Comments Thread For: Paul Smith: Andre Ward Beats Kovalev By Wide Margin

[Cuban Linx]

Bute ducked the Super Six tournement, where the other top fighters in the division spent the next two years beating each up in. Bute thought he was slick (Canadian star versus Super Six winner in a big fight) and Ward would have none of it.

Bute steps in with Froch, a hard man made even more rugged through the tournament, and gets utterly destroyed.

try again

Oh so that's where Amir Khan gets his inspiration from...

Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? "You didn't test yourself so I'm not going to fight you!"

The reason Bute didn't join the Super Six was because he was probably the biggest star in that weight class. He was headlining HBO shows and selling out the Bell Centre. On top of that he was also the IBF Champion.

So Ward, who had already beaten all the contenders at 168, didn't want to fight the biggest name in the weight class, who also held a belt, because he didn't test himself enough? That is ridiculous. Ward missed a great chance to further cement his legacy and become the undisputed champion, because he likely would have beaten Bute. Instead Froch took the fight and his legacy and ended up improving because of it.

[daggum]

TBA, for Ward's second fight, after the 14-month layoff, doesn't matter all that much, tbh. Ward needs to get active and, more importantly, the fight audience needs to see him fight.

It's likelyto be someone rated in the WBA's top 15, but all Ward needs is a stellar performance against whomever the opponent ends up being; Cotto-Alvarez, imo, is likely to get purchased by 700k homes (could go higher depending on how much effort is put into drawing the casual fight fan to the card). Ward skunks TBA before stopping him in the middle rounds, and the casual fight fan would have reason to check for Ward going forward (if RocNation were smart, they'd take a page out of Floyd Mayweather's book after the Alvarez fight, and simply put Ward's face on as many platforms as physically possible (or as many as would have him on).

you seem to be forgetting that ward is super boring. you think he's going to capture their hearts and imaginations with another boring fight against another tomato can? you must think boxing fans are pretty dumb and ignorant. i mean i know some are but...

[daggum]

Oh so that's where Amir Khan gets his inspiration from...

Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? "You didn't test yourself so I'm not going to fight you!"

The reason Bute didn't join the Super Six was because he was probably the biggest star in that weight class. He was headlining HBO shows and selling out the Bell Centre. On top of that he was also the IBF Champion.

So Ward, who had already beaten all the contenders at 168, didn't want to fight the biggest name in the weight class, who also held a belt, because he didn't test himself enough? That is ridiculous. Ward missed a great chance to further cement his legacy and become the undisputed champion, because he likely would have beaten Bute. Instead Froch took the fight and his legacy and ended up improving because of it.

this scipio guy talking about context then ignoring the context of that period. everyone thought bute was a very good and very dangerous fighter and ward didn't want to fight him for a career high pay day. that excuse was pathetic. ward behind the scenes was trying to fight dmitri sartison what a joke.

anyone who actually understands ward's promoter situation knows that ward was just looking for easy paydays. he demanded a 2 million guarantee which he got and then instead of trying to fight good fighters he demanded to fight bums which hbo refused and that's why he sat on the shelf for so long. now with roc nation he gets that same guarantee and he doesn't have to fight anyone good because roc nation doesn't mind losing money on BET or putting him on undercards.

how can you defend this guy and at the same time bash ggg while he fights/tries to fight the best? oh because he didn't move up wait neither did ward. oh because he said something kinda outlandish oh wait ward said the exact same thing. biased crap from ward defenders.

[daggum]

list of fighters that ward has tried to fight in the past 4 years: caleb truax, dmitri sartison, zac dunn, retired kelly pavlik, marco periban, paul smith

talk about charmin soft

[aboutfkntime]

While this thread is about Paul Smith stating that Andre Ward Beats Kovalev By Wide Margin, all Ward's fans still talk Super Six, Bute, Dawson or Golovkin... or Ward being better than grandpa Hopkins...

... meanwhile, at the castle, Ward is supposed to fight a TBA on the Cotto-Canelo undercard. You better discuss this TBA, it would be more fun I guess.

Exactly, that is Smith's opinion, and he is entitled to it.

Also, he is more qualified to comment than anyone on this board.

But true, Ward does need to fight some of the top guys at 68.

After coming off an injury/lay-off, and then signing a new deal with RN.....
..... he looks to be getting ready to do just that.

Pity that Golovkins earlier statements/promises were exaggerated, but not sure if Ward would have agreed to 168 for Golovkin instead of 172 for Smith, at that stage.

Maybe, but he needs to make 168 within his next 2 fights or move up for Kovalev imho.

[Scipio2009]

Oh so that's where Amir Khan gets his inspiration from...

Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? "You didn't test yourself so I'm not going to fight you!"

The reason Bute didn't join the Super Six was because he was probably the biggest star in that weight class. He was headlining HBO shows and selling out the Bell Centre. On top of that he was also the IBF Champion.

So Ward, who had already beaten all the contenders at 168, didn't want to fight the biggest name in the weight class, who also held a belt, because he didn't test himself enough? That is ridiculous. Ward missed a great chance to further cement his legacy and become the undisputed champion, because he likely would have beaten Bute. Instead Froch took the fight and his legacy and ended up improving because of it.

Bute (IBF), Kessler(WBA), Froch, Ward, Dirrell, Abraham should've been the Super Six (how fit Jermain Taylor was for the tournament was shown in the first fight).

Bute, rather than battle against the top guys in the division, spent the next two years fighting also-rans and lesser fighters. Star or no star, Ward didn't want to reward a guy (Ward was WBA/WBC champion at the time, with the WBO belt being held hostage in Germany, so the fight would been for undisputed champion in the division) for avoiding everyone.

Bute finally stepped up (to face a guy he would've been forced to face in the Super Six) and got destroyed.

You acknowledge that Bute would've likely tried to pull some "I'm the star, so I deserve 70% of the take" and it'd seem as if Andre Ward made the right move.

[Scipio2009]

you seem to be forgetting that ward is super boring. you think he's going to capture their hearts and imaginations with another boring fight against another tomato can? you must think boxing fans are pretty dumb and ignorant. i mean i know some are but...

I don't think Andre Ward is boring, and I'd be willing to bet that any objective viewer who saw the Ward-Froch, Ward-Dawson and Ward-Smith fights wouldn't call him boring either.

Ward isn't going to blow anyone out with a single shot, but Ward hits plenty hard enough, will push the pace and, if his opponent doesn't simply go into survival mode, will break down and likely stop every fighter that he'd get put in with.

The sport is going to be looking for a new star to carry things once Floyd hangs up the gloves; take it how you want, the casual boxing audience, especially in the US, isn't going to rally behind a fighter who can't promote their fight in English.

Ward is 31 years of age, will be seen as the sport's p4p best fighter, is America's last Olympic gold medalist, and is as comfortable on urban radio as he is on the set of The View (with neither audience rejecting him). ward simply needs to get active, fighting regularly, again.

Ward's got as good a shot as anybody