How is a guy who has one 12 round fight & one 10 round fight worthy of a fight w AW?

[techliam]

Yea but hes rated by all the sanctioning bodies minus the IBF and hes rated on ESPN, he was the legit contender to Kovalev's belt. His resume is comparable to half the list of top Light Heavys and hes no young buck. He's a Cuban import, meaning he's more advanced than some of the other fighters out there. Comparing him to Dominic Wade in a vaccum of information is quite weak. And thats clearly what you are doing, which makes little sense.

People refer to sanctioning body ranks when it seems convenient for them. In reality however, they reflect nothing of any interest. Their ranking systems are one of the mysteries of the universe.

He may be ranked by ESPN, Wade is ranked by TBRB.

His sole win over a faded (limited) Murat clearly doesn't beat the resumes of Stevenson, Kovalev, Pascal, Hopkins, Shabranskyy, Braehmer (thats saying something), Fonfara, Alvarez, Beterbiev or Chilemba. Then you have fighters like Gonzales with his spirited effort against Pascal, which is far more than a win over a virtual nobody in Murat, Browne with a somewhat comparable win over Campilllo, who was at least a former titleholder, Oosthuizen with a fairly limited run at 175 picking up a minor title. All fighters with strong cases to be ranked higher than him. So your claim he has a comparable resume to half the top 10 light heavy is pretty absurd.

So whats your argument. He's better because he's cuban and ESPN ranked him? That's pretty much a clear case of grasping at straws from the vacuum you so gallantly described. Both matches, Wade and Barrera, are as bad as each other. So why fanboys are whining at each other from both sides, is way beyond me.

[SplitSecond]

Sullivan Barrera has gone 12 rounds?

[techliam]

It's simple. I don't know who Andre Ward is right now. He hasn't fought a real opponent since 2013, has never fought at the full 175 limit, and has been through several injuries over the past several years. You're basing this matchup under the assumption that he is the guy that dominated Carl Froch. Shame on Ward for his inactivity and diva attitude but that's the situation as it stands.

A big issue with layoffs is punch resistance. He hasn't had a fight without headgear against a real fighter since 2013. We can actually learn something about where Andre Ward is at right now and what type of run he can have at 175. Anticipation.

Golovkin, is an active champion, a top 3 pound for pound fighter, with little left to accomplish at MW who is sticking around in hopes of getting that marquee PPV matchup with Canelo. OK, he wants to unify the belts. If he played his card, he could have had the WBC belt long ago but those step aside dollars are pretty nice. Can't blame him.

While waiting for this opportunity, he has wasted 2 of his last 3 fights on prospects who have never fought scheduled 12 rounders. Never fought in any title eliminators. If Dominic Wade is ranked 10 by anyone it's because of lack of alternatives. He looked terrible in his last fight and arguably lost. We don't learn anything about Golovkin in this fight. No anticipation.

Now let's look at the matchups themselves

Barrera has a size, height, reach and power advantage over Ward. Can Ward physically impose his strength on a bigger fighter? If not, how will his style change at 175? I live in Miami and have been following Barrera since just about he turned pro. I always thought he was a decent prospect. Might be too big a step up for him here but if there is ever a time to sneak up on Andre Ward, now is it.

Wade has no advantages over Golovkin. Wade is flat footed, stands straight up, has a bad habit of dropping his right hand when throwing his left, chin in the air, and gets hit with **** like this:



I know a little about Dominic. He grew up 5 minutes from my Uncle's house in PG County Maryland and I know some dudes that trained with him. People I talk to think he's in over his head. But hey, maybe he has just been fighting down to his level of opposition and the best will come out of him in April. We shall see.

Anticipation for Ward's comeback is completely different, and I agree somewhat it brings an intrigue (but nothing more) to any similar fight. As I wrote before, its the surrounding circumstance that makes this fight acceptable, just as I noted that the Wade fight is a mandatory fulfillment for the sole organisation with the balls to follow the rules.

In essence however, you'd expect both GGG and Ward to win pretty decisively against fringe top 10/top 20 opponents. I wouldn't want to be the guy who tries to defend one side for accepting a **** fight because its a comeback, but criticises the other fight whilst its a mandatory. Or vice versa..

[SplitSecond]

Negotiations shouldn't be made public, that's part of the problem. But Sullivan Barrera, another Main Events fighter is putting up his mandatory title shot at Kovalev on the line to fight Andre Ward. On top of that, Andre Ward wouldn't even be on HBO unless he agreed to fight Kovalev in writing. It looks like HBO strong armed him and Ward will pay consequences if he backs out of this deal. If the fight doesn't happen, he will get rightfully criticized and it will hurt him financially.

But now is not the time to criticize. He's not even a relevant fighter right now. Unranked, inactive, coming off several injuries and no meaningful win in years.

If he fought Kovalev today, it would probably do less than 97k on PPV and be fought in front of 12 people in Oakland. Neither guy is a household name and unfortunately, money is what gets the elite fighters in the ring together.

Aren't you one of the guys that strongly believed Ward was p4p #1 and Golovkin ducked Ward?

[Kagami Taiga]

People refer to sanctioning body ranks when it seems convenient for them. In reality however, they reflect nothing of any interest. Their ranking systems are one of the mysteries of the universe.

He may be ranked by ESPN, Wade is ranked by TBRB.

His sole win over a faded (limited) Murat clearly doesn't beat the resumes of Stevenson, Kovalev, Pascal, Hopkins, Shabranskyy, Braehmer (thats saying something), Fonfara, Alvarez, Beterbiev or Chilemba. Then you have fighters like Gonzales with his spirited effort against Pascal, which is far more than a win over a virtual nobody in Murat, Browne with a somewhat comparable win over Campilllo, who was at least a former titleholder, Oosthuizen with a fairly limited run at 175 picking up a minor title. All fighters with strong cases to be ranked higher than him. So your claim he has a comparable resume to half the top 10 light heavy is pretty absurd.

So whats your argument. He's better because he's cuban and ESPN ranked him? That's pretty much a clear case of grasping at straws from the vacuum you so gallantly described. Both matches, Wade and Barrera, are as bad as each other. So why fanboys are whining at each other from both sides, is way beyond me.

The only fighters you've named that have legit better resumes than he does are Stevenson, Kovalev, Pascal, and Hopkins. Beterbiev and Shabranskyy are also prospects. Their resumes are not that much different. Now if you want to make it appear so, more power to you. Buy you are being a bit dishonest in doing so. Gonzalez is fresh off a loss, Chilemba and Braehmer are busy and even if they wrrent, really? Their resumes have wins with no real accomplishments. And then to bring up Browne, Similar resume and Tommy, coked out fighter that Ward got ****ted on for trying to fight just last year. Yes like I said Barrera is comparable with half the names on Rings and TBRB's top 10.

[j0zef]

Barrera is strong, experienced and has a decent amateur record (not as great as people claim though). He's a good introduction to fighting a true LHW, not an overweight Paul Smith.

Wade's also a prospect with a good amateur background. But Golovkin's not moving into a new division, and Wade's much younger than Barrera.

Thus Barrera is a more dangerous opponent than Wade.

[techliam]

The only fighters you've named that have legit better resumes than he does are Stevenson, Kovalev, Pascal, and Hopkins. Beterbiev and Shabranskyy are also prospects. Their resumes are not that much different. Now if you want to make it appear so, more power to you. Buy you are being a bit dishonest in doing so. Gonzalez is fresh off a loss, Chilemba and Braehmer are busy and even if they wrrent, really? Their resumes have wins with no real accomplishments. And then to bring up Browne, Similar resume and Tommy, coked out fighter that Ward got ****ted on for trying to fight just last year. Yes like I said Barrera is comparable with half the names on Rings and TBRB's top 10.

Most of those guys have a strong case for being ranked ahead of a guy whose sole noteworthy win is Murat, who lost to Cleverly, Bhop and has struggled with Campillo.

Beterbiev demolished former titleholders Cloud and Campillo. Shabranskyy has just beaten Gonzales. The only comparable fighters I mentioned (and said comparable) are Oosthuizen and Browne, of which I can make no distinction between them and Barrera. So to say a win over Murat is comparable to half the top 10 at 175 is dishonest, and quite clearly not true.

You aren't giving me any reason to believe Barrera is any better than Wade. You're offering me nothing of any real substance at all, other than an ESPN ranking and he's Cuban. I'm saying the match-ups are as bad as each other and feel confident i've provided enough of an argument for it.

[Pigeons]

The intrigue behind Sullivan Barrera is that he:

• is a product of the Cuban amateur system

• is undefeated

• has fought as heavy as 196 (big boy)

• carries power (6 straight stoppages)

[-PBP-]

Aren't you one of the guys that strongly believed Ward was p4p #1 and Golovkin ducked Ward?

This was the most recent list I could find that I made:

My list as of today goes:

1. Roman Gonzalez
2. Wladmir Klitchko
3. Guillermo Rigondeaux
4. Sergey Kovalev
5. Gennady Golovkin
6. Manny Pacquiao
7. Timothy Bradley
8. Naoya Inoue
9. Juan Francisco Estrada
10. Terrence Crawford

Ward will take the #1 spot when he feels like it.

I think Ward is the best fighter in the world but I'm not putting him at #1 until he proves it. #1 is reserved for the winner of Ward vs. Kovalev.

As far as "ducking" Ward....I wanted to see the fight and criticized him for not taking on the challenge. But I also recall saying you can't duck a guy who is not in your weight division. I usually try to make that clear whenever I criticize:

I wasn't referring to Golovkin ducking Ward. You can't duck a guy not in your weight division. It went over your head bro.

What else you want to know?

[Kagami Taiga]

Most of those guys have a strong case for being ranked ahead of a guy whose sole noteworthy win is Murat, who lost to Cleverly, Bhop and has struggled with Campillo.

Beterbiev demolished former titleholders Cloud and Campillo. Shabranskyy has just beaten Gonzales. The only comparable fighters I mentioned (and said comparable) are Oosthuizen and Browne, of which I can make no distinction between them and Barrera. So to say a win over Murat is comparable to half the top 10 at 175 is dishonest, and quite clearly not true.

You aren't giving me any reason to believe Barrera is any better than Wade. You're offering me nothing of any real substance at all, other than an ESPN ranking and he's Cuban. I'm saying the match-ups are as bad as each other and feel confident i've provided enough of an argument for it.

Even if I give you Bwterbiev, beating former far dininished champions. Gonzalez is Shabranssky''s only good win. Wtf has Gonzalez done that puts him above Murat? Those wins are easily identical in every single way. Seriously. And no mention of Chilemba, I don't know why you would even act like that's a better fight. Or Brahemer, a fight that is probably the worse of the pack. Seriously, guy. You want to act like Barrera and Wade are comparable. I can't help you. I suggest you do yourself a favor and watch both guys fight and see how comparable they look.