World titlists faced ("big four" top champs, Ring, or lineal only; no interim, Regular, Diamond, IBO, etc):
W Mikkel Kessler TD 11 (unanimous technical decision after a cut)
W Sakio Bika UD 12
W Arthur Abraham UD 12
W Carl Froch UD 12
W Chad Dawson TKO 10
W Sergey Kovalev UD 12
W Sergey Kovalev TKO 8
WBA/WBC/Ring/Lineal at 168
WBA/WBO/IBF/Ring at 175
cleaned out and won a tournament in which i believe before it started was one of the biggest underdogs in if not the biggest.....then went up in class to face a top 3 p4p fighter at the time who was a feared, unbeaten, KO machine
if there had been any real money fights left he would have stuck around....there werent any established names/money fights that could generate alot of interest....he prob would have been looking at taking paycuts to stay around and then fight guys like bivol and beterbiev....not worth it.....once you start making 6.5-7 mil paydays its hard to take a step back.....
bivol and beterbiev would have been really tough fights for him no doubt....but there wasnt enough interest in those guys and them facing ward...he prob would have had to cut his pay in half
Comment