Andre Ward offers Marco Antonio Periban a HBO-televised fight

[Scipio2009]

As was Paul Smith.But it's irrelevant, because Ward prefers to have boxers from smaller weight divisions move up to fight him.

Karpency being KOed actually means Ward is more likely to fight him. Paul Smith was coming off two losses.

But I think he'll take an even softer route, and have a middleweight or super middleweight journeyman like Periban move up for him.

Paul Smith was coming off of two L's .... in world title fights, by decision, against a German world champion, in Germany! (the first of which, a sincere case can be made that he got the shaft in).

Don't embarrass yourself.

[The Hammer]

How many people has Sullivan Barrera ever drawn to a venue, anywhere in the state of Florida?

How many times has Ward done it in recent years?

Most people who've seen Ward clinch, clamp, grapple and head butt will never again pay to see him.

"Fool me once..."

[mathed]

What is the option if Barrera walks away from "15% of what I'm going to make"?

Kovalev is fighting Jean Pascal in January, its starting to look like there may end up being a deal in play for Kovalev-Stevenson for April/May {Duva/Michel go over the numbers together, split the fight 50/50 based on what they both believe that the fight would've gotten on the open market, and that split is what gets paid to Stevenson for going to HBO for the fight, with Kovalev getting the balance of the tv money; everything else gets split 50/50}, and the Ward fight is looming for the fall.

Duva's not going to go to the IBF to speed anything up or get her own fighter stripped of a title, and it's not like Barrera is positioned to force anything that his own promoter isn't willing to do.

Barrera is basically in line to get his mandatory shot come December 2016/January 2017.

What is Barrera going to do while he waits for his shot, since $300k isn't enough for him to fight for?

If Barrera fights Ward and doesn't knock him out, he's going to lose on the cards. Not just because Ward may be better than him but HBO wants Ward to fight Kovalev and any close calls are going to go his way in hopes that he follows through with that fight.

Should Barrera fight Ward and lose, he loses out on his mandatory status and he will likely make more money for a Kovalev fight than a Ward fight, where no title is on the line. Don't get me wrong, 300K is a lot of money before taxes and other fees are deducted but the bottom line is he has more to lose by facing Ward for 300K than he does facing Kovalev for more money.

Fighting a guy that the networks want to win, in that fighter's backyard with your mando shot on the line, for 15% of the other fighter's purse, is a tough sell imo.

He should fight a few easier fights that will pay less so that he collects a few checks before fighting Kovalev for the title and more money. Even if he looks good against Ward, he'll lose on the cards and if Ward truly did sign to fight Kovalev, he'll get his Kovalev shot even with Barrera out of the picture.

But for Barrera, if he loses to Ward, regardless of how or why he loses, he's out of that title shot. Meanwhile, as I just mentioned, Ward still cruises to his title fight (assuming he signed to fight Kovalev).

Just too much to lose for Barrera and he holds the cards to get what he wants without involving Ward.

[Scipio2009]

How many times has Ward done it in recent years?

Most people who've seen Ward clinch, clamp, grapple and head butt will never again pay to see him.

"Fool me once..."

Andre Ward had 10k people in Oracle Arena, less than 6 months ago, for the Paul Smith fight (if patterns hold true, he likely sold 8000-8500 actual tickets for the fight, with the balance comped).

Beyond that, Andre Ward busted up Paul Smith from range, punishing him to the head and body, just about until Smith's face finally broke and his corner saved him. It's starting to be obvious that you don't seem to watch very many actual fights.

I'll ask again; how many people have ever come out to see Sullivan Barrera fight, in Florida or anywhere else that he was a draw, since you seem to be deliberately avoiding the question?

[The Hammer]

I'll ask again; how many people have ever come out to see Sullivan Barrera fight, in Florida or anywhere else that he was a draw, since you seem to be deliberately avoiding the question?

But Sullivan Barrera has a much more fan-friendly style than Andre Ward.

Have you ever seen Barrera fight?

But Sullivan has never had the media hype Ward receives from the likes of Max Kellerman, because he's from another country.

Using hype to fool someone into watching a Ward fight should be illegal, because seeing Andre clamp, clinch and grapple is a form of psychological torture. The person will likely never watch a boxing match again.

[Pain~Lucy]

no way hbo accepts this fight, but if in BET then is doable

[Scipio2009]

If Barrera fights Ward and doesn't knock him out, he's going to lose on the cards. Not just because Ward may be better than him but HBO wants Ward to fight Kovalev and any close calls are going to go his way in hopes that he follows through with that fight.

Should Barrera fight Ward and lose, he loses out on his mandatory status and he will likely make more money for a Kovalev fight than a Ward fight, where no title is on the line. Don't get me wrong, 300K is a lot of money before taxes and other fees are deducted but the bottom line is he has more to lose by facing Ward for 300K than he does facing Kovalev for more money.

Fighting a guy that the networks want to win, in that fighter's backyard with your mando shot on the line, for 15% of the other fighter's purse, is a tough sell imo.

He should fight a few easier fights that will pay less so that he collects a few checks before fighting Kovalev for the title and more money. Even if he looks good against Ward, he'll lose on the cards and if Ward truly did sign to fight Kovalev, he'll get his Kovalev shot even with Barrera out of the picture.

But for Barrera, if he loses to Ward, regardless of how or why he loses, he's out of that title shot. Meanwhile, as I just mentioned, Ward still cruises to his title fight (assuming he signed to fight Kovalev).

Just too much to lose for Barrera and he holds the cards to get what he wants without involving Ward.

The Kovalev fight, as far as Barrera is concerned, is a year away; if Duva got her dreams fulfilled, Kovalev's 2016 would be the Pascal rematch from Montreal, vs Stevenson on HBOPPV to open the new Vegas Arena, and vs Ward on PPV in the Fall.

Beyond Kovalev, Duva has basically no pull with HBO.

Maybe I'm oversimplifying things, but it looks like Barrera's options are 1)fight Ward for $300k[there's likely a bit of room to go up, but not much] or 2)sit on the shelf for most of the year, hope that Kovalev gets through the three fights unblemished, and fight Kovalev, cold, for maybe $300k.

I don't think Barrera beats Ward, ever, but it's a riskier proposition, as far as I'm concerned, to just sit on the shelf and wait for Kovalev.

And, as long as he doesn't get flat-out embarrassed by Ward, fighting the sport's best fighter and losing, from a name standpoint, is likely worth more than prairie dogging a mandatory status (that he only even got, to begin with, because of Beterbiev blowing his shoulder in camp).

[OnePunch]

Andre Ward has put at least 10k people into Oracle Arena on at least three occasions (vs. Kessler, vs. Dawson, and vs. Smith).

How many people has Sullivan Barrera ever drawn to a venue, anywhere in the state of Florida?

for that fight they had to do a deal where you got a free large pizza and 12 garlic knots if you took 10 free fight tickets and promised to bring 9 friends with you.

[firstborn]

for that fight they had to do a deal where you got a free large pizza and 12 garlic knots if you took 10 free fight tickets and promised to bring 9 friends with you.

^^^^For some reason I thought you were better than that.

I was at the Smith fight and it wasn't sold out but had a decent turn out for what it was....could have done without the rap concert though.

[OnePunch]

^^^^For some reason I thought you were better than that.

I was at the Smith fight and it wasn't sold out but had a decent turn out for what it was....could have done without the rap concert though.

oh come on, have you no sense of humor?

but all jokes aside, I hope you didnt pay for your tickets. Everyone knew they were going to have to paper the house.......