Is Andre Ward comparible to Pre-Pacquiao Tim Bradley?

[The Evil 1-2]

What would you say are Bradleys flaws, if he's not a well rounded fighter?

First and foremost, I would say his lack of power is definitely a concern for him and his fans. Secondly, he doesn't seem to handle fighting backwards very well, which was evident in the Pacquiao fight.

[bojangles1987]

Sure, he has been competing at a high level and has won. However, I disagree to an extreme degree about him being a "well-rounded" fighter. Bradley wins based on pressure alone. His opponents typically wilt, which leads to their downfall.

He has won a lot of fights moving forward, mainly because he's the shorter man and that's the role he's forced into. I've also seen him fight 9 rounds moving backwards and counter punching against Lamont Peterson and dominate him. I've seen him time fighters outside, and crush them inside. He's deceivingly hard to hit clean. He's a very smart fighter that finds a strategy that works and besides Pacquiao has won convincingly in every fight. He wins on much more than pressure and conditioning.

[prinzemanspopa]

Sure, he has been competing at a high level and has won. However, I disagree to an extreme degree about him being a "well-rounded" fighter. Bradley wins based on pressure alone. His opponents typically wilt, which leads to their downfall.

Have you seen his fight with Lamont PEDerson,bruh?

[Earl-Hickey]

First and foremost, I would say his lack of power is definitely a concern for him and his fans. Secondly, he doesn't seem to handle fighting backwards very well, which was evident in the Pacquiao fight.

Are you suggesting that Ward has demonstrated notable superiority in these aspects?

Bradley did floor Lamont Petersen, and dropped Cassamayor about 5 times, granted he's not shown real power agaisnt opposition known to be durable, but neither has ward.

When has ward faced anyone with the hand and foot speed, power and agression of Manny Pacquiao?

Froch, no
kessler, no
abraham, the power, but DEFINATLEY not the rest
Dawson, no

oh, and also when has ward gone up in weight, and faced someone like that?

[The Evil 1-2]

He has won a lot of fights moving forward, mainly because he's the shorter man and that's the role he's forced into. I've also seen him fight 9 rounds moving backwards and counter punching against Lamont Peterson and dominate him. I've seen him time fighters outside, and crush them inside. He's deceivingly hard to hit clean. He's a very smart fighter that finds a strategy that works and besides Pacquiao has won convincingly in every fight. He wins on much more than pressure and conditioning.

His forte is composed of forward pressure and conditioning. You practically admit this in your first statement that "he has won a lot of fights moving forward..." This description of a "very smart fighter" timing opponents on the outside and being "deceptively hard to hit clean" is not indicative of Bradley's style at all. Sure, he MAY have shown these elements in the Peterson fight, but that's ONE FIGHT that you can really think of in recent memory.

[Spiegelo]

Wow Bradley is getting some hate here. I think he's far better than what he's being made out to be. Inactivity is hurting him more than anything. His defense is good, he leads with his head making him very hard to hit flush on the chin (also creates nasty headbutts that benefit him). He mixes in boxing with roughhouse tactics on the inside, and that's something Ward does better than anybody.

That said, I do think there's a big gap in skill. Ward fights very well in a southpaw stance as well as orthodox, his punches have more pop, they're also prettier and more accurate, his footwork is superior, and he's very good at lulling his opponents to sleep and reducing their output. Both box in and out at times, and that's another thing Ward does better than him. So they're both students of the game and I do see similarities, but in the way that Roy Jones and Vinny Paz have similar fighting styles, but aren't really the same in skill.

[The Evil 1-2]

Have you seen his fight with Lamont PEDerson,bruh?

Like I told the poster above, that's one fight in recent memory that you can really point to that doesn't necessarily fall in line with Bradley's pressure style.

[Spiegelo]

His forte is composed of forward pressure and conditioning. You practically admit this in your first statement that "he has won a lot of fights moving forward..." This description of a "very smart fighter" timing opponents on the outside and being "deceptively hard to hit clean" is not indicative of Bradley's style at all. Sure, he MAY have shown these elements in the Peterson fight, but that's ONE FIGHT that you can really think of in recent memory.

I don't remember him chasing Junior Witter from ring post to ring post. I recall him using in and out movement, trying to time Witter with long right hands. Then he unified against Holt, who is a 4 round fighter, so he's smart to pressure a guy like that (even a 47yo Bernard pressed Pascal), Nate Campbell was noticeably smaller, so again it was only smart fighting the big man's fight. Then he goes up against Lamont, a solid boxer puncher, and decided to use his superior skills and box in reverse. When he fought Abregu, he looked like hot dog ****, but that was the first sign that he doesn't belong at welterweight.

[Earl-Hickey]

Wow Bradley is getting some hate here. I think he's far better than what he's being made out to be.

I know right.

It's getting ridiculous now, if you say something that could possibly be construed as negative about Ward, they flood in raging.

I've not anywhere said Bradley is better, or even as good as Ward, but it hasn't gone down well.

And Bradley is a top 10 p4p guy ffs

Who are we allowed to discuss Ward in the same breath as now?

Ali?

Sugar Ray?

God?

[bojangles1987]

His forte is composed of forward pressure and conditioning. You practically admit this in your first statement that "he has won a lot of fights moving forward..." This description of a "very smart fighter" timing opponents on the outside and being "deceptively hard to hit clean" is not indicative of Bradley's style at all. Sure, he MAY have shown these elements in the Peterson fight, but that's ONE FIGHT that you can really think of in recent memory.

He's shown himself to be smart and hard to hit in every fight. That's why he dominates, rather than fight wars Brandon Rios style. If he was really that easy to hit and relying on nothing more than pressure, he wouldn't have lasted 12 with Pacquiao. He was also moving backwards effectively against Nate Campbell until Campbell decided he was seeing spots and didn't want to keep going.

Even his pressure is different depending on the opponent. He was high volume against Holt, yet calculating and throwing one punch at a time against Alexander. Whatever works, Bradley can do it outside of against very elite fighters.