Comments Thread For: “Fighting Words” — Will Their Waits Have Been Worth It?

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

by David P. Greisman - It’s fitting that this coming weekend’s pay-per-view featuring Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Alvarez in the main event went from having Andre Ward on the undercard to having Guillermo Rigondeaux in that spot instead.

Both won gold medals in the Olympics (Rigondeaux has two of them). Both were the best in their respective divisions in the pros, Ward at super middleweight and Rigondeaux at junior featherweight. Both were out of the spotlight before signing with Roc Nation Sports. And both have been criticized in the past for their styles of boxing.

That’s not why Ward fought so rarely between 2012 and now, nor is it why he won’t be in the ring on Saturday’s broadcast. He pulled out of this fight due to inflammation and pain in his right knee. Rigondeaux, meanwhile, wasn’t anywhere near as inactive as Ward. While Ward fought once in 2012, once in 2013, not at all in 2014 and once earlier this year, Rigondeaux had fought three times in 2012, twice in 2013, twice in 2014 and not at all so far in 2015. [Click Here To Read More]

[El Presidente]

It's a shame

Rigo and Garcia got bad advice. Both were some of my favorite fighters and I miss watching them inside the ropes. Ward has been my boy since 2009.

I met Ward in the summer of 2014, at the IBHOF in Canastota, NY. I drove up there to see the inductions of Calzaghe, Trinidad and ODLH; had a blast!

Anyway, Ward was a class act, taking time to sign autographs, talk to hoards of fans, always smiling, being courteous and posing for pictures. When I finally got my chance, I asked him if he knew how his ring absence was potentially impacting his career and if so why would he just not honor his Goosen contract and fight it out. Perhaps it was wan obvious question, but nonetheless I wanted to see his reaction. What he told me then was that there will soon be big news and I will see him fight again in 2014. I was thrilled! Told all my friends Ward would be back in 2014. Unfortunately, as we know now nothing happened, and then Dan Goosen passed away in September of that year, which brought everything to a halt.

I can only assume Ward was referring to the ROC Nation contract that he eventually signed Jan 2015. However, we will never really know if Goosen was a willing participant of selling the Ward contract to ROC Nation or if Goosen had a fight lines up for Ward.

Sadly, time continues to tic by and as much respect and admiration I have for what Ward does inside the ring, his time is running out to make his case as an elite fighter. Thus, I can no longer put him on my P4P list; he's not active enough and when he does fight it's been with opposition that leaves you scratching your head (Edwin Rodriguez and Paul Smith??). I didn't even see the Paul Smith fight, and for a boxing fanatic I am that is saying something!

Ward, let's go! Get in the ring or retire to commentate with HBO, which sadly is where I can find you more often than inside the ring!

[Clegg]

I always think of Donaire as an example of how some of these guys should've acted. He got a better offer from GBP and tried to take it, Arum sued, they exchanged public insults, but ultimately Donaire did the smart thing and got back to fighting rather than sitting out while the lawyers went back and forth like they have with Mikey Garcia.