Official: Ward VS Smith Pre/Post fight thread

I had a great time but the concert thing sucked. :boxing: Me too. The concert didn't suck but I wish they had a better artist. E40 woukd have been the shiz.

I had a great time but the concert thing sucked. :boxing:

After crushing Smith, @andreward gave the overweight fine money back to him. Quite a guy. My blog: http://t.co/dm03crqme8 #boxing— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) June 22, 2015

Ward is back.

Ward looked good, but he was supposed to, against a zombie like Smith. However, as some others have pointed out, Smith managed to somehow rock Ward a bit. To me, Ward has a ways to go before he faces top competition again.

Absolute joke of a fight. Simple as that really. There's never been a fighter who has turned up for a pay-check so obviously and unashamedly! Ward should be mocked for this fight until his next one, the lay off is simply no excuse. He even got clipped mid rounds and tried to hold, recovered very well though, but Smith is literally dog**** with no power. I may be going overboard on this but the whole thing just stunk, even his celebrations at the end of the fight cringed me out, acting like he stopped Degale in there or something. Wasn't they giving away thousands of tickets too?! Rubio likely quit against Golovkin. He lays himself flat as if he's done then gets up at 9 1/2 seconds and acts all confused as to why the fight got stopped :lol1: Although I wouldn't blame Rubio if he did decide to throw in the towel himself.

Absolute joke of a fight. Simple as that really. There's never been a fighter who has turned up for a pay-check so obviously and unashamedly! Ward should be mocked for this fight until his next one, the lay off is simply no excuse. He even got clipped mid rounds and tried to hold, recovered very well though, but Smith is literally dog**** with no power. I may be going overboard on this but the whole thing just stunk, even his celebrations at the end of the fight cringed me out, acting like he stopped Degale in there or something. Wasn't they giving away thousands of tickets too?!

Reactions to the fights fellas!

If Ward fights again this year, it will be against another soft mark. Still have no idea if he can make 168 again or if he will stay at LHW and we still need to see him against a quality fighter to know exactly what he still has because last night showed us nothing at all. If I was DeGale, I would force Ward to travel to England if he wants a title fight. :lol1: the irony here is UNGODLY :rofl: a GGG supporter saying we need to see a fighter who has cleaned out his division against a QUALITY OPPONENT...WOW!!! lmfao

At best, he could fight DeGale by the end of this year. At worst, DeGale/Groves 2 happens and Ward fights the winner in mid-late 2016. If Ward fights again this year, it will be against another soft mark. Still have no idea if he can make 168 again or if he will stay at LHW and we still need to see him against a quality fighter to know exactly what he still has because last night showed us nothing at all. If I was DeGale, I would force Ward to travel to England if he wants a title fight.

Sounds like LHW is next. Ducklovkin and Froch don't have any balls and Ward will have to wait ages for DeGale or Groves to step up. Kovalev, Pascal await. At best, he could fight DeGale by the end of this year. At worst, DeGale/Groves 2 happens and Ward fights the winner in mid-late 2016.

If you want to waste 20mins of your life.

Lol at some of the comments here. Ward took 9 rounds to do what a green George Groves did in 2. Smith looked bored/disinterested. 9 rounds to stop a slow moving punchbag - statement fight, that! Ward did well in the fight. Of course it was against an opponent that he was supposed to beat easily but he took care of business. The best thing for a fighter who has been out of the ring for 19 months is to get some rounds in. Anybody expecting Ward to jump in and stop this guy early is foolish. He worked on a lot of things in this fight and worked the rust off so to speak. It is also difficult when your opponent shells up and gives you nothing to work with. This fight was a good start for Ward. Hopefully, he can get back in the ring in the fall.

Ward/Kessler had over 10k people. 10,277 so it's his best since November 2009. Date---------------Fight--------Attendance-------------Venue 6/20/2015----Ward/Smith---------9,016-----Oracle Arena, Oakland,CA 11/16/2013---Ward/Rodriguez----4,158-----Citizens Bank, Ontario,CA 9/8/2012------Ward/Dawson------8,919-----Oracle Arena, Oakland,CA 12/17/2011---Ward/Froch---------5,626-----Boardwalk Hall, AC,NJ 5/14/2011----Ward/Abraham-----5,311-----StubHub Center, Carson, CA 11/27/2010---Ward/Bika----------4,100-----Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA 6/19/2010-----Ward/Green--------8,797-----Oracle Arena, Oakland,CA 11/21/2009----Ward/Kessler-----10,277-----Oracle Arena, Oakland,CA 5/16/2009-----Ward/Miranda------7,818-----Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA

Pretty impressive performance considering his layoff, though the quality of opponent needs to be taken into account. Smith simply didn't give him anything to think about. Nice to see Ward back regardless. His jab especially looked masterful: fast, fluid, varied and on point. Bit concerned that Smith was able to hurt him in the fourth or whenever it was, but not a big deal. He got the jab done. Onwards and upwards.

Did you find it weird there was no post fight interview? They announced the decision, and goodnight. It was a missed opportunity to question Ward on how he felt, 168, or 175, and who he's calling out.

No smilies? DeGale gets beat by Ward. My mistake for not making it clearer. Nothing more to take from it. I don't doubt it. I didn't suggest anything to the contrary. :lol1:

No smilies? DeGale gets beat by Ward. My mistake for not making it clearer. Nothing more to take from it. I don't doubt it. I didn't suggest anything to the contrary. :lol1:

I'm puzzled why you keep bringing up DeGale. If anything, your last post lends credence to my opener, and devalues Ward's victory even further. No smilies? DeGale gets beat by Ward. My mistake for not making it clearer. Nothing more to take from it.

Why? He got beat by Groves in his 11th. :lol1: I'm puzzled why you keep bringing up DeGale. If anything, your last post lends credence to my opener, and devalues Ward's victory even further.