Andre Ward's path to PPV stardom ... ?

[Scipio2009]

Can't see Ward ever being a PPV star sadly, his style isn't casual friendly, even some true fans of the support are turned off by his style.... and the state of the sport makes it even harder to become a star now.

GGG, who was as hyped up as anyone, with a fan friendly style couldn't do it either, is back on regular HBO and is likely to stay there without a Canelo fight.

Ward just has to settle for having a good legacy in the sport.... There were many talented boxers before him that never became PPV stars. He's still making good money as it is. We are not likely to see any Mayweathers or Pacs for a while.

Golovkin is stuck on HBO because he's almost 34 years old, and has done nothing but beat on cans for his whole career (with the PPV paying audience seemingly picking up on the dearth of Golovkin's competition).

Ward walks into such a situation with no such doubts about him. Beyond that, Ward stopped Chad Dawson, routed Rodriguez, stopped Paul Smith, and could likely stop Sullivan Barrera.

With all of that footage available to HBO, and HBO still having the ability to put together a high-quality promo package, I wouldn't put the chances that far off. Add the likelihood that he picks off Kovalev's scalp, and Ward may end up being the final HBO attempt at making a PPV star (with Ward possibly moving on from HBO, if the money doesn't come correct).

[Jem Mace]

PPV Stardom? Lol
He is in a great position to be on PPV with Krusher, but if he gets sparked in that fight I have a feeling he retires.
If he wins I think he will need to look exciting and dynamic to warrant a second PPV showing. If he grinds a foul filled decision why would the public pay 70.00 to see that again?

Roc Nation are idiots so anything is possible.

[Vasyl’s dad]

His layoff was a setback. I'd be shocked if he hits 1.2m like he used to. I'm expecting 900-1m with a relatively unknown opponent.

It all depends on what kind of magic Jay Z can do. He needs to get young African Americans back into boxing. Can he get Ward that mainstream attention with his status in the world of entertainment? He needs to tap into a new group of fans because the Mexican and Euro fanbases that dominate boxing right now won't gravitate towards Ward.

At age 32 it might be too late. Floyd was built up as a teenager right out of the Olympics.

Can't gravitate towards someone who doesn't fight. See Mikey Garcia. No Mexican gives a schit about him.

[daggum]

forget ward. broner is the fighter of the decade and the next ppv star

[Mr.Fantastic]

Ward will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER be a PPV star. He fucked that up already. He should of kept the momentum going after the Super Six.

[pacmanis1]

Ward will never be a PPV star. Very very very few boxers are. He might appear in some PPVs but it won't be because he is a PPV star. Sergio Martinez had much more charisma and was more enjoyable to watch but was always B side in PPVs.

People always point to Mayweather and seem to think black guys with a gold medal can become PPV stars but Mayweather was a carefully crafted persona who took a long while to create. Mayweather is an anomaly not a blueprint.

Further more there's nothing wrong with not being a PPV draw. Ward can have a great legacy defining career and get paid a lot without people pointing to how many PPVs he sold.

[HeroBando]

You gotta consider the TS was saying Fonfara vs Cleverly "likely" does 900k viewers, that he's written many essays how 40m flat was a fair offer to Pac etc. File this with those gems

[MrRolltide91]

It's difficult to sell PPV fights up there with no dance partners. None of those guys are A-sides really, like enough to carry a PPV. You're looking at B-sides all over the place. When two B-sides fight each other, you get disappointing numbers. Ward v Kovalev, Ward v Stevenson, Ward v DeGale are all good fights but not fights that the mass will pay $60 for. I still want to see them, I personally would pay to watch them, but not enough people would pay for them to call them a success.

This.......

[MrRolltide91]

Roy jones was never a big ppv star

[MrRolltide91]

His layoff was a setback. I'd be shocked if he hits 1.2m like he used to. I'm expecting 900-1m with a relatively unknown opponent.

It all depends on what kind of magic Jay Z can do. He needs to get young African Americans back into boxing. Can he get Ward that mainstream attention with his status in the world of entertainment? He needs to tap into a new group of fans because the Mexican and Euro fanbases that dominate boxing right now won't gravitate towards Ward.

At age 32 it might be too late. Floyd was built up as a teenager right out of the Olympics.

Jay z didn't even promote the cotto/canelo fight