Ward rumored to be leaving Goosen and signing with Top Rank for Chavez Jr fight?

[Bushbaby]

I don't think top rank is the powerhouse they used to
be. I'd hate to see a career like Ward's ruined by scum like arum.

[Pony Boy]

This really sucks. The Goosen are good people who care about their fighters but I guess to Ward it's now about money and fame. I guess the not selling tickets got to him. I really like Ward, one of my favorite fighters and I feel this is selling out

[LA_2_Vegas]

I love the Goosen's in boxing so I'll just put that out there. They know fighters...so while he isn't a major star right now, his development as a fighter has been damn near perfect. Took the slow road but had the right amount of tune-up, styles etc all that and he is polished off right now as a P4P'er obviously

but the comment by Kim about the Goosen's doing their job and getting him hometown fights, etc is part of the problem - in fact it's the main problem from reading most of the comments on here.

Aside from him being "boring"....People who would ordinarily like a professional guy like Ward are put off by his piety because his promoters are not putting him in hostile situations. I think putting him in some "against all odds" environments would go a long way...so that there is more of a reason to become emotionally invested in his fights. Then it doesn't matter how boring he is.

[Joey_Torreo]

If he does get Chavez jr what next is what in wondering not many options left for ward at 168 regardless of who his promoter is

[mathed]

yeah he needs to change promoters to take things to another level...Goossen is a great Promotion to start your career with but once you reach a certain level you have to be with Top Rank or GBP now to reach that next level

Only problem though is who else does Top Rank have for him after Chavez Jr? They don't even have any Super Middleweights on their Roster they can match up with Ward after Chavez Jr and we know how difficult Arum is when it comes to working with other promoters

Hopefully he don't end up like Bradley

You mean the Bradley who is headlining a PPV against JMM in a few months?

[I Love Jesus!]

Steve Kim @stevemaxboxing
And Goossen did this with a fighter who's not exactly the definition of 'fan-friendly'... #boxing

Is Ward going to Top Rank? Well, I mean, that would be the quickest and easiest way for Arum to pull the trigger on bout with Chavez Jr...

Would it stun me if Goossen got some money to walk away and Ward to go to Top Rank? No, not really.... #boxing

IMO, Top Rank/Arum doesn't do a Ward-Chavez fight unless he has a piece of the winner( which of course is Ward) #boxing

Why would anyone want to see that joke of a fight? Ward would destroy him with 2 hands tied behind his back.

[big_james10]

If Ward signs with Top Rank, fights with guys like GGG and Adonis Stevenson or even a rematch against Froch or Kessler or or a fight against Bute would go out the window. Getting a fight with Chavez is not worth the price of signing with Top Rank.

Ward should learn from Timothy Bradley's experience and Zahir Raheem. Raheem beat Eric Morales and Morales (the loser) ended up in a big money fight in his next fight against Pacquaio, not Raheem. Bradley sat on the shelf for a year after defeating Pacquaio while Pac (the loser) got a big money fight against Marquez. Bradley has no chance of getting a fight against Mayweather, Khan, Matthysee, Garcia, Robert Guerrerro, Maidana or even a rematch against Alexander since he is signed with Top Rank. The most he can hope for is a rematch against Pacquaio, but he will likely end up in a fight against Alvarado or Rios for short money and then another fight against whoever is left among the two or a rematch against Provodnikov.

The same thing is happening to Rigondeaux. After defeating Donaire, Donaire is moving on to another big fight later this year while Rigondeaux is sitting on the shelf waiting for Arum to throw him some crumbs.


I hope Ward develops some sense and realizes that there is a reason why Mayweather and Cotto left Arum.

[hectari]

All tweets by Steve Kim

Steve Kim @stevemaxboxing
Word on the street is that Andre Ward is not seeing eye to eye with Dan Goossen and trying to leave his promoter.... #boxing

I'll say this, Dan Goossen and I haven't seen eye to eye on many things, but with Ward, I think he's done a helluva job in many ways #boxing

Goossen took Ward, put fights into him, got him home-canvas advantage throughout the Super Six, got him a HBO deal... #boxing

So what is Dan Goossen's crime, not being Benny Hinn? Promoters are not always the bad guys that they are made out to be #boxing

Makes sense since Bob Arum and James Prince work together a lot. James Prince was able to get Shane mosley over to Top Rank for a Pac fight.

Also why would Ward stay with a small level promoter like goossen? Top Rank will take him to the next level, its purely a business move and Ward is at the prime of his career he has a good 5 years of top notch prime, Top Rank would promote him much better.

Plus this could be a one fight deal and than Ward not a long term contract, similar to how Mosley did with Bob, and than Mosley went back to Golden boy.

[HeroBando]

If Ward signs with Top Rank, fights with guys like GGG and Adonis Stevenson or even a rematch against Froch or Kessler or or a fight against Bute would go out the window. Getting a fight with Chavez is not worth the price of signing with Top Rank.

Ward should learn from Timothy Bradley's experience and Zahir Raheem. Raheem beat Eric Morales and Morales (the loser) ended up in a big money fight in his next fight against Pacquaio, not Raheem. Bradley sat on the shelf for a year after defeating Pacquaio while Pac (the loser) got a big money fight against Marquez. Bradley has no chance of getting a fight against Mayweather, Khan, Matthysee, Garcia, Robert Guerrerro, Maidana or even a rematch against Alexander since he is signed with Top Rank. The most he can hope for is a rematch against Pacquaio, but he will likely end up in a fight against Alvarado or Rios for short money and then another fight against whoever is left among the two or a rematch against Provodnikov.

The same thing is happening to Rigondeaux. After defeating Donaire, Donaire is moving on to another big fight later this year while Rigondeaux is sitting on the shelf waiting for Arum to throw him some crumbs.


I hope Ward develops some sense and realizes that there is a reason why Mayweather and Cotto left Arum.

There isn't much right about this post. TR works with other promoters, just not GBP who only have Hopkins at 168-175, and he said he's not fighting Ward. Chavez just fought an LDB guy (and big favorite), another LDB guy just prior, and hasn't fought a TR fighter in ages. So he's not losing any opportunities, just gaining promoter muscle vs the Brits and Canadians.

Raheem is a terrible example, was he even TR promoted? He lost his very next fight, made it unwatchable, and faded into bolivian. Bradley has nothing to complain about, he got a robbery decision (not surprised you didn't mention, in keeping with the rest) for $5m, and just now passed on $6m from Pac, another career high.

Rigo also can't complain, for his 12th fight he made 750k. p4p 3 division champ Mares purses: 375k for PDL, 325k for Agbeko 2.

[deanrw]

Ward is in no mans land. He already cleaned out 168. There is nothing huge for him at 175 and he certainly is not going down to 160.

I cannot see how one fight with Chavez Jr is luring him enough to sign with top rank. Who else does top rank have at 168?

I feel bad for Ward. Maybe a large promoter will get him the attention he needs, but it may be impossible. He does not have a wild persona or what would be considered a crowd pleasing style. He is also so good, that many will not watch his fights because no matter who you put him in with, people expect easy work for him and might not tune in.

It is proof that no matter how good you are, you still need that little something extra to wow the crowds.