Should Andre Ward have his remaining Super Six fights at home?

[The Hammer]

Andre Ward holds a lot to protect his delicate chin. As well, he needs to use deliberate headbutts and hit while holding.

He must be a flawed fighter to need to do it. And that's why he needs home advantage every time he fights a good opponent.

Prediction: the first time Ward faces a world-class opponent in a neutral location with a fair referee, he will lose.

[Walt Liquor]

Just because Ward exposed Kessler's own flaws doesn't make Ward a flawed fighter.Remember,Kessler was supposed to take the super six fight with ease at the start...

the above has nothing to do with wards flaws. But his win over kessler is overrated.

[Sweet Jesus]

Yes, he's earned it.

[ShoulderRoll]

Prediction: the first time Ward faces a world-class opponent in a neutral location with a fair referee, he will lose.

It didn't affect him when he won Olympic gold, did it?

[#1Assassin]

Everybody else had to travel already.

Why does Ward keep getting the home advantage? And why do his home referees keep letting him foul - can't he win if he fights fairly??

ward wouldve travelled too if it wasnt for the circumstances.

his first fight was at home but the second was supposed to be in little rock, but then jermain pulled out. allan green dont sell any tickets in tulsa so it was either oakland or a neutral venue. green was fine with oakland since that brought more money. the third fight with bika wasnt part of the super six.

cant he win fights fairly? watch the fights and i think they speak for themselfs, ward was outclassing kessler for 5 rounds before the first headbutt even happened. ward would dominate green and kessler anywhere on the planet, any objective fan can see that. its just common sense.

that said ofcourse he should (and will) have to travel for the other fights. i think all the rest of the fights will be at a neutral venue.

[JDezi4]

The first option sounds a little crybaby-ish, but in the end, just for the sake of fairness, he should at least have one fight in Europe just to prove a point. But definitely not in Germany. Arthur Abraham is the world's biggest crybaby, and he gets help from the referee every time he complains, so a rough fighter like Ward wouldn't stand a chance.

[tyger]

Usually it goes to purse bids and the winning promoter picks the location. But with Showtime doing the funding they may have some say. Either way Ward has emerged as somewhat of a star in the supersix and ticket sales do well when he fights at home as they do for most fighters, plus ticket prices run high in California. So as long he is tied up in the super six we might most of his fights there. After it is over, he will have to fight around elsewhere.

[damned1974]

The only thing I know is that the Americans weren't given a chance from the very beginning.Then once the Europeans started losing,there were all sorts of excuses from their slack-jawed fans.

In fact,where was all this "hometown advantage" sentiment when Abraham was defending his belt in Europe,as Kessler and the likes of Sebastian Sylvester, Robert Stieglitz,etc are as well.I guess it is only a problem when an American does it,eh? Let's not even forget how many times Calzaghe defended the belts in Europe and in his very own backyard ( while those refs would score TKO's against Joe's unharmed opponents!!!) or Sven Ottke or even how Bute is currently doing so against over-matched bums...The thing is,from the very start of the tournament,everyone knew Ward was scheduled to have 3 hometown fights. Not one fan ( nor the other tournament fighters) had a major protest until he was outclassing his opponents!

With Ward's style,there is bound to be head clashes ...he rushes forward and it is up to the opponent to use movement or the golden rule-protect yourself at all times.With Andre Ward,you guys want to complain if he utilizes too much movement,but if he actually gets aggressive and fights,then you have a problem as well!

I have seen other tournament fighters do deliberate fouls ALL night long (Froch rabbit punching, holding behind the head while hitting,throwing,punching on the break,etc to Dirrell, Abraham giving forearm strikes to Taylor that wobbled him, holding and hitting, etc) without repercussion-you guys simply have a problem and keep the Americans under a microscope without looking at your own favourite fighters-especially "FREEDOM" who always rants negativity towards anyone American.

[damned1974]

Andre Ward holds a lot to protect his delicate chin. As well, he needs to use deliberate headbutts and hit while holding.

He must be a flawed fighter to need to do it. And that's why he needs home advantage every time he fights a good opponent.

Prediction: the first time Ward faces a world-class opponent in a neutral location with a fair referee, he will lose.

LOL! How do you even know if Ward has a delicate chin? When was the last time he was ko'd? Ironic that while you say this,your own man Lucian Bute had his corrupt ref saving his ass against Andrade and he got sparked by Golovkin with headgear on!

I would like to know how Ward's head clashes are deliberate.He rushes in and throws punches and is carelessly aggressive,but that doesn't amount to deliberate or a deemed intentional headbutt.In fact,there is nothing illegal with rushing in on your opponent-you are clutching at straws.

In 2 fights Ward has recently had,there have been headclashes-against Sakio Bika who is even rougher than Ward (being DQ'd in the past like Abraham was),and against Kessler (who liked to complain about headclashes,but couldn't use a jab to keep Ward at a distance,nor could he employ distance in the ring.In fact,nothing he did seemed to be able to keep this supposed "delicate chin" off of Kessler)....it doesn't sound like a very long stretched history does it????
Are you sure it is Ward who is flawed,or is it his opponents who have no answer to Ward's quick movement towards inside fighting?

[damned1974]

the above has nothing to do with wards flaws. But his win over kessler is overrated.

If Ward's win was over-rated,what was Kessler himself,since he was touted to win the whole tournament and nobody thought Ward had a chance in hell since he "hasn't beaten anyone,is too inexperienced,etc"????
In fact,didn't Kessler go on to take the belt from Froch (who should have lost against Dirrell imo) in a very exciting back and forth fight that proved Kessler still had plenty left to offer the boxing world?

I said from day one that Kessler wasn't a shot fighter,but looked to have no adjustments to left handed fighters who are unconventional (just as his fight with Calzaghe,also a southpaw) and fight with pressure.

I would say Ward's win over Kessler was a very solid one and at that time was a big upset.Maybe a debate could be made as to why Kessler had to fight in Oakland since he was the champion at the time,but he completely agreed to the terms because he thought he would steamroll over his inexperienced opponent.