Comments Thread For: Andre Ward To Remain at 168, Confirms Hunter

[Scipio2009]

Dude. Ward, not his team, has said he was ready to move up for a big fight:



So I'm sorry to inform you, that your argument does not fit your agenda.

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id...ard-bout-works

Beauty of being able to find the actual article online; article is nearly three years old.

Three years ago, Ward stated that he'd go up to 175 for special fights, though not going up just for the sake of going up. After that article, Ward has consistently stated that he'd refuse to go up to 175 just for the sake of it, only going up when his body tells him to go up (there still isn't a fight at 175 that could be considered a big fight for Ward, outside of Stevenson or Pascal, nearly all because both fights would bring Canadian PPV).

Ward was five pounds away from super middleweight with over two weeks to go, and that seems to have bothered you.

I wonder what Golovkin was weighing with three weeks to go till the Monroe Jr fight.

[Mr. Philadel]

Golovkin can no longer run...Ward is staying put so stop the ducking and delaying the inevitable.

FIGHT WARD....He is not moving up and will be your boogey man until you except the challenge.

glad Virg confirmed what many of us ALREADY knew....SOG is a SMW....all that "he can't fight my hero because he's a LHW blah blah fight Krusher blah blah" can now be buried...Ward will take out the lil homie first and then move up to take out the big homie and become the MOST HATED fighter of ALL-TIME!!

[MDPopescu]

Ward still has some big fights at 168. DeGale, Groves, GGG possibly moving up. Callum Smith looks a good prospect too.

In case Groves beats Jack, Groves will fight DeGale in the UK, as a 'big domestic' fight (trilogy, maybe)...

... Nobody of notice would want to lose against Ward unless he/they is/are forced by a 'sanctioning body'...

[Scipio2009]

If Ward was 'different' as compared to GGG, at least he would have taken this Smith fight at 168 -- because Ward could easily make the weight... But the facts show that Ward was scared by his own long layoff... Whatever...

Ward apparently kept fit, came into camp ready, and seemingly had a month to simply get back to the business of preparing to fight.

Nothing wrong in being as physically comfortable as possible, especially after not fighting for a year and a half; see no reason to knock Team Ward for eliminating one more possible concern from the table.

[MDPopescu]

Ward apparently kept fit, came into camp ready, and seemingly had a month to simply get back to the business of preparing to fight.

Nothing wrong in being as physically comfortable as possible, especially after not fighting for a year and a half; see no reason to knock Team Ward for eliminating one more possible concern from the table.

... Ward and his team are free to act according to their best interest... But don't expect 'big hype' as long as you don't take any risks at all... That's all I wanted to say.

[BattlingNelson]

vs Fedor Chudinov (wba champion), Patrick Nielsen (WBA International champion, ranked #6 by WBA), Froch II in London[possible retirement is a barrier], Gilberto Ramirez (WBA #3; no obvious issues between Top Rank and Roc Nation), "Porky" Medina (WBA #11), and Felix Sturm (WBA #4; seemingly showing his age, though unsure if the fan interest in Germany still remains). Could add the Abraham/Steiglitz winner to the mix as well.

With Roc Nation putting up nearly a quarter of a million dollars to bring Paul Smith over, that type of money isn't something that those guys (sans Froch or Sturm) could realistically be expected to walk away from.

I guess you can never ever Again complain about Golovkin's opposition with those Guys you mention there. It's been close to 4 years since Ward fought an opponent with a pulse and given that 'murderers row' you present that negative streak is not about to end any time soon.

Looking at those you mention, well Nielsen is not ready nor qualified. We are talking Monroe like opposition and he'll be looking at the DeGale/Groves Winner I think, but that is at least a year away.

Medina? Don't know him at all.

Sturm? He's done and there's no way I could see Sturm wanting that fight. But I think it could garner some interest in Cologne, so if Ward feels like travelling for a low purse...... In other Words it's not possible.

Froch. Forget it. That has been nixed.

Ramirez? Should that happen you are Again not allowed to mention GGG opposition.


Abraham/Stieglitz? Maybe in Germany. Will the level of opposition be ok here? What do you think? Stieglitz isnt very good and Abraham is shot and has already lost to Ward. Ok AA did give Ward his toughest fight in the s6 but that was quite a while ago.

In other Words you fail to mention 4-5 opponents.

[HEND]

So Canelo/Cotto are elite for GGG (Lemieux isn't ) while Ward has DeGale, Groves, Abraham/Stieglitz.

Lol.

Do you think that any of those so-called elite opponents for Ward brings in big Money for Ward in the US or are you in reality suggesting that Ward wants to travel?

Come on man. Big Money for Ward is Kovalev or Stevenson which would both happen in North America.

For the record, I'm fine with both Ward and GGG staying put, but that''s another matter. Now I'm looking for your strange reasoning.

Degale and Groves are both bigger money fights in England than Kovalev at anywhere. Ward was willing to go to England for Froch just not in his living room in Nottingham. I think he would be okay with go to London for a Degale or Groves fight. I ruled out Stevenson and all the other Haymon fighters because those fights won't happen. Haymon doesn't let his fighters to fight against Roc Nation fighters. It sucks but that's the reality.
As I said, I understand if Golovkin waits out the Canelo v Cotto winner but no way that Lemieux and Lee would be elite fighters.
And as I said already if he's aiming for a fight with Golovkin it would besmarter for him to stay in 168 at least for a year because he can also fight Kovalev after the Golovkin fight but that probably doesn't work in reverse. And till he can't fight Golovkin he still can fight the likes of Ramirez, Stieg v Abraham winner, Groves or Degale. With that being said I would like to see Ward goes up a weight class in a year - one and half year.

[kafkod]

Doesn't the same hold true for Golovkin..he's scared of the big boys and is waiting for welterweights to move up to fight him.

He can move up 8 pounds for Ward.

If the same thing holds true for Ward and GGG, why are you supporting one and ripping the other to shreds every time his name is mentioned?

Race?

[kafkod]

So Andre staying at 168 doesn't mean he's scared of Kovalev, but if GGG stays at 160, that does mean he's scared of Ward yeah?

Why don't you apply the same standards to both men?

I'm a Kovalev fan, bro. I think Kovalev beats him, but I don't think Ward is scared of him. There might be more opportunities for him at 168, who knows. Regarding the other guy, haters are going to keep hating on GGG. They don't realize that GGG is probably in the best position. GGG is on his way to getting big fights in 2016 at Middleweight. Canelo and Lemieux probably won't happen until next year, unfortunately. GGG doesn't have to move up for anyone, Ward needs GGG not the other way around.

Also like I said Ward is going to have a difficult time getting fights against the other champions at 168.

Yeah, I was asking that question of Tiliheels, who agreed with what you said here but has called GGG a bitch and a coward in other threads for not moving up to 168.

I think Ward is "scared" of fighting Kovalev, but I'm not going to criticise him for that, just like I wouldn't criticise Kovalev for being "scared" to move up and fight Wlad or Wilder.

Weight divisions exist for a reason - to make fair fights - and no boxer should ever be called a duck or a coward for fighting in his own division only.

[kafkod]

He has never given GGG ****. He just asked him to stop using his name if he has no intention of fighting him. Ward even said yesterday that he wasn't going to bother talking about GGG any more because its a waste of time.

Huh? What about the "8 or 9 different excuses" not to fight that Andre was talking about recently?

The reason he doesn't want to talk about it any more is because of this:

Gennady Golovkin destroys Andre Ward.

"Hey, Ward, wake up! Why are you talking trash about other people? Speak for yourself,” said Golovkin, 33, who was named the 2013 Ring Fighter of the Year.

“If you're trying to make a name for yourself by mentioning me to build up your own fight, then be a man about it and tell the truth. At our meeting with HBO they asked us whether we are ready to box. You know our answers - I said yes, you said no. You said something about your shoulder or promoter - I'm not interested in the reason, I only heard your ‘no.’ But you remember that HBO said then that they would need a long time to build-up the fight. Then what the f$ck are you talking about excuses?"

"If you do provocative attacks, do not even think that Loeffler [Gennady's K2 promoter] will buy into them. You haven't been interesting to anyone for a long time, so he will no longer engage in the promotion of your name. Go and build your own image. Although everyone already knows what you are, and because of this, they do not go to your fights."

"You shouldn't worry about who I'm going to box or have boxed. You, like the rest, were lucky with the Super Six tournament because you got your opponents by contract. And who are you fighting now? The fourth-fifth ranked fighters in England...If I say that I'm ready to box any middleweight and ready to rise to 168 for a big fight, then I am responsible for the words. And I have nothing left to discuss with you. As a man, you are dead to me."