Comments Thread For: Andre Ward Seeks Criminal Investigation on Goossen

[Wicky]

Every fighter on planet earth knows this already, there is no excuse for ignorance.

Really? So Ward is the only boxer who has ever tried to revise his contract? Don't be silly. Most fighters are pretty clueless about the longer term legal ramifications of the deals that make. That's why they employ advisers. Anybody can receive bad advice too.

[Wicky]

Buddy I got news for you, promoters don't get into business to run a charity.

Nobody's saying that they do you phuckin idiot. It's good/right to profit... not so much to deliberately mismanage/misinform/manipulate for personal gain.

[JJRod]

Really? So Ward is the only boxer who has ever tried to revise his contract? Don't be silly. Most fighters are pretty clueless about the longer term legal ramifications of the deals that make. That's why they employ advisers. Anybody can receive bad advice too.

He isn't the only fighter to try to revise his contract, but once most fighters lose their battle in court or realize they can't win in court i.e Robert Guerrero, Nonito Donaire, Mikey Garcia, etc they usually drop the court case and get back in the ring.

Ward here is continuing to fight a losing battle, all while wasting his best years. Years he will never get back, and popularity that seems to be fading every time he doesn't fight. Heck people are already using his inactivity as an excuse to rank guys higher than him at 68. Guys he beat!

[djt117]

Nobody's saying that they do you phuckin idiot. It's good/right to profit... not so much to deliberately mismanage/misinform/manipulate for personal gain.

Thanks for responding to one line of my post, which you're either deliberately or mistakenly taking out of context.

[Wicky]

He isn't the only fighter to try to revise his contract, but once most fighters lose their battle in court or realize they can't win in court i.e Robert Guerrero, Nonito Donaire, Mikey Garcia, etc they usually drop the court case and get back in the ring.

Ward here is continuing to fight a losing battle, all while wasting his best years. Years he will never get back, and popularity that seems to be fading every time he doesn't fight. Heck people are already using his inactivity as an excuse to rank guys higher than him at 68. Guys he beat!

I was under the impressions this is a second (distinct) legal case against Goossen for not taking care of his legal obligations re. financial disclosure, as opposed the first (separate) legal case for separation. Not so?

[strykr619]

I just think that ward sees that the grass is greener on the other side so he is looking for any technicality to get free.. That's why he has been in court several times and has lost..but he keeps trying..
I just wish this would hurry up and resolve itself, so ward can get back to fighting..

This should be stickied and this thread closed. I don't know why we are even discussing this further.

[JJRod]

I was under the impressions this is a second (distinct) legal case against Goossen for not taking care of his legal obligations re. financial disclosure, as opposed the first (separate) legal case for separation. Not so?

Yes, they're different but in a way it seems like now Ward is just grasping at straws. As I explained earlier and so many on here have already said. If Goosen was ripping him off for 2004-2012 why would he re-sign with him in May of 2011? Where was his management then, his lawyers, his team?

He was a sought out commodity in 2011 after reaching the finals of the 168 tournament. He could have signed with Golden Boy or Top Rank yet he willingly went back to Goosen. If there were issues with money would it really take someone 8 years to figure it out? Would your team not have vetted the options from other places before making you sign on the dotted line?

The truth is he re-signed with Goosen because despite being with a second tier promoter Goosen had done a pretty good job for Ward. He build his entire career, negotiated a sweet deal for him at the 168 tournament, got him a huge fight with Dawson, and negotiated a deal were he got 1.9 million on HBO to fight Edwin Rodriguez.

His problem is he now feels he's worth more, sees guys like Chavez, Martinez, and Froch having more fans and getting bigger fights and he hasn't. He's now unhappy with his contract and is doing anything to get out of it.

[Wicky]

Thanks for responding to one line of my post, which you're either deliberately or mistakenly taking out of context.

I didn't see much point it replying to the rest because it's such an over simplification. You describe contracts as either completely profitable for the promoter or completely not. Back on planet earth contracts are complicated things. What I'm saying is that there are MANY examples of promoters unfairly profiteering from their fighters.

[Wicky]

...If Goosen was ripping him off for 2004-2012 why would he re-sign with him in May of 2011?

Most boxers/celebs/whatever don't sit down with the books and manage their own finances. Ward may not have known the facts when he re-signed.

Yeah, Ward is clearly trying to get out of his contract in any way he can, but it's BS to assume Ward's 100% in the wrong without knowing the full facts. Like Goossen doesn't have any tactics in this.... yeah, right!

[djt117]

I didn't see much point it replying to the rest because it's such an over simplification. You describe contracts as either completely profitable for the promoter or completely not. Back on planet earth contracts are complicated things. What I'm saying is that there are MANY examples of promoters unfairly profiteering from their fighters.

You suggested you'd prefer a world in which promotional contracts were easy for fighters to leave whenever they please.

I explained that makes no ****ing sense in boxing, where 99% of the time a promoter has to invest (i.e., lose) money developing a fighter for years upon years before ever turning a profit because of the economics of sport.

"Oh, thanks, Promoter A, for pouring all that money into getting me to 20-0 with 16KOs, with some credible names on my record. Paying for quality sparring partners, tossing me some cash when I needed to keep the lights on at my apartment. But I'd like to leave now because Promoter B is offering me a title shot at a big star if I sign with him. See ya!"