Comments Thread For: Andre Ward Will Finally Return on June 20th in Oakland

[jjsmyth87]

Then it really needs to be called out for what it is.... GGG gets approved to fight Geale / Murray / Macklin / Stevens / Rosado / Rubio / Monroe and he is a HBO fighter, but ward's opponents get turned down and they can never be as pathetic as the bunch I just mentioned, but blind biased people call out the obvious, but not the underlay - wake up and educate your brain - this is BS double standard shyt...

How is this a double standard? Andre Ward is a great boxer, definitely one of the top pound for pound fighters, however he doesn't have a whole lot of fans because he has somewhat of a boring fighting style. Also from the stuff I have read, he is unrealistic about how much money he should be earning. He thinks just because he is one of the best boxers that he should get paid like the more popular boxers. He was already guaranteed 1.5 million a fight with his old promoters, and he was complaining about that and sued a bunch of times to get out of that contract. He has been very inactive which has diminished his fanbase which was small to begin with. Now HBO and Showtime are supposed to have a bidding war to have a fighter with a small fan base and boring fighting style take a tune up against someone with an even smaller fan base?

GGG on the other hand is one of the most exciting fighters in all of boxing. Everyone loves to watch GGG because of how action packed his fights are. GGG has been calling out all the top middleweights and so far everyone has pretty much ducked him. Those guys you mentioned aren't the most popular fighters, but they were all highly ranked when he fought them. GGG brings in huge ratings by himself, imagine if canelo or cotto stepped up to the plate.

In conclusion, as long as ggg fights guys that are in or around the top 10, people will tune in to watch ggg regardless if hes fighting a big name or not. Ward on the other hand is boring to watch, and unless he is fighting a big name opponent, not many people would be willing to take time out of their weekends to tune in to watch 12 rounds of clinching and running. It's not about how good a fighter is, its about how many fans want to watch that fighter. GGG is an exciting and popular fighter and Ward isn't and that's just the way it is.

Since you brought it up, I would love to hear your theory as to why you think HBO has a double standard

[beast702]

Nice to have him back but his opponent won't be much. It Sucks that HBO declined but at least his fight will be on TV, possibly BET.Ward should seriously think about going to 175. Him and Kovalev could be massive. I don't see GGG moving up anytime soon.

[Dindu_Nuffin]

So he's using this ""tune-up" fight to move up to 175 and test the waters, where the real challenges to him await, right?

[BURLEY]

Do you have a list of the opponents Ward proposed? No? Didn't think so. I doubt that any one of them was ranked in the top 25 whereas all of those you mention that GGG fought were ranked in the top 10 MW at the time and two of them, Geale and Murray, still are.

And Ward is asking for more money than GGG probably made in total for all the opponents you have listed.

GGG fights 4 times per year, Ward 4 times every 5 years.

No double standard at all. Ward is simply no longer an attraction that any network is willing to pay for. And by the way, Ward's fights were also refused by Showtime.

How is this a double standard? Andre Ward is a great boxer, definitely one of the top pound for pound fighters, however he doesn't have a whole lot of fans because he has somewhat of a boring fighting style. Also from the stuff I have read, he is unrealistic about how much money he should be earning. He thinks just because he is one of the best boxers that he should get paid like the more popular boxers. He was already guaranteed 1.5 million a fight with his old promoters, and he was complaining about that and sued a bunch of times to get out of that contract. He has been very inactive which has diminished his fanbase which was small to begin with. Now HBO and Showtime are supposed to have a bidding war to have a fighter with a small fan base and boring fighting style take a tune up against someone with an even smaller fan base?

GGG on the other hand is one of the most exciting fighters in all of boxing. Everyone loves to watch GGG because of how action packed his fights are. GGG has been calling out all the top middleweights and so far everyone has pretty much ducked him. Those guys you mentioned aren't the most popular fighters, but they were all highly ranked when he fought them. GGG brings in huge ratings by himself, imagine if canelo or cotto stepped up to the plate.

In conclusion, as long as ggg fights guys that are in or around the top 10, people will tune in to watch ggg regardless if hes fighting a big name or not. Ward on the other hand is boring to watch, and unless he is fighting a big name opponent, not many people would be willing to take time out of their weekends to tune in to watch 12 rounds of clinching and running. It's not about how good a fighter is, its about how many fans want to watch that fighter. GGG is an exciting and popular fighter and Ward isn't and that's just the way it is.

Since you brought it up, I would love to hear your theory as to why you think HBO has a double standard

Another boxing fan who actually makes sense and has meaningful and unbiased opinions.I could not have said it better myself.
Still the question remains..Why all the GGG haters ?...I think I know the answer but will not start a race war on here...

[Deevel916]

Breaking news with no news. "Ward is fighting TBA on a network TBA.

[Grimmer]

It's gonna be Paul Smith isn't it?

[Mr.Daddy]

I agree , Ward should have no real issue fighting Froch anywhere except wherever that was Froch fought Dirrell , because Dirrell won EVERY round and still lost the decision .

I'm sure that that corrupt scoring hasn't escaped Ward's attention either. Just re-watched Ward/Froch, and I cannot se how Froch could ever be competitive against Ward (once Andre gets beyond any ring rust).

[V.WEBB]

Lonnnnnngggg time coming.

[Santa_]

I just hope it's against somebody in the top 5-10.

[joemama]

I admit I am excited about his return. I don't care if he fights a soft touch or two as long as he stays busy and gets his career on track.