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No venue for Ward-Dirrell.
From 411mania:
In a telephone conversation with Dan Goossen earlier today, the promoter told 411mania that negotiations are still ongoing with Gary Shaw as it relates to the Super Six World Boxing Classic showdown between Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell.
Both sides have remained pretty firm about not wanting their own fighter to compete in the other's hometown. A large portion of insiders feel Dirrell was robbed in his Round 1 clash with Carl Froch in England while his second fight in his hometown of Detroit resulted in a technical decision win over Arthur Abraham. Meanwhile, Andre Ward has enjoyed both of his fights in Oakland, much to the dismay of some of the Super Six promoters who aren't too thrilled that Ward has not yet had to go on the road.
Goossen, however feels it's less about having a hometown advantage and more about what makes sense financially when explaining his stance on bringing Ward vs. Dirrell to Oakland.
"Obviously Andre has been drawing a lot of fans and big gates, outside of the super fights out there, and that's against fighters that the casual fan doesn't know that well," explained Goossen. "They didn't know who Miranda or Kessler were...they knew he [Kessler] was a champ but that's it and with Green, well he had less name value than Miranda, which wasn't that great to begin with. Andre has been pulling in some big numbers out there..bigger than last weekend's card in Las Vegas even [Marquez-Diaz II]...taking the fight out of Oakland would leave a lot of money on the table."
Goossen also pointed out that Dirrell's fight in his own hometown didn't draw that many fans, especially in comparison to the numbers Ward has done in Oracle Arena throughout the tournament.
As it stands, the two promoters continue to discuss the date and location of the fight which was tentatively scheduled for late September.
Both sides have remained pretty firm about not wanting their own fighter to compete in the other's hometown. A large portion of insiders feel Dirrell was robbed in his Round 1 clash with Carl Froch in England while his second fight in his hometown of Detroit resulted in a technical decision win over Arthur Abraham. Meanwhile, Andre Ward has enjoyed both of his fights in Oakland, much to the dismay of some of the Super Six promoters who aren't too thrilled that Ward has not yet had to go on the road.
Goossen, however feels it's less about having a hometown advantage and more about what makes sense financially when explaining his stance on bringing Ward vs. Dirrell to Oakland.
"Obviously Andre has been drawing a lot of fans and big gates, outside of the super fights out there, and that's against fighters that the casual fan doesn't know that well," explained Goossen. "They didn't know who Miranda or Kessler were...they knew he [Kessler] was a champ but that's it and with Green, well he had less name value than Miranda, which wasn't that great to begin with. Andre has been pulling in some big numbers out there..bigger than last weekend's card in Las Vegas even [Marquez-Diaz II]...taking the fight out of Oakland would leave a lot of money on the table."
Goossen also pointed out that Dirrell's fight in his own hometown didn't draw that many fans, especially in comparison to the numbers Ward has done in Oracle Arena throughout the tournament.
As it stands, the two promoters continue to discuss the date and location of the fight which was tentatively scheduled for late September.
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