Is Andre Ward comparible to Pre-Pacquiao Tim Bradley?

[Earl-Hickey]

Ward stans be trippin'

[boxingfan_123]

Terrible comparison.

Exactly its not even close

[ShoulderRoll]

Bradley isn't an Olympic gold medalist who hasn't lost since he was 12 years old.

Pretty horrible comparison.

[LA_2_Vegas]

He was so poor at it(boxing and counter punching)that three respected judges scored the fight for him..Oh and he clearly took the Championship rds in the fight against Pac...

See,what ya have to understand is similar in the two fighters style is scheme their approach in the ring..Their mentality...I've seen Bradley use a lot of different schemes to win fights..Let's be honest as well,the man has clearly beat everyone he's been in the ring with outside of Pac(one of the top fighters in the sport)that say's something about him bro...No matter what ya talking about..Bradley may not be the prettiest fighter technically,but he is skilled and his ring I.Q. is 2end to none.. I believe the way he has clearly beat everyone he's been in with(with exceptions to one)shows this...

There's really should be no other way to look at it concerning Bradley. We can sit here breaking apart their individual qualities but it doesn't tell the whole story about their fights. It doesn't matter what style Tim is classified in, he adapts to you're style. When matching him up against anyone, you never know what approach he will employ. A lot of the time, the style of the fight depends on him, there aren't a lot of fighters like that....and that is one of the primary reasons people don't like to watch him. They know he will find a way to neutralize at least one or more of the primary strengths of the opponent. If that primary strength happens to be all you've got, well then you're screwed against Tim unless you can KO him because he is tough to beat on the cards because he can almost always go back to pressuring/smothering if he wants. He's at worst about 50/50 in almost any fight and always a live dog no matter the odds.

Ward is "better" but there's no use in comparing their skill sets, because both, especially Tim, are much more a total sum than their individual parts.

[_original_]

It's actually a good comparison, except that Ward is the better boxer of coarse.

[Earl-Hickey]

It's actually a good comparison, except that Ward is the better boxer of coarse.

STFU, you don't know **** about boxing, how dare you mention Bradley and the son of god in the same sentence

blasphemy!

[Rome-By-Ko]

Are you really one of those people that believe Bradley won the fight against Pacquiao? If so, then you're delusional.

Ward and Bradley have the same mentality? What am I reading here? You then equate mentality to different schemes to win fights. I'm sorry, but when has Bradley ever been known for being multifaceted. He's a pressure fighter who makes his opponent wilt; nothing more.

My description of his style doesn't negatively alter his W-L record. He has racked up wins based on this pressure style not this multifaceted game that people in this forum have been attributing to him.

Bradley has ring I.Q. second to NONE??! This is the most asinine thing I've read from you. Bradley has NEVER BEEN TOUTED AS A BRILLIANT TACTICIAN.

Bradley has never been highly touted as anything bro..Yet the dude is one of the most accomplished young fighters in the sport...Bradley was not known as a fighter with power,yet has made plenty of opponents hit the canvas...Bradley is not known for being a defensive fighter,yet made Pac Peterson Alexander etc etc miss a ton...Bradley was not a highly thought of prospect(you had guys like Khan Ortiz etc etc)but yet here he stands one of the top p4p fighters in the game..I really don't care what Bradley is known for from people who don't believe he is that good anyway(people like ya self)..Yet look at all he's accomplished and done in his career...

I don't believe I'm delusional for believing Bradley beat Pac..I believe your delusional for thinking that 3 respected (respected is the keyword,these were not flash in the pan judges)judges who all thought the fight was close were wrong...Anyway I don't want to get into that whole thing,that's not what this thread is about...

To say Bradley is just a pressure fighter is ridiculous...I think Bradley will do what's called for in a fight to win it...Nothing more nothing less,and yes I do believe he is multifaceted,just look at his style in the Witter Holt and Alexander fights,completely different then the style in the Peterson Cherry and Pac fights...He took more of a counter punchers approach in those respected fights,whereas in the other fights he used a more aggressive pressure style..To say Bradley is just a pressure fighter is like me saying Mayweather is just a Pressure fighter now...Mayweather is a pressure fighter right now,but I believe we all know it's not that cut and dry...Oh and if he had to Mayweather will adapt and change his style to fit his situation...Not saying Bradley is a Mayweather,but I think you get the overall point I'm trying to make...

[Rome-By-Ko]

There's really should be no other way to look at it concerning Bradley. We can sit here breaking apart their individual qualities but it doesn't tell the whole story about their fights. It doesn't matter what style Tim is classified in, he adapts to you're style. When matching him up against anyone, you never know what approach he will employ. A lot of the time, the style of the fight depends on him, there aren't a lot of fighters like that....and that is one of the primary reasons people don't like to watch him. They know he will find a way to neutralize at least one or more of the primary strengths of the opponent. If that primary strength happens to be all you've got, well then you're screwed against Tim unless you can KO him because he is tough to beat on the cards because he can almost always go back to pressuring/smothering if he wants. He's at worst about 50/50 in almost any fight and always a live dog no matter the odds.

Ward is "better" but there's no use in comparing their skill sets, because both, especially Tim, are much more a total sum than their individual parts.

I get what ya saying bro,good post...

[Snake...]

not really most people view bradley as very beatable

he went life and death with holt,witter, and gift decision over pac

[Spiegelo]

Alright, I think we're arguing over different things. The only two statements I am arguing is that Ward and Bradley have obvious similarities in the way they fight, and that Bradley is not a one dimensional pressure fighter. I'm going to argue one point at a time here.

If he boxes on the outside so well, then why did he look so poor doing it against Pacquiao?

I never said that Bradley SOLELY lost to Pacquiao because he tried to box on the outside.

Well I guess you didn't specifically use the word "solely", but that first (oversimplified) statement clearly implies that


Then there's this..

If you're suggesting that Bradley lost because he wasn't in his ideal weightclass, then you're being ridiculous. Bradley has no trouble making 147 and has the physical frame to be in the division.

No, I'm suggesting that Bradley (should have) lost because he attempted the impossible. The odds were stacked against him. Bradley was fighting an ATG who everyone picked to win by KO. Add the fact that he was moving up to do it in a division where Pacquiao had already established himself as a dominant force. The odds were not in his favor. And by the way, no one has trouble making weight when they're moving up. Rosada didn't exactly struggle to make 160, but he should probably go back down to 154 anyway. Through proper resistance training, and enough time at that weight, Bradley can be a legit 147lber, but his last two fights at that weight both looked bad, so I don't really see why you're so sure the weight is right for him.

the manner in which Ward uses his head does not fit the technical definition of headbutting. Headbutting indicates a BLATANT lunge with one's head with the intent of making damaging contact with the opponent's own head. Given this definition, Ward does not headbutt.

Well if you like quoting the commentators, you'll love this. Skip to about the 55 second mark. "Andre Ward came in like a billy goat on that one!"
Mind you this is a crap video put together by an angry Kessler fan, and I don't attribute his dominate win over Kessler strictly to "fighting dirty", but I do know an intentional headbutt when I see one. Saying Ward doesn't headbutt is admitting you have not been watching his rise to the top, at least not closely. I also strongly disagree with your definition of a headbutt. If your head hits his head, it's a headbutt. If your eye is swelling shut, and your opponent keeps getting inside and digging the top of his head into your orbital bone during the clinch, that is also a headbutt. Crafty vets like Bernard and Ward are physical fighters that are better at this than most.

As for this shoulder-tackle tactic that you attribute to Bradley..

I didn't attribute that to just Bradley. I clearly said both fighters do this, while comparing their similarities (to which there are many).

how does this, in any way, disprove my overall assessment of him being nothing more than a pressure fighter with good conditioning?You even admit that this tactic CULMINATES in Bradley "SMOTHERING" his opponent. Smothering is fundamental to the pressure style that I attribute to Bradley!

Well typically the key to being a good pressure fighter is to AVOID being smothered. You want to stay in range and not let your opponent get away, while also not allowing them to smother you and take away your leverage. Bradley's ability to smother an opponent at will is part of his defense and good inside game.

I just re-watched the Campbell fight. Sure, he may have boxed backwards and on the outside in the first round, but it did not ULTIMATELY win him the bout. Even one of the commentators was surprised by this tactic and said, "WE HAVEN'T SEEN HIM BE THE MATADOR VERY OFTEN IN HIS FIGHTS." If he's not the matador very often, THEN HE'S USUALLY THE BULL, which fits this forward-pressure style that I attribute to him. From most of the second round to the third round, he pressured Campbell to get inside and just started throwing punches in bunches, which got him the win.

Well re-watch it again. First off, Bradley didn't win. That fight was a NC. In the second round Bradley continues dancing away, so that he can catch Nate with big punches coming in. Only time he isn't moving back is when Nate catches up and they start the in-fighting until it's broken up.

If Bradley doesn't have the same amount of skills that Ward has, how does it logically follow that they have THE SAME EXACT STYLE?

I thought I had already made this clear, but I'll just say it one more time. Yes, I agree with you that in no way is Tim Bradley as skilled as Ward. If I had a p4p list, Ward would be at #1. And I suppose that I also agree with the statement that they don't have the same exact style.. Of course I never said that they did. I simply said that he is underrated, and has similarities in his style to a far superior Andre Ward.