Ward needs to unify the supermiddle

Ward is such a smart fighter in the ring but outside of it his choices seem...not so smart. No doubt Jay offered him good money per fight but he can't offer good opportunities, at least compared to what Ward could get elsewhere. Haymon basically has everyone at 168, yet Ward signed with his nemesis, who has nobody else signed at 168 or 175. It didn't seem like a good idea at the time and it still doesn't now. Roc Nation is a terrible promoter. They have nothing to offer any fighter who signs with them. They were lucky with Cotto because he has a title that everyone in the MW division is after, but Ward has nothing to offer. His title is basically worthless as he has not defended it in almost three years. He demands paydays that are well above what he deserves at this point in time and there is no one at Roc Nation who knows boxing enough or who has enough balls and power to sit Ward down and put him in his place and explain the facts to him. Ward needs to realize that the boxing world has changed. He is no longer a major force or a major name. He has no power to make demands and he needs to build his name back up. The only way to do that is in the ring, not on YouTube giving interviews complaining about having his name mentioned. If it was not for GGG and boxing media and fans linking them together, no one would be talking about Ward at all and he would have been long forgotten. If anything, he should be sending Golovkin and K2 a case of their favourite libation to thank them.

the best fights at 168 lbs are off-limits to him due to politics. however, i'd be content with chudinov (should he beat buglioni) and ramirez as time-fillers while he waits on golovkin. if he moves directly to lhw, then i guess the plan is pascal and kovalev, probably with a soft touch in between

Ward's not unifying at 168 due to politics and his unwillingness to travel. I'd be fine with Ward staying at 168 in Oakland and rebuilding his brand fighting guys like Mohammedi, Eckpo, Periban, and Medina -- if -- he was fighting every couple months, 4x a year. Instead he's looking at nearly 6 months between his tune up fights, fighting guys who are less of a challenge than the ones I just named.

That is what GGG is doing. I heard Ward is moving to 175. If he does let's see if he is as eager to face Kovalev as he says he is to fight the much smaller GGG at 168.

the best at 168 are far worse than the best at 175 Arthur Abraham, who looked far better at 160 (5'9"), already lost to Ward and hasn't looked himself in years is ranked #1 at 168. Ward would have to fight unproven mid-packers and deflated hypejobs. And we don't even know if he can still cut. 175 is way way more interesting. Yeah, Ward did clean up the division and these fighters are right where Ward left them. But he should unify...I guess LWH is where its at with the HBO contract.

Too much politics. I don't think the fans are ever going to see the best fight the best. Boxing needs to take a page out of the ufc playbook You think that they should send all the good fighters to one promoter and let the others kind of fight over the remaining scraps?

I'm so sick of reading all these threads about Ward. He's a great fighter but does he have a fight on the books yet?

Too much politics. I don't think the fans are ever going to see the best fight the best. Boxing needs to take a page out of the ufc playbook the best at 168 are far worse than the best at 175 Arthur Abraham, who looked far better at 160 (5'9"), already lost to Ward and hasn't looked himself in years is ranked #1 at 168. Ward would have to fight unproven mid-packers and deflated hypejobs. And we don't even know if he can still cut. 175 is way way more interesting.

Too much politics. I don't think the fans are ever going to see the best fight the best. Boxing needs to take a page out of the ufc playbook

I agree with you. Ward has the best footwork in the division. Head and shoulders above the competition. Still, he should fight and win the belts. The belts would help him become a ppv star.

Haymon doesn't like Roc Nation and they don't like Haymon, it's really that simple, they will never work together. HBO realized that and pretty much told Ward and Roc Nation they can go to hell with there demands and sent them packing to blowing through money over at BET. Roc Nation realizes they need HBO and so does Ward, so now they accepted a 3 fight deal which he has to move up in weight. And to be quite honest The fighters you mentioned are easy pickings for Ward.

The only fight for Ward at '68 that would make sense, at least to me, would be Chunky. And he's with Haymon. So...

-168 is a division on the brink of total collapse, a vacuum ruled by the leftovers of the outgoing generation. -Ward might not even be able to make weight anymore. I don't think he fought at 172 lbs for no reason. -175 is where the money and opponents are.

I have no problem with him moving up now. He's already beaten the best the division had to offer once, now that it's refreshed I won't hold it against him if he wanted to move up and make some big money. Besides, I don't think anyone in that division wins more than three or four rounds against Ward in a fight at his best - not any of them.

http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=689169 That's the reason.