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*Let me preface this by noting, in an attempt to pre-empt red herrings, that I'm addressing how the location of Ward-Froch impacted their bout, not the more general issue of whether it's fair or unfair that Andre Ward has fought only in the US, while other top boxers had to come to the US to fight him.
I think it's reductive to claim that fighting in one's country is significantly advantageous to the home-country fighter in bouts against foreign boxers. The interaction between cultural factors and bout specifics, such as where in the country the bout is occurring and who is fighting, is too varied to make such a blanket statement.
Boxing support in the U.S. tends to be localized (e.g. Philly fans supporting Philly fighters) or linked to ethnicity in certain cases (e.g. boxers of Mexican descent tend to be supported my Mexican fans regardless of where in the U.S. or whether they are American or fighting an American). It doesn't seem to be true, however, that nationality usually leads to broad American support for American boxers in contests against foreigners. I thought this was evident in Ward's bout against Froch, as there was hardly great support for the former in an absolute or relative sense; it may even be that Froch had more support at the fight than Ward did.
There are other advantages commonly gained by being the hometown fighter, but I'm not sure if those were relevant to the Ward-Froch outcome. Ward didn't benefit from unfair officiating, as the referee didn't interact with the fighters such that it benefitted Ward, and two of the judges' scores were harsh to Ward. If Ward did have hometown advantages, they were probably small and stemmed from Froch having to travel a greater distance to reach Atlantic City, and presumably having to make larger adjustments. However, Froch already had big-fight experience in the US and more specifically Atlantic City (unlike Ward) which likely helped him adjust more readily to the different environment and time-zone.
So, Ward didn't have hometown support, hometown officiating, or hometown experience in his favor. So why do some people think that to give us a better idea of how they truly compare, Ward needs to rematch Froch in England, where Froch would probably have prolific and vociferous support that Ward didn't have in Atlantic City, and where Ward would face a level of hostility that Froch didn't face in Atlantic City?
I think it's reductive to claim that fighting in one's country is significantly advantageous to the home-country fighter in bouts against foreign boxers. The interaction between cultural factors and bout specifics, such as where in the country the bout is occurring and who is fighting, is too varied to make such a blanket statement.
Boxing support in the U.S. tends to be localized (e.g. Philly fans supporting Philly fighters) or linked to ethnicity in certain cases (e.g. boxers of Mexican descent tend to be supported my Mexican fans regardless of where in the U.S. or whether they are American or fighting an American). It doesn't seem to be true, however, that nationality usually leads to broad American support for American boxers in contests against foreigners. I thought this was evident in Ward's bout against Froch, as there was hardly great support for the former in an absolute or relative sense; it may even be that Froch had more support at the fight than Ward did.
There are other advantages commonly gained by being the hometown fighter, but I'm not sure if those were relevant to the Ward-Froch outcome. Ward didn't benefit from unfair officiating, as the referee didn't interact with the fighters such that it benefitted Ward, and two of the judges' scores were harsh to Ward. If Ward did have hometown advantages, they were probably small and stemmed from Froch having to travel a greater distance to reach Atlantic City, and presumably having to make larger adjustments. However, Froch already had big-fight experience in the US and more specifically Atlantic City (unlike Ward) which likely helped him adjust more readily to the different environment and time-zone.
So, Ward didn't have hometown support, hometown officiating, or hometown experience in his favor. So why do some people think that to give us a better idea of how they truly compare, Ward needs to rematch Froch in England, where Froch would probably have prolific and vociferous support that Ward didn't have in Atlantic City, and where Ward would face a level of hostility that Froch didn't face in Atlantic City?
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