*Let me preface this by noting, in an attempt to pre-empt red herrings, that I'm addressing how the location of Ward-Froch impacted their bout, not the more general issue of whether it's fair or unfair that Andre Ward has fought only in the US, while other top boxers had to come to the US to fight him.
I think it's reductive to claim that fighting in one's country is significantly advantageous to the home-country fighter in bouts against foreign boxers. The interaction between cultural factors and bout specifics, such as where in the country the bout is occurring and who is fighting, is too varied to make such a blanket statement.
Boxing support in the U.S. tends to be localized (e.g. Philly fans supporting Philly fighters) or linked to ethnicity in certain cases (e.g. boxers of Mexican descent tend to be supported my Mexican fans regardless of where in the U.S. or whether they are American or fighting an American). It doesn't seem to be true, however, that nationality usually leads to broad American support for American boxers in contests against foreigners. I thought this was evident in Ward's bout against Froch, as there was hardly great support for the former in an absolute or relative sense; it may even be that Froch had more support at the fight than Ward did.
There are other advantages commonly gained by being the hometown fighter, but I'm not sure if those were relevant to the Ward-Froch outcome. Ward didn't benefit from unfair officiating, as the referee didn't interact with the fighters such that it benefitted Ward, and two of the judges' scores were harsh to Ward. If Ward did have hometown advantages, they were probably small and stemmed from Froch having to travel a greater distance to reach Atlantic City, and presumably having to make larger adjustments. However, Froch already had big-fight experience in the US and more specifically Atlantic City (unlike Ward) which likely helped him adjust more readily to the different environment and time-zone.
So, Ward didn't have hometown support, hometown officiating, or hometown experience in his favor. So why do some people think that to give us a better idea of how they truly compare, Ward needs to rematch Froch in England, where Froch would probably have prolific and vociferous support that Ward didn't have in Atlantic City, and where Ward would face a level of hostility that Froch didn't face in Atlantic City?
true but thats not how fight fans in america think...
lpete ve mathysse was not considered home ground for peterson
khan when saying he wanted the lpete rematch out of DC to LV is IMO isnt neutral but home for LPETE but since american fight fans are funny like that it becomes a road fight for the american......... assbackwards
um no
once again I WAS AT THIS FIGHT ALSO and the crowd wad 90%
for peterson
people keep talking about fights they weren't at lol
Froch's fan base in the UK is big, the money that it will generate looks like it might be more. Atlantic City might be in the US but it is not Ward's home town by no means. It is directly at the other side of the country.
The location of the fight didn't dictate the outcome. Maybe Froch is thinking that close fight that he had with Dirrell which some ppl think he lost or the decision against Kessler which was a close fight that some ppl thought Froch won
At the end of the day, the fight was held in America, Andre Ward's home country.
Froch is from is from the UK. It's a fair proposal that Ward comes to the UK if they have a rematch is it not?
Especially since Froch is a unified champion holding two of the divisions titles, whereas Ward has none. I am we'll aware he is the 'lineal champion' of the division, but shouldn't a true champion fight around the world to prove his mettle, like Froch has done quite frequently over the last few years.
Financially, it would make more sense to stage the proposed rematch in the UK in my opinion.
And yes, fighting in your home country does have advantages, and not just in scoring and refereeing. Lots of things can be detrimental to a fighters preparation during the build up to a fight. Hometown advantages refer to more than just the officiating.
like what? i've gone over the meaningful one : travel.
the biggest issue that fighters have with going abroad are judges and officiating. other than that the big one is travel. you have to fly thousands of miles and stay in a hotel for a couple of weeks leading into the fight. fighters have been doing that since they were in the amateurs.
atlantic city is 3000 miles (over 5000 km) away from home for andre ward. whatever local fanbase he has in oakland does not exist in atlantic city. the people who buy tickets to fights in atlantic city are just boxing fans and the casual casino crowd. unless you're arturo gatti, an American fighter doesn't have some massive home advantage in AC.
was ward at a greater advantage than froch, who had to come to a foreign country and cross an ocean? yes. that doesn't mean it was in ward's backyard, or that it would give him some massive advantage to fight in atlantic city.
did the location of the fight matter? no. it did not. ask carl froch if he thought the first fight would have gone differently at home. he's an honest guy who would tell you that he got his butt whooped.
Your unconditional support for Ward because he's an American proves he was indeed fighting at home.
East coasters like yourself don't care that he's from the West coast, you support him because he's an American like yourself!
God Bless America! :usa2:
hometown support, similar to the support cotto, tito, pacquiao got stateside.
Your unconditional support for Ward because he's an American proves he was indeed fighting at home.
East coasters like yourself don't care that he's from the West coast, you support him because he's an American like yourself!
God Bless America! :usa2:
i have been ripping andre ward lately... i thought he acted like a jackass on hbo yesterday. i do think he should fight froch in the UK because i think the money is better.
read the posts instead of just looking at my avatar.
Ward always had home country advantage.
Oakland and Atlantic City are both in the USA, just like Nottingham and London are both in the UK.
To say Atlantic City was a neutral location because it wasn't Ward's hometown is the equivalent of saying London would be a neutral location for a rematch since it's not Froch's hometown.
true but thats not how fight fans in america think...
lpete ve mathysse was not considered home ground for peterson
khan when saying he wanted the lpete rematch out of DC to LV is IMO isnt neutral but home for LPETE but since american fight fans are funny like that it becomes a road fight for the american......... assbackwards
it isn't homie. nationality doesn't matter as much when you have imported fighters coming to your country to fight uniformly. outside of HW and CW you aspire to fight in las vegas.
was manny pacquiao american? miguel cotto? tito trinidad? julio cesar chavez ? the list goes on.
nationality matters much less to american fight fans. american fight fans and causuals evaluate/support fighters based on ability and more importantly "star power" i know some don't like to hear that, but it's the truth.
those fighters you name are backed by their people who live in the states with tag along american fans
there aren't any pro american fans and this is why american boxers say what they say that hey have no support..
At the end of the day, the fight was held in America, Andre Ward's home country.
Froch is from is from the UK. It's a fair proposal that Ward comes to the UK if they have a rematch is it not?
Especially since Froch is a unified champion holding two of the divisions titles, whereas Ward has none. I am we'll aware he is the 'lineal champion' of the division, but shouldn't a true champion fight around the world to prove his mettle, like Froch has done quite frequently over the last few years.
Financially, it would make more sense to stage the proposed rematch in the UK in my opinion.
And yes, fighting in your home country does have advantages, and not just in scoring and refereeing. Lots of things can be detrimental to a fighters preparation during the build up to a fight. Hometown advantages refer to more than just the officiating.
Ward always had home country advantage.
Oakland and Atlantic City are both in the USA, just like Nottingham and London are both in the UK.
To say Atlantic City was a neutral location because it wasn't Ward's hometown is the equivalent of saying London would be a neutral location for a rematch since it's not Froch's hometown.
lmao there is no such thing as home country advantage for american fighters since fight fans are fans of ethnicity and national origin
look at trout vs canelo...canelo from mexico had way more if not all the fans in the arena whom are mexican-americans how often do mexican nationals travel to the US to watch there natioinal fighters i mean we wouldn't be able to tell anyway??
um no ...i was at the fight
ward had the advantage
it was in america
rematch should be in montreal
what advantage?
travel is literally the end of it. froch had to travel further.
a bad scorecard that almost made it an SD, even though he completely outclassed froch?
what advantage did ward have over froch by virtue of the fight being in AC? and do you think that was the difference in the fight?
they could fight on the moon. froch is going to get outboxed by a much faster fighter with better defense.
Over here we have Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England. Pit fighters from these nations against each other and each nation gets behind their fighter. Bring a Yank over to fight any of them and all the others would back the UK fighter. Im sure its similar over in the states, Ward may not be from Atlantic City but he is American and most Americans would support him over a foreign fighter coming from across the pond im sure
it isn't homie. nationality doesn't matter as much when you have imported fighters coming to your country to fight uniformly. outside of HW and CW you aspire to fight in las vegas.
was manny pacquiao american? miguel cotto? tito trinidad? julio cesar chavez ? the list goes on.
nationality matters much less to american fight fans. american fight fans and causuals evaluate/support fighters based on ability and more importantly "star power" i know some don't like to hear that, but it's the truth.
Lets put the rematch in Wales then. Surely that would be neutral grounds.
Eastcoast, westcoast, blablabla, you still identify yourselves as Americans, vote in the same election and root for the same national teams. Both sides wave their guns and cry at the national anthem because.. **** ye America!
US is not neutral grounds, not that it necessarily means it will be corrupt and biased. Same is the case with UK.
very ignorant post, harry. california and the bay area waving guns? new jersey waving guns? what the f#ck are you even talking about?
americans vote in very few national elections. the president, being the big one. otherwise, states govern themselves, and states vote propositions independently. they elect officials indepently, who govern the state with autonomy.
california and new jersey are 3000 miles away from each other. they're on the coast of different oceans. ward was not fighting "at home" when he went to atlantic city.
Lumping hilarious that people seem to think Oakland and Atlantic City are the same thing. Comparing it to Nottingham and London is even funnier.
Over here we have Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England. Pit fighters from these nations against each other and each nation gets behind their fighter. Bring a Yank over to fight any of them and all the others would back the UK fighter. Im sure its similar over in the states, Ward may not be from Atlantic City but he is American and most Americans would support him over a foreign fighter coming from across the pond im sure
I don't think anyone seriously suggests Ward won the fight due to some hometown advantage. He fought the better fight and comfortably beat Froch.
But I don't see why that precludes him from fighting Froch in the UK. Yeah he can stay where he is if he wants. But most boxers would relish to fight in the atmosphere on show yesterday. And to be paid more for doing so!