he wasnt the stronger man in there and once he did he would get confused and come apart. ward is an atg in the making for sure.

The fact that he wins

I don't judge fighters based on their out of the ring persona or personality. As a true boxing fan, you shouldn't either. What now? :rofl:

Ward reminds me of Hopkins in many ways- they have a different set of tools but they both negate their opponent's strengths. I would say that Ward actually is one of the smarter top fighters right now.

Ward is good at EVERYTHING and that is what makes him extremely difficult to beat His biggest weakness is what? His Lack Of Power? But that is the most overrated attributes in boxing today is "POWER" especially when most of these guys don't even know how to setup their Power Ward to me is as close you can get to a complete package and just like B-Hop I see Ward dominating in and around his division for a VERY LONG TIME! And like B-Hop against One-Dimensional Power Punchers, they have their easiest times against those guys...it is going to take legit BOXING SKILLS to beat Ward, I thought Andre Dirrell at one time would have a legit chance at beating Ward but that Window has closed now mostly because of Dirrell's long Layoffs