Andre Ward vs. Sullivan Barrera confirmed for 3/26. Who you got?

[TheUptownKid]

First off let me say: I have a very, very tough time envisioning this fight as an exciting, camera-friendly type of affair. Both fighters are known as counterpunchers. It will most likely have to be Barrera who steps out of his comfort zone as the aggressor, but even though he is a big, BIG light-heavyweight, he is also a pretty slow and easy target for a guy as skilled as Andre Ward. Ward will most likely pot shot and pick Barrera apart as he comes in. I'll give Barrera credit for having a heavy, consistent jab. He'll need it to pressure Ward. In all likelihood this will be an ugly decision win for Andre Ward.

I wade through all the bs comments for this. I agree with this post wholeheartedly and don't think barrera sets up punches well enough to get ward in trouble. I also think sullivan is a natural boxer who won't be aggressive enough to make SOG uncomfortable. I see a pot shot festival no kds wide margin decision

[techliam]

Jesus quit crying. He's moving up and fighting a top 10 guy in the division

He isn't top 10 though. We have Kovalev, Stevenson, Pascal, Fonfara, Beterbiev, Braehmer, Shabranskyy and Alvarez who definitely rank ahead of him. Then we have fighters like Gonzalez, Cleverley, Chilemba, Browne, Oosthuizen and Rodriguez who most people would, and do, rank ahead of him. Then below these fighters, you have Cloud, Monaghan, Dawson, Karpency, Skoglund, Mohammedi who have wins (or great wins, and recent losses) that rank at or around the same level of Barrera. Theres no way to justify him being top 10. He's a top 20 fighter certainly, but thats all.

Barrera doesn't make this fight intriguing at all, he's barely a factor anyway. The intrigue is to see how well Ward fights at 175, and whether the inactivity has affected him. Its a tuneup fight to test the weight

[HanzGruber]

He isn't top 10 though. We have Kovalev, Stevenson, Pascal, Fonfara, Beterbiev, Braehmer, Shabranskyy and Alvarez who definitely rank ahead of him. Then we have fighters like Gonzalez, Cleverley, Chilemba, Browne, Oosthuizen and Rodriguez who most people would, and do, rank ahead of him. Then below these fighters, you have Cloud, Monaghan, Dawson, Karpency, Skoglund, Mohammedi who have wins (or great wins, and recent losses) that rank at or around the same level of Barrera. Theres no way to justify him being top 10. He's a top 20 fighter certainly, but thats all.

Barrera doesn't make this fight intriguing at all, he's barely a factor anyway. The intrigue is to see how well Ward fights at 175, and whether the inactivity has affected him. Its a tuneup fight to test the weight

He's top 10 in 3 out of the 4 sanctions and ESPN

[Brickyardigan]

So what time do you think Ward Vs Sullivan will fight tonight. I have to work today until 11pm and it usually takes me 40 minutes to get home, so 11:40pm. Please tell me 12am

[Brickyardigan]

Damn why they putting on this fight so early? **** they should have 3 fights before the main event, not just one. HBO **** you.

[techliam]

He's top 10 in 3 out of the 4 sanctions and ESPN

Well in my view, you'd have to be ranked top 10 in nearly every place that matters to be passing that claim around as fact (or at least justified opinion). You're essentially saying Barrera is an ESPN top 10 fighter, which is fine. But he isn't anything more than that right now.

Boxing news, TBRB, RING, and here at Boxingscene don't see him as a top 10 fighter.

The sanctioning bodies don't even understand how their own rankings work. They really are one of the mysteries of the universe. They rank Wade no.1 behind Golovkin for crying out loud. Not trying to downplay this fight at all, but I just don't think Barrera is part of the intrigue. I just want to see if Ward is the same guy that posed a severe challenge to Floyd as the top of the 'p4p' lists.

[-PBP-]

Greatness

[dan_cov]

Apart from Kovalev, Stevenson and Fonfara none of those should be ranked above Barrera and its clear as day regardless of resumes he is a much better fighter than Cleverly, Karpency, Skoglund etc
Karpency is noway near world class, just about anybody would of beaten the Dawson he fought that night.

Oosthuizen shouldn't be ranked above anybody. Isn't he retired due to drug and alcohol addictions?

You don't go 285-27 in the Cuban amateur system winning is it 4 world champions? If you're a mug.
Barrera is fairly slow and basic but he is most certainly a good, big LHW
No special effects just a good, solid boxer-puncher.

Ward has been injured, inactive, he is moving up in weight. I think he should be applauded. Barrera is better than most seem too think.
Thing is Ward is in a lose-lose with most. If he dominates people will say I told you so, if he remotely struggles they won't admit Barrera is a good fighter they'll claim Ward was exposed.
Not always about resumes if you watch Barrera its clear as day he is vastly superior to a lot of these so called top LHWs. You'd only pick the real monsters over him - Kovalev, Stevenson, Ward & he might even have a fair shot of beating them. I've seen them all struggle with less and we've not yet seen how Barrera looks at the highest level. Thus far he has ticked all the right boxes.

Barrera is world class, he might not be elite but he is a solid world class fighter that is plain too see. Ward gets my praise for taking this anyway.

[-PBP-]

Apart from Kovalev, Stevenson and Fonfara none of those should be ranked above Barrera and its clear as day regardless of resumes he is a much better fighter than Cleverly, Karpency, Skoglund etc
Karpency is noway near world class, just about anybody would of beaten the Dawson he fought that night.

Oosthuizen shouldn't be ranked above anybody. Isn't he retired due to drug and alcohol addictions?

You don't go 285-27 in the Cuban amateur system winning is it 4 world champions? If you're a mug.
Barrera is fairly slow and basic but he is most certainly a good, big LHW
No special effects just a good, solid boxer-puncher.

Ward has been injured, inactive, he is moving up in weight. I think he should be applauded. Barrera is better than most seem too think.
Thing is Ward is in a lose-lose with most. If he dominates people will say I told you so, if he remotely struggles they won't admit Barrera is a good fighter they'll claim Ward was exposed.
Not always about resumes if you watch Barrera its clear as day he is vastly superior to a lot of these so called top LHWs. You'd only pick the real monsters over him - Kovalev, Stevenson, Ward & he might even have a fair shot of beating them. I've seen them all struggle with less and we've not yet seen how Barrera looks at the highest level. Thus far he has ticked all the right boxes.

Barrera is world class, he might not be elite but he is a solid world class fighter that is plain too see. Ward gets my praise for taking this anyway.

Exactly. After Stevenson/Kovalev and maybe Fonfara they are all the same. The rest are just contenders competing to round out the top 5 in the division.

It's all guesswork after that. Barrera is a relevant contender competing for an opportunity at Kovalev and Stevenson just like Brahmer, Beterbiev, Shabransky or anybody else.

[Hype job]

Ward by decision is the safe choice but this is a risky fight and he can't take Barrera lightly.