Ward To Pull A Duran

[The Old LefHook]

Duran was dirty to never give Buchanan a rematch when he took the title from him. I do not predict Ward, for all his squalling about Christian principles, is going to pull the same shot on Kovalev, but I am close. It looks like he may try to find a way out of it. He may retire rather than face him again. Kovalev is under no obligation to Ward to "admit" that he lost. Is that in a contract somewhere? Especially when he thinks he didn't.

I had quite a bit of respect for Ward before this fight, I did not care for his style, but I knew he was quite good and I fell for his Christian baloney. I don't think he won the fight. He couldn't break an egg. He had punch marks all over him. He thinks he won. He really does, he is not lying. 1/4 of boxing fans think he won. One might think such a statistic would inspire a real champion to get the business of a rematch done, if he thinks he is superior, then.

Ward has not backed out yet, but let's put some historical perspective on it, in case he tries. Has there ever been a champ as good and respected as Kovalev who was dethroned in a close fight and never given a rematch, or will Ward, if he decides to be a punk, be going for a boxing redcord?

[billeau2]

Well of course! the great heavyweight champ from South Africa Corrie Sanders! Rather than face Vlad's face again on his mitts he decided to play a few rounds of golf and fight his brother....ok maybe more than a few rounds of golf?

[billeau2]

Duran was dirty to never give Buchanan a rematch when he took the title from him. I do not predict Ward, for all his squalling about Christian principles, is going to pull the same shot on Kovalev, but I am close. It looks like he may try to find a way out of it. He may retire rather than face him again. Kovalev is under no obligation to Ward to "admit" that he lost. Is that in a contract somewhere? Especially when he thinks he didn't.

I had quite a bit of respect for Ward before this fight, I did not care for his style, but I knew he was quite good and I fell for his Christian baloney. I don't think he won the fight. He couldn't break an egg. He had punch marks all over him. He thinks he won. He really does, he is not lying. 1/4 of boxing fans think he won. One might think such a statistic would inspire a real champion to get the business of a rematch done, if he thinks he is superior, then.

Ward has not backed out yet, but let's put some historical perspective on it, in case he tries. Has there ever been a champ as good and respected as Kovalev who was dethroned in a close fight and never given a rematch, or will Ward, if he decides to be a punk, be going for a boxing redcord?

Aw lefty your buyin this shizzle? social media bs... if ward ducks, and thats a big if, fine we can all curse him out, but until then...

[Anthony342]

Would be kind of strange, since I don't remember Ward previously being considered a ducker.

[billeau2]

Would be kind of strange, since I don't remember Ward previously being considered a ducker.

I think its social media. If he does duck the rematch he better have a good explanation! I have no problem saying "I was wrong" I just imagine that scene in a Fish Called Wanda where "Otto (Kevin Kline)" the CIA agent is dangling John Cleese out the window by his legs many stories up as Cleese apologizes for calling Otto a cave man!

[joeandthebums]

I can't see the rematch coming off unless Roc Nation are willingly to take another financial loss to guarantee Ward his desired purse.

The terms were agreed before the first fight between promoters, Main Events & Roc Nation. Ward is only tangled up if he is still with his promoters (expect he is).

Roc Nation guaranteed him $5 million and the fight only generated 160k PPV buys.

Their losses haven't been revealed but the recent Pacquiao-Vargas bout needed 180k to break even and that was with Arum saving himself 7.5% of HBO's take, Vargas $2.8million purse and Pacquiao on a percentage of the revenue.

How bad were Roc Nation's losses and are they prepared to suffer again - or do they think the rematch does better?

[BattlingNelson]

This thread is borderline nsb stuff.

Please keep it clean or I'll move it.

[The Old LefHook]

Ward is under obligation to fight Kovalev, not receive an admission of defeat from him.

I object to what seems a trend among judges. I did not feel Trinidad beat Hoya, either. He faded, true, but fading only means you lose a fight in the eyes of some judges. Are we going by rounds or not? Fading is a subjective intrusion by judges in events already overburdened with subjectivity. Just keep the forking score, no one cares whether you (judge) thinks someone faded, we saw it too. He faded and still won, that is how I saw the fight, as well as the Hoya/Trinidad affair. Three quatrters of boxing fans agree with me.

In general, I think boxing judging is really ragged and inconsistent to the point of endangering the fan base of the sport. I do not believe I am alone in this sentiment. I don't know why an examination of judging would be considered NSB stuff. First, I asked for historical examples. I did not get much back. I gave one myself in another thread--the draw between Robinson and Fullmer. The scorecards were 11-4 Robinson, 9-6 Fullmer, and 8-8 even. Man, that is some discrepancy. We see that these days, too, and we can see there is nothing new about such wild discrepancies in scoring.

Sure, it is a wild idea, but since boxing judges seem incapable of rendering sound decisions much of the time unlike their counterparts in UFC, the only solution to boxing's problem is pain helmuts. These helmuts would be capable of measuring the pain of punches received. Don't laugh, for it will come, and boxing will benefit greatly, UFC maybe not. Judging will be done electronically through the helmuts. The helmuts will not only provide a pain reading, they will measure a host of pscychological and physical parameters. I will not be alive when this finally comes about, but some of you reading this will be. People do not want to watch judges keep screwing it up. The numbers bear that out, I believe. I know people who used to be fans who now laugh at the mention of the sport.

[The Old LefHook]

Aw lefty your buyin this shizzle? social media bs... if ward ducks, and thats a big if, fine we can all curse him out, but until then...

I don't know what you're talking about, son. I am buying Ward's quotes, nothing else. I do not do social media. Never been on FaceBook in my life, do not intend to be.

[billeau2]

I don't know what you're talking about, son. I am buying Ward's quotes, nothing else. I do not do social media. Never been on FaceBook in my life, do not intend to be.

Exactly. Social Media becomes a lot like this board: I would be willing to bet that if, for example, Ray met Jugs, having no inclination about who he was, you might hear something like "its nice to see younger guys still practicing the craft." and Juggie likewise...they get on here and well, you know how that goes.

Any comments, any thoughts become magnified with "Twitter", etc. If Ward and Kovalev had this fight in 1965, you just would not hear the back and fourth, and I doubt there would be much fuss.

Social media magnifies and turns a mountain into a molehill... Ward's wife that day may have done something that pisses him off...he reads Kathy Duva shooting her mouth off, Ward decides that nobody will tell him what to do....you follow me Lefty? Twitter is always there.

I can't sleep I see your post, I don't have to go and dial your number, here I am posting. Sometimes this is great, other times its a disaster and what I always do is follow a person's actions. Given Ward's actions I believe this fight happens. It might be tough because it did not draw much...but they will figure it out. I could be wrong on this point! there might even be a legitimate problem where the fight jut can't pay out, in which case I might actually defend Ward. But that would have to be a pay cut.

Lets see if this happens. I think the fight will be...Joe and the Bums might be right that another fight to build interest might have to happen first.