Ward asked for all 3 of his fights to be in his hometown?

[dstew]

and you have to think arkansas and michigan are no big fight markets so it makes sense. I doubt taylor or dirrell draw half that amount in their cities bc they r dead cities

A few years ago Taylor was drawing 10,000+ crowds in Little Rock, but that was when he was an undefeated champion and a local hero. Lackluster title defenses and a few losses have seen the fairweather fans disappear; there is no way he could draw a bigger gate here than Ward can in Oakland, so from a financial standpoint it makes sense to hold the fight there.