Why was Ward never a cash cow in States?

wards problem was partially he was too big size wise to piss off the latino fighters and fans, who seem to be big followers of boxing, fighting a bunch of euros who all of wards fans think are over rated anyway probably didnt help either

- -Wart, The Son of Dog a domestic sissy level fighter on the level of Androgynous today. Turned down a record purse vs Bute who was rated over him at the time. He don't even need a jockstrap! He won a gold medal. That alone makes him a world class level fighter, not domestic level.

He should have signed with a better promoter than Goosen. And I felt Lucian Bute shouldn't just get handed a shot at Ward right after the Super Six, since Bute had failed to participate in the tournament. But in hindsight Ward should have taken that fight to keep his momentum growing. He would have beaten him just like he beat Carl Froch. - -Wart, The Son of Dog a domestic sissy level fighter on the level of Androgynous today. Turned down a record purse vs Bute who was rated over him at the time. He don't even need a jockstrap!

If something was this easy to quantify, it would be easy to become a star, and we all know that it isn't easy. It's a little like catching lightning in a bottle sometimes.

You have to generate excitement in or out of the ring, Ward was boring in the ring and had no personality outside of the ring. People like KOs. And if a fighter doesn't have an exciting style for the casuals, then he needs to be able to talk and sell himself. Being an American doesn't make you an automatic draw like being from other countries.

He should have signed with a better promoter than Goosen. And I felt Lucian Bute shouldn't just get handed a shot at Ward right after the Super Six, since Bute had failed to participate in the tournament. But in hindsight Ward should have taken that fight to keep his momentum growing. He would have beaten him just like he beat Carl Froch.

Ugly style, boring dude. Plus being a bible-bashing do-gooder isn't going to endear you to boxing fans.

the mental ward couldn't even sell out at his hometown of Oakland. I remember going to barber shops in Oakland and they were trying to give out tickets to his fight for free just to help make it look like folks came out for him. He never fought out of his back yard and is ducking Canelo.

My opinion is, he didn't have a personality. He didn't do promoting. Much like Crawford.

Lack of exposure: with other boxers they're usually active on social media and fans can catch a glimpse of what they're doing; I hardly recall any Andre Ward fan outreach. Additionally Ward never really fought in a major boxing venue until the Froch and Kovalev fights. If Ward headlined MGM or MSG I think he would've commanded a higher purse going on. Lack of capitalizing on the Super 6: Winning the Super 6 was the START to something big, but then he let Froch take the Bute fight. I think a lot of fighters win 1 big fight and think they have all sorts of momentum when really they need more then 1 big fight to be a big star. I liken it to a snowball: winning a big fight pushes your snowball down the hill but you gotta keep racking up wins to make that snowball bigger. Promoter Issue: Ward had a lot of issues with Dan Goosen which caused him to sit out a lot of the time. It's hard to be a fan of someone if they aren't fighting. Between 2011 and 2015, which should've been the years he established his fan base, Ward fought only 5 times, skipping 2014 entirely. Never fully unified: I think he should have unified against Bute/Froch and Dmitry Pirog. I think not doing that was a missed opportunity to be a major A side player. Lack of a Casual Fan Attracting win: Ward's two biggest rivals Froch and Kovalev had signature KO victories that was crowd pleasing and no controversy. Froch had a big come back from behind, last minute KO of Taylor and a pasting of Bute. Kovalev was just a KO machine. Ward's biggest KO win was Chad Dawson who always was a toss up between hot and cold, and Dawson came down in weight which left a bad taste in people's mouths. Big Prima-donna: Against Edwin Rodriguez Ward was visibly upset that his opponent was making a million dollars. The whole entire build up to that fight was Ward whining and complaining that Edwin was making too much and it was as big turn off for people.

Ward screwed up his most marketable years after winning the Super Six tournament and beating Chad Dawson and Edwin Rodriguez, by spending nearly 2 of them suing his dying promoter, Dan Goosen. He was also injured during that period (which of course, wasn't his fault). Besides that, he would hardly ever leave his comfort zone to fight anyone outside of Oakland.

But but Floyd was also UD king at 147. And Floyd was a huge star only when he moved up to 147. the most of modern casuals don`t know his fights from low divisions. thats true i was thinking that when i wrote it actually but floyd came to 147, beat hatton in a big fight, then jmm (hehe) mosley etc, people tuned in to see if floyd could be beat or pushed hard, even if they were old and undersized etc, but floyd also delivered to his fans, he landed clean crisp clear shots, not all the time but enough to keep them happy, he won rounds & had fairly big name opponents most of the time to keep it going, he also called himself the best & rematched maidana straight away after that very close fight

i was looking through his record actually and there is a lot of UD's in there so maybe it was hard to hype the guy up but ive heard some of his fans call him the best of his generation and easy atg But but Floyd was also UD king at 147. And Floyd was a huge star only when he moved up to 147. the most of modern casuals don`t know his fights from low divisions.

i was looking through his record actually and there is a lot of UD's in there so maybe it was hard to hype the guy up but ive heard some of his fans call him the best of his generation and easy atg

i dont usually feel sorry for any russians for anything but i thought kov got double dealed v ward, first he got his titles robbed off him then for the rematch ward somehow, not even sure how, got some crazy guarantee of close to 7 mil for the fight, based off poor sales from the first fight & kov got no guarantee or a very low one if anything, i mean the guy was totally shafted, no wonders hes an alco after that, that would drive me nuts Yep. I understand completely why he took Canelo fight on short notice.

i dont usually feel sorry for any russians for anything but i thought kov got double dealed v ward, first he got his titles robbed off him then for the rematch ward somehow, not even sure how, got some crazy guarantee of close to 7 mil for the fight, based off poor sales from the first fight & kov got no guarantee or a very low one if anything, i mean the guy was totally shafted, no wonders hes an alco after that, that would drive me nuts

Well I think he didn’t have quite the charisma and fun, trash talking style of an Ali or Tyson (or even some of the foreigners Americans love like Fury or in UFC, McGregor). I think a lot of Americans like the trash talking that can be sharp and biting but doesn’t take itself too seriously. Ali had an incredible way of words, and he could be sharp and insulting, but it had a playful style. Mike Tyson could say some dumb, odd sort of things, but also could come across as a playground bully in a rather amusing sort of way. I don’t think we really have an American fighter since Mike Tyson with that sort of charisma and charm. For awhile I thought Wilder might become that, but he seems to take everything too seriously and acts like the world is out to get him. And getting back to your original question — Ward didn’t really trash talk much, he had a very quiet, almost humorless demeanor, and I think that was a bit of a turn off for all but the most devoted fans. In addition, as for fighting styles, Americans tend to like boxers who give them their money’s worth in the ring. They want to see incredible punch dodges, and amazing knockouts. In general, all but the most nerdy type boxing fans tend to get a bit bored with the sort of mauling, holding and clinching that Ward used to great effect. He was no GGG (whom you mentioned) who kind of always did the game plan of going toe to toe throwing power punches at his opponents, usually tearing through them like a lawnmower, at least until he reached the top level where he had a bit rougher of a time (see: Jacobs, Canelo). I see in your original post that you labeled one of his attributes as “slick”, but I don’t really see that. He was no Pernell Whitaker. He never really struck me as especially athletic, and mostly mauled and rucked his way through fights (very successfully I might add). And as another poster pointed out, he didn’t really have the sort of boxing Adonis physique that tends to draw admiration from casuals. He kind of had the body of a local pastor or financial advisor who happened to take his health seriously and do some swimming and calisthenics on weekends. But no Adonis frame like Mike Tyson. As for not making a lot of money fighting, that probably is best answered by pointing out how he didn’t fight often like Canelo, for example, or into his forties like Hopkins, or even just to the cusp of his forties like Mayweather. He retired quite young, and he didn’t fight too often. He didn’t really have the ideal career in my opinion, but he did what he wanted to do and was very successful to the extend that he did fight. No one was able to defeat him, and he fought his share of tough opponents. I think that counts for a lot, and history will probably be kinder to him as time passes.

Did Ward send out poverty tweets or something ? A GoFundMe ? He beat everyone's ass that got in the ring with him. Would be a nightmare matched with anyone.

because he was basically an American Sven Ottke?

It doesnt take a genius to figure this out. A boxer - in any way possible - should be able to capture the fans. Ward's style gets wins but isn't fan friendly. Winning is not everything in the pros. Funny, Mayweather became a huge star when he moved to 147 and became boring to watch. Mayweather from smaller divisions was much more fan friendly.