Why are they waiting till the end of next year to make the Ward-Kovalev fight?

Do we really need to see these guys fight two stiffs before they fight each other?why are they milking this? Make the fight for early next year or in the summer. because if he move up and ko's the two stiffs and kov does the same no casual fan will care and it would be the two top fighters one p4p number 2 and the other near the top ten fighting

You do not build hype by fighting people no one has ever heard of outside Australia, unless Ward intends to fight Kovalev down under. If RN and HBO want to build some hype around Ward, he has to get in the ring against some top 10 ranked fighters that the fans are aware of and wipe the mat with them. Anything less is a total waste of time and money. You build fight by having guys on TV period. A lot of fighters depend on word-of-mouth to keep them in the public consciousness. They need people like you and me to say to their friends and roommates, "hey this guy is fighting, he's from Oakland and is the last American boxer to win a gold medal, wanna watch him?" so that those same people we invited are later willing to buy tickets for the Big Test or whatever.

:thinking:Because Ward is a god gifted masterpiece and deserves to do whatever he wants in boxing. If he wants 3 tuneups, he can have 3 tuneups. But GGG doesn't need 3, he must fight at 168 against the best right away Theres were some others that considered GGG-Froch offer , a ducking move to not fight Ward. Now all of sudden Ward fights some top 40 SW at LHW and "nobody" says nothing...SMH. I also don't expect Ward to fight Kova right away, but come on 3 tune ups, and against nobodies. Sad to see that, hopefully his third tuneup is good.

I agree completely. I will believe it when I see an official announcement from HBO regarding the three fight deal. I just cannot see HBO accepting Rohan as an opponent for a PPV match and promoting it as co main event. Makes no sense to me at all. I know that I would not buy the PPV based on that fight alone and would go watch it in a bar. Fights like that are a insult to real boxing fans, not an incentive to watch. Fighting the likes of Smith and Rohan is as if you don't fight at all.

Do we really need to see these guys fight two stiffs before they fight each other?why are they milking this? Make the fight for early next year or in the summer. Because if it happened today it would generate 2 PPV buys, me and you.

This is the same crap that PBC is doing it makes no sense I understand one gimme fight but why do they need two? HBO would do it right away if it were up to them. Ward is making things difficult. HBO is not in the business of protecting fighters. Don't know why this is not obvious to some people. It's clear as day.

My 'guess' is that (for the moment) Ward isn't really heading towards a Kovalev fight. I agree completely. I will believe it when I see an official announcement from HBO regarding the three fight deal. I just cannot see HBO accepting Rohan as an opponent for a PPV match and promoting it as co main event. Makes no sense to me at all. I know that I would not buy the PPV based on that fight alone and would go watch it in a bar. Fights like that are a insult to real boxing fans, not an incentive to watch.

You do not build hype by fighting people no one has ever heard of outside Australia, unless Ward intends to fight Kovalev down under. If RN and HBO want to build some hype around Ward, he has to get in the ring against some top 10 ranked fighters that the fans are aware of and wipe the mat with them. Anything less is a total waste of time and money. My 'guess' is that (for the moment) Ward isn't really heading towards a Kovalev fight.

Glad someone is talking sense. The whole point of getting these guys a few fights first is to get people talking about them & preparing for their returns. Every time they fight they're exposed to bigger audiences and word-of-mouth buzz. People on this forum don't represent the vast majority of ticket-buying boxing fans out there, to reach those people it takes a fight or two or three. Joe Public isn't buying tickets to a guy he's only seen once on TV, and he's certainly not buying PPVs for it. Give these guys a few fights to build some hype. You do not build hype by fighting people no one has ever heard of outside Australia, unless Ward intends to fight Kovalev down under. If RN and HBO want to build some hype around Ward, he has to get in the ring against some top 10 ranked fighters that the fans are aware of and wipe the mat with them. Anything less is a total waste of time and money.

Neither Kovalev nor Ward are with Haymon. He isn't involved in this at all. Roc Nation are Ward's promoters. They want him to fight Kovalev, but Ward hasn't said that he wants the fight, and neither has his trainer, Virgil Hunter. Imo, it isn't going to happen. You misunderstood my point, I know Haymon doesn't manage either.

Because they're gonna make it a PPV and if they did it now they'd lose a lot of money. A whole year to build up with shit sandwhich matchups in between to raise visibility and hype up the fight between the two

Because Ward is broke and needs to get used to the weight. Anyone who thinks that fighting an unknown, inexperienced 23 year old on an undercard will build 'hype' is delusional. Especially since Ward uses a very boring style for most casual fans. If he beats Kov, his popularity will come back.

So Ward can adjust to the weight and build the hype.

They need enough time so ward has an excuse why he can't fight. It's not about ring rust. He's supposedly the best fighter in the world who just fought. Now he needs another tune up?? Lol. What a joke.

Glad someone is talking sense. The whole point of getting these guys a few fights first is to get people talking about them & preparing for their returns. Every time they fight they're exposed to bigger audiences and word-of-mouth buzz. People on this forum don't represent the vast majority of ticket-buying boxing fans out there, to reach those people it takes a fight or two or three. Joe Public isn't buying tickets to a guy he's only seen once on TV, and he's certainly not buying PPVs for it. Give these guys a few fights to build some hype. Yeah, let Ward fight tune ups while Kovalev fights higher profile fighters and builds the PPV. Then Ward can get the handout he's been begging for. Wonder if he expects Kovalev to go ahead and sign the deal for 50/50 split now for their fight next year...when Kovalev will be worth more money lol

Nobody cares about promoters. Boxers are the ones with the fans that ppl pay money to see. Not promoters. And you're basically ok with Ward just fighting bums for 1-2 million dollars while guys like Kovalev, pascal and even Gonzalez can't get him yet. You act like Ward has made a career of fighting lower class opponents. Ward had a decent opponent in his return from shoulder surgery. Ward fought a lower teir opponent in his recent return but people forget that he's literally had two fights in almost three years! Before anyone says it, I know the contract issues were mostly Ward's fault. Still doesn't change the fact that Ward hasn't been in the ring on a consistent basis for a while. And yes, I'd like to see him face a B+ 175lbs fighter before he faces Kovalev. But I was at his last fight and believe Ward has more ring rust than people realize so his desire for another tune-up is warranted in my opinion. As far as Ward's salary, they wouldn't pay him the money if it wasn't there. I think every fighter should get as much as they can each time they fight. In this game tomorrow isn't promised. My comment about promoters was in reference to the selective outrage that people have when it comes to certain areas or people in boxing. My stance is still the same......

to be fair, Gonzalez should be getting in the ring with Kovalev. Ward can take Pascal and the winner of the above scenario. Im OK with both guys as the first opponent for Ward at 175. Gonzalez won in most ppls eyes but Pascal was banging with the dude. Could have gone either way imo.

Is this really a question? Outside of hard core boxing fans, who knows Andre Ward especially in the LHW division? He was hot for a minute but his inactivity fizzled him out just like its doing Mikey Garcia. They need to build up Ward as the big threat in LHW and Krusher needs more American exposure in order to make it a big PPV. Glad someone is talking sense. The whole point of getting these guys a few fights first is to get people talking about them & preparing for their returns. Every time they fight they're exposed to bigger audiences and word-of-mouth buzz. People on this forum don't represent the vast majority of ticket-buying boxing fans out there, to reach those people it takes a fight or two or three. Joe Public isn't buying tickets to a guy he's only seen once on TV, and he's certainly not buying PPVs for it. Give these guys a few fights to build some hype.

because absences makes the heart grow fonder! :luvbed:

Smfh ain't that some sh1t. Dude hasn't fought anyone meaningful in yrs. can't even get him in the ring with Gonzalez. to be fair, Gonzalez should be getting in the ring with Kovalev. Ward can take Pascal and the winner of the above scenario.