Comments Thread For: Lucian Bute vs Jesse Brinkley Early Results

[Dave Rado]

Anyone who has followed the Super 6 from the beginning knows that Ward's team negotiated Oakland fights for him before the whole thing even started.

So claiming "corruption" is something that only an ill-informed drama queen would do.

How is it not corrupt to give one fighter in a tournament an advantage over all the others? Doing that before the tournament even started doesn't make it any less corrupt - in fact it makes it worse. At least Bute is and was a title holder, and it's normal for a title holder to have home advantage when defending his title. At the start of the tournament Ward held no titles and was unproven, so how is it not corrupt for him to have been given home advantage throughout the tournament up front?

And drama has nothing to do with it. To resort to name calling just because you don't have the ability to discuss an issue in a civilized manner simply makes you look childish.

[ShoulderRoll]

How is it not corrupt to give one fighter in a tournament an advantage over all the others?

If Ward negotiated those Oakland fights for himself, and the managers of the other fighters agreed, who or what is being corrupt?

I wasn't directing the drama queen comment to you specifically but if you actually believe that something underhanded led to the hometown fights for SOG then I think the label fits. You're not looking at the actual reality of what happened.

[Red_Menace]

Nice KO when he decided to step on the gas, but I thought it was looking like a bad night for Bute. He looked sloppy and a bit slow. I don't think he took this one seriously. He should have shown up ready to fight like he's done against better fighters. I'd like to see how he fairs against a more technical fighter. I don't like the way he was crouching down and giving up his height to a shorter man, and he was leaning in with his head a lot with one arm down. A better fighter would take advantage. Miranda was a good win, and Andrade was a better win, but we still haven't seen him in with someone that's more finesse. I think he's one of the better 168 lb fighters, obviously, but I want to see him in with better opposition.

[Dave Rado]

If Ward negotiated those Oakland fights for himself, and the managers of the other fighters agreed, who or what is being corrupt?

Why would the other fighters agree, other than because they were told they had to go along with it or they were out? If you look at how much to-ing and fro-ing was required to get Froch and Abraham to agree on a neutral venue to fight in, it's obvious that most fighters wouldn't give another fighter that advantage lightly. And Ward wasn't even a belt holder at the time, and hadn't yet proven himself against top competition, so it's far from obvious why he would have had so much clout. Hence it's not unreasonable to smell something fishy.

You and I have no idea how Ward achieved what he did in those negotiations, and to say definitively that it either was or wasn't corrupt without knowing why the other fighters agreed to give him a major advantage is just posturing. The fact is that neither of us know whether there was any corruption involved, but it does look fishy.

[ShoulderRoll]

You and I have no idea how Ward achieved what he did in those negotiations, and to say definitively that it either was or wasn't corrupt without knowing why the other fighters agreed to give him a major advantage is just posturing.

We have no idea but to assume corruption on Ward's part is quite a leap of logic.

He and his team have never done anything to deserve to have their name smeared like that...it's pretty irresponsible to be throwing around accusations like that with no proof to back them up.

[Dave Rado]

We have no idea but to assume corruption on Ward's part is quite a leap of logic.

He and his team have never done anything to deserve to have their name smeared like that...it's pretty irresponsible to be throwing around accusations like that with no proof to back them up.

I said there is a whiff of corruption, because why would all the other fighters voluntarily agree to metaphorically tie one hand behind their backs from the outset if they were not forced into it? That is not the same thing at all as assuming that there was corruption. (Whereas you are assuming that there definitely wasn't) To say something looks fishy is not the same thing at all as making an outright accusation. I'm completely open to alternative explanations as to why they agreed up front to give an unproven non-champion hometown advantage throughout the tournament - and in fact I think all neutral boxing fans are owed that explanation.

[ShoulderRoll]

I said there is a whiff of corruption, because why would all the other fighters voluntarily agree to metaphorically tie one hand behind their backs from the outset if they were not forced into it?

Because they completely underrated Ward and assumed it wouldn't matter where he fought?

I find it extremely hard to picture experienced promoters like the Sauerlands and Mick Hennessy letting themselves get tricked or forced into anything.

[Dave Rado]

Because they completely underrated Ward and assumed it wouldn't matter where he fought?

I find it extremely hard to picture experienced promoters like the Sauerlands and Mick Hennessy letting themselves get tricked or forced into anything.

Possible I suppose.