Remember when Ward didn't want to fight bute and said hes going to 175?

[Rome-By-Ko]

What's funny? Read Ward's quotes. He didn't want to fight Bute until he "proved himself" despite it being the biggest fight out there for him. Call it what you will but his excuses were weak.

Ward had a point tho..So Ward is suppose to fight a who's who of SMW while Bute sits on the sidelines and does nothing??Don't matter who is the biggest fight for Ward,if the dude did not earn it..Ward did not have to fight him..

[V.WEBB]

Bute did nothing to earn the right to fight for the SMW Championship of the world..Ward had a get some rest card bro,he just won the SS,and Bute had done nothing to earn a shot at Ward..So in one sense I get what ya saying..In reality tho,Ward did not have to do anything..That was Bute's fault as much as anything..

Ward broke his hand too. That is conveniently being ignored.

[V.WEBB]

What was/is Bute's best win?

[Frank Ducketts]

Because I remember that, like two years ago.

Since Kovalev and Stevenson cleared out all the trash at 175, now Ward never mentions it

anyone noticed that?

Nah, we don't remember.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

It might have been the biggest fight in the SMW division, but most certainly not across boxing.

Take any fighter of PPV value and pair him with john doe and it would be bigger.
At the time (March 2012, onwards) though here's a few:

Mayweather-Pacquiao
JCCjr - Martinez
Pacquiao - Marquez 4
Mayweather - Canelo
Haye-Chisora
Klitschko-Povetkin

And that's just a few..

Haye-Chisora....lol. No just no. It would have been at least on par with Chavez Jr vs Martinez. I think you underestimate how much money Bute was bringing in from Canada.

[V.WEBB]

I see guys still hurt that Kessler and Froch got dominated by Andre Ward. Time heals wounds, hang in there, guys.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

Ward had a point tho..So Ward is suppose to fight a who's who of SMW while Bute sits on the sidelines and does nothing??Don't matter who is the biggest fight for Ward,if the dude did not earn it..Ward did not have to fight him..

Who else was there at 168 who had "earned it"? It was the biggest fight to be made and I can almost guarantee that Ward is kicking himself right now for not taking it.

[BattlingNelson]

I dont remember Ward saying that he'd move up. As I recall it, he said that he didn't feel Bute was qualified, which was Strange enough.

[boxingfeind]

Interesting, any link to the article or video where he makes this statement ? I've followed Ward since he won gold in the Olympics and don't recall him saying that. I do recall him stating Bute shouldn't get an easy pass to the winner of the Super Six after all of the fighters within the division had busted their ass competing against one another.

In regards to the ducking claim, Ward broke his hand in the finals against Froch and was physically unable to entertain the idea of fighting Bute.....you both probably know this already and simply feel like trolling

Froch was smart and took advantage of the oppertunity to expose Bute.....

Bute was not invited in the Super Six,that is the reason he didn`t enter the Super Six.Showtime even admitted that they did not invite Bute in the Super Six.And when Kessler dropped out of the Super Six,Bute tried to get a shot at kessler but Bute turned it down.Ward was only making excuses not to fight Bute.If Ward wanted to fight Bute,he would have signed to fight him,and then wait to when his hand heals in order to fight him.

And Ward called Hopkins out and said he would be willing to fight him at 175.But when asked about the other top Lightheavies,he makes excuses like well i`m not ready to move up to lightheavy.

[New England]

Haye-Chisora....lol. No just no. It would have been at least on par with Chavez Jr vs Martinez. I think you underestimate how much money Bute was bringing in from Canada.

i think you underestimate the drawing power of heavyweights, and david haye.

haye made 3.5 million pounds for that fight, according to a bscene article. it was also fresh off of slapgate, and glassgate. it was a huge, huge fight.

showtime can't come close to paying that much for a single fight. neither can HBO.