A Look at Andre Ward, Bradley vs. Campbell Goes Bust

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Lyle Fitzsimmons - In this corner… a 40-something Floridian hovering between atheist, agnostic and convert.

And in the other… a mid-20s Californian carrying the nickname “Son of God.”

Indeed, in spite of my wont to take cover whenever someone opens an interview by thanking a supreme being for favoring his consciousness over another’s in a boxing ring, I find it difficult to not root for a guy like Andre Ward.

And while we aren’t likely to be sharing a pew at a Christmas mass, I make no bones about the fact that I was pulling for the 25-year-old Oakland resident on Saturday night when he took a career-defining step against Edison Miranda.

Even though he’d been in just 18 fights against comparative nobodies – compared to the slugging Colombian’s 32 wins and 28 knockouts and three tough losses against reigning world champions at 160 pounds – I was confident Ward had what it took to get it done. [details]

[egreezy]

Shaw should not have demanded options on Nate, who else is out there that makes more sense to fight than Campbell that could really happen?

[Pullcounter]

nate just needs to grab a belt or pay somebody to get him in line to get a belt.

nate should be targeting khan if possible.

[OnePunch]

how can something go "bust" when it was never a serious discussion in the first place?

Shaw didnt do anything that every other promoter in the world doesnt do. They ALL either want options or a contract. Shaw is no different. Thats the way it works. Theres no way we would ever get JMM, Hatton, Ortiz etc. without signing/giving options to GBP, just like theres no way we would ever get Pac, Peterson, etc. without signing/giving options to Top Rank.

Bottom line is if you're not a mandatory or a mega-fight, its next to impossible to make these kind of matches these days. Do I like it? No. But Gary isnt necessarily the bad guy here for doing what everybody else does. You just have to put this issue in its proper context. And because of the legal stuff going on with King, we arent even in a position to give anyone options right now even if we wanted to.

But the writer of this piece didnt tell me it was for a story, or I would have given him the proper backround and context, or just declined to comment. He just emailed me asking "whats Nate's status, and is the Bradley fight likely for this summer?" I replied that giving Shaw options was a deal breaker (which it is at this point). Thats not to say that 3 weeks from now things wont be different.......

[Cadillac Man]

how can something go "bust" when it was never a serious discussion in the first place?

Shaw didnt do anything that every other promoter in the world doesnt do. They ALL either want options or a contract. Shaw is no different. Thats the way it works. Theres no way we would ever get JMM, Hatton, Ortiz etc. without signing/giving options to GBP, just like theres no way we would ever get Pac, Peterson, etc. without signing/giving options to Top Rank.

Bottom line is if you're not a mandatory or a mega-fight, its next to impossible to make these kind of matches these days. Do I like it? No. But Gary isnt necessarily the bad guy here for doing what everybody else does. You just have to put this issue in its proper context. And because of the legal stuff going on with King, we arent even in a position to give anyone options right now even if we wanted to.

But the writer of this piece didnt tell me it was for a story, or I would have given him the proper backround and context, or just declined to comment. He just emailed me asking "whats Nate's status, and is the Bradley fight likely for this summer?" I replied that giving Shaw options was a deal breaker (which it is at this point). Thats not to say that 3 weeks from now things wont be different.......

That's all fine and dandy but Shaw is A SLIMY P.O.S. The guy can't promote to save his life. He takes a little casino money signs the contract and that's it. He doesn't promote the fights or the fighters. Look at Dawson dude can't get a lousy 1,000 people to watch him fight. Why is it when Donaire left he went with TopRank and he drew in the PI. or until Kirkland left he was starting to get a fan base. I just hope Angulo wises up and leaves this clown and goes to TopRank or GBP. Shaw should go back to that MMA freakshow Slice stuff funny how he tried all day to promote that HACK but he doesn't with Dawson!

[Pullcounter]

how can something go "bust" when it was never a serious discussion in the first place?

Shaw didnt do anything that every other promoter in the world doesnt do. They ALL either want options or a contract. Shaw is no different. Thats the way it works. Theres no way we would ever get JMM, Hatton, Ortiz etc. without signing/giving options to GBP, just like theres no way we would ever get Pac, Peterson, etc. without signing/giving options to Top Rank.

Bottom line is if you're not a mandatory or a mega-fight, its next to impossible to make these kind of matches these days. Do I like it? No. But Gary isnt necessarily the bad guy here for doing what everybody else does. You just have to put this issue in its proper context. And because of the legal stuff going on with King, we arent even in a position to give anyone options right now even if we wanted to.

But the writer of this piece didnt tell me it was for a story, or I would have given him the proper backround and context, or just declined to comment. He just emailed me asking "whats Nate's status, and is the Bradley fight likely for this summer?" I replied that giving Shaw options was a deal breaker (which it is at this point). Thats not to say that 3 weeks from now things wont be different.......

wtf? are you trekkas?

[OnePunch]

wtf? are you trekkas?

you've never looked at my sig? Hint: look right below the image of Nate.....

[DLT]

how can something go "bust" when it was never a serious discussion in the first place?

Shaw didnt do anything that every other promoter in the world doesnt do. They ALL either want options or a contract. Shaw is no different. Thats the way it works. Theres no way we would ever get JMM, Hatton, Ortiz etc. without signing/giving options to GBP, just like theres no way we would ever get Pac, Peterson, etc. without signing/giving options to Top Rank.

Bottom line is if you're not a mandatory or a mega-fight, its next to impossible to make these kind of matches these days. Do I like it? No. But Gary isnt necessarily the bad guy here for doing what everybody else does. You just have to put this issue in its proper context. And because of the legal stuff going on with King, we arent even in a position to give anyone options right now even if we wanted to.

But the writer of this piece didnt tell me it was for a story, or I would have given him the proper backround and context, or just declined to comment. He just emailed me asking "whats Nate's status, and is the Bradley fight likely for this summer?" I replied that giving Shaw options was a deal breaker (which it is at this point). Thats not to say that 3 weeks from now things wont be different.......

I dont get what youre saying. You make it sound like signing and giving options are one in the same. There 2 totally different things. Promoters are jerks if they ask for options and it should only happened in the most exreme cases like when a star is giving a fight to a poor guy. Bradley aint no one for Campbell to be taking options from. He may be the Champ but its not like he's a big name that brings a ton of money. Shaw is an idiot and thats why the promoters ruin boxing. He just knows that he's not one of the top promoters anymore and its the only way for him to get new guys to sign with his slick asz

[OnePunch]

That's all fine and dandy but Shaw is A SLIMY P.O.S. The guy can't promote to save his life. He takes a little casino money signs the contract and that's it. He doesn't promote the fights or the fighters. Look at Dawson dude can't get a lousy 1,000 people to watch him fight. Why is it when Donaire left he went with TopRank and he drew in the PI. or until Kirkland left he was starting to get a fan base. I just hope Angulo wises up and leaves this clown and goes to TopRank or GBP. Shaw should go back to that MMA freakshow Slice stuff funny how he tried all day to promote that HACK but he doesn't with Dawson!

I'm telling you, he's no worse than anybody else. Fighters leave promoters all the time, for a variety of reasons. Ortiz left Top Rank to go to Golden Boy. Barerra left Golden Boy and went to King. Nate is leaving King and most likely going to Golden Boy. It happens all the time. But I have to somewhat disagree with you on Angulo. Gary has taken him (an arguably limited fighter at this point) and has gotten him on premium tv on numerous occasions. Here's something to think about. Ortiz is 24-1, and has been with BOTH Top Rank AND GBP. Angulo is only 15-0. Now who has had more premium television dates? Hint: It isn't Ortiz. I do agree with you though that all the EliteXC stuff didnt do Gary any favors within the boxing community.......

[javelin_fangs]

Why do atheists refuse to understand why people thank God after fights/games? You thank God for giving you the strength to do what you do. It doesn't mean you think God actively participated in the outcome, but without God's blessing you can't be as strong as you are with it. It's not that hard to understand.