Comments Thread For: Malignaggi: Andre Ward is The P4P Best, Could Lose To Kovalev

[j0zef]

[B]punch resistance has nothing to do with skin toughness. Ward is a light skinned guy and they mark up easier than darker people, thats common sense. When he did get caught with a solid shot, he didnt stumble, get buzzed or anything.

It has nothing to do with what I said. He barely got marked up against Froch, Kessler or Dawson, while against Barrera he did get marked up. AND Froch actually landed more punches, and more power punches.

if you hadnt lost since your peach fuzz started coming in, you'd have high expectations for yourself. What great fighter ever gives themselves an A anyway? lets be serious. A perfectionist, like Ward, will break down everything in detail

Fair enough.

its not hard to look impressive when you dont fight elite competition. We all know Ward has finally started fighting more so trying to dumb it down to the last 3 years knowing he only fought a few times is kinda ******. come on man.

Two things - one, actually it is tough to consistently look impressive against good, but not elite fighters. Like you say, styles make fights, and it IS hard to look impressive against all types of fighters.

And two, I'm not dumbing anything down. I'm working with what actually happened. Golovkin was also in a contract dispute. Did you see anyone appoint him P4P #1 in 2012?
The fact is that Ward hasn't fought a good fighter in 4-5 years. Half a decade is an age for an athlete.

styles make fights. A win is a win when it is dominant. Kayoing a no name is not no more impressive than outboxing one. Wade didnt belong in the ring with GGG, Barrera was a better opponent for ward because he was a true light heavyweight and more dangerous opponent.

Let's not get into the argument of Barrera vs. Wade. Like I said, Barrera is better, but lets not pretend that there's a chasm between them.



The whole P4P argument is garbage today IMO. There's nobody who deserves a spot on a P4P list strictly by their accomplishments. Look at ESPN.
Kovalev's resume is actually not impressive if you look at it objectively. 50 year old Hopkins? Blah.
Golovkin's resume? Not impressive.
Ward's resume? Overrated (don't go crazy).
Roman? Good, but not amazing. His best win was Estrada.. but Estrada was only 22 when they fought. Plus Roman got rocked a few times in his last 2 fights.
Canelo resume? Good, but he's always had a big size advantage.
Crawford? Lame... until the Postol clash.
Rigo probably has best resume of the bunch, but he's been inactive like Ward and tastes the mat in almost every fight.
Bradley got his ass kicked decisively by a guy who actually belonged on a P4P list (pac)
Estrada - who knows. When he fights Roman next year we'll see.
Cotto? I like him, but he lost every big fight he's been in.

[therealpugilist]

It has nothing to do with what I said. He barely got marked up against Froch, Kessler or Dawson, while against Barrera he did get marked up. AND Froch actually landed more punches, and more power punches.



Fair enough.

Two things - one, actually it is tough to consistently look impressive against good, but not elite fighters. Like you say, styles make fights, and it IS hard to look impressive against all types of fighters.

And two, I'm not dumbing anything down. I'm working with what actually happened. Golovkin was also in a contract dispute. Did you see anyone appoint him P4P #1 in 2012?
The fact is that Ward hasn't fought a good fighter in 4-5 years. Half a decade is an age for an athlete.


Let's not get into the argument of Barrera vs. Wade. Like I said, Barrera is better, but lets not pretend that there's a chasm between them.



The whole P4P argument is garbage today IMO. There's nobody who deserves a spot on a P4P list strictly by their accomplishments. Look at ESPN.
Kovalev's resume is actually not impressive if you look at it objectively. 50 year old Hopkins? Blah.
Golovkin's resume? Not impressive.
Ward's resume? Overrated (don't go crazy).
Roman? Good, but not amazing. His best win was Estrada.. but Estrada was only 22 when they fought. Plus Roman got rocked a few times in his last 2 fights.
Canelo resume? Good, but he's always had a big size advantage.
Crawford? Lame... until the Postol clash.
Rigo probably has best resume of the bunch, but he's been inactive like Ward and tastes the mat in almost every fight.
Bradley got his ass kicked decisively by a guy who actually belonged on a P4P list (pac)
Estrada - who knows. When he fights Roman next year we'll see.
Cotto? I like him, but he lost every big fight he's been in.

the best fighters in the world today are Ward and Chocolatito imo....they are well rounded with good resumes. I watch them to study why they used certain parrys, punches, slips, dips, etc.

like a live boxing manual


P4P is wide open....this is a generation in transition. change of the guard if you will.

[Fetta]

Ward/Kov is a 50/50 fight. Winner is my #1 P4P

[monkeyboy]

Its not easier to be a defensive fighter than it is to be an offensive fighter. If that were the case, there would be more defensive, "safety first" fighters out there. People diminish defensive fighters almost acting as if being defensive guarantees victory. It doesn't. There's plenty defensive fighters in the history of the sport that weren't very good. If you had to merely be defensive to guarantee wins, everybody would be doing it. And the notion that guys are offensive because its crowd pleasing is nonsense as well. Most fight the way they fight becausr they don't have the skills, reflexes, and quickness to be defensive. Adrien Broner is a prime example. Just because you tuck your chin behind your shoulder and rolll doesn't make you Floyd Mayweather.

I think I may have not written what I meant very clearly. I'm not in any way denigrating defensive fighters (except in my stated preference for watching a great offense) but fighters who clinch, foul, spoil, go into their shell, run, run and pot shot may often do so to avoid punishment or to change momentum in a fight. There are fighters who become more aggressive when being beaten or getting hurt but they are in the minority.
To win whilst being a defensive fighter takes real skill but is a safer route in the sense of not exposing yourself to as much punishment in general terms.
Offensive fighters will often make themselves vulnerable to take the lead.

Ward can fight all ways and is very smart. Kovalev is one note (as far as we know). Ward is more likely to win but win ugly than any other result in this fight in my and the consensus opinion. Nothing against Ward (who is supremely skilled) but I'd rather see a ****er win by breaking someone down and possibly KOing them. It's an aesthetic choice. Nothing more.

If Ward can catch and KO Kovalev I'll cheer as loudly as anyone. And vice versa.

[bluebeam]

It has nothing to do with what I said. He barely got marked up against Froch, Kessler or Dawson, while against Barrera he did get marked up. AND Froch actually landed more punches, and more power punches.



Fair enough.

Two things - one, actually it is tough to consistently look impressive against good, but not elite fighters. Like you say, styles make fights, and it IS hard to look impressive against all types of fighters.

And two, I'm not dumbing anything down. I'm working with what actually happened. Golovkin was also in a contract dispute. Did you see anyone appoint him P4P #1 in 2012?
The fact is that Ward hasn't fought a good fighter in 4-5 years. Half a decade is an age for an athlete.


Let's not get into the argument of Barrera vs. Wade. Like I said, Barrera is better, but lets not pretend that there's a chasm between them.



The whole P4P argument is garbage today IMO. There's nobody who deserves a spot on a P4P list strictly by their accomplishments. Look at ESPN.
Kovalev's resume is actually not impressive if you look at it objectively. 50 year old Hopkins? Blah.
Golovkin's resume? Not impressive.
Ward's resume? Overrated (don't go crazy).
Roman? Good, but not amazing. His best win was Estrada.. but Estrada was only 22 when they fought. Plus Roman got rocked a few times in his last 2 fights.
Canelo resume? Good, but he's always had a big size advantage.
Crawford? Lame... until the Postol clash.
Rigo probably has best resume of the bunch, but he's been inactive like Ward and tastes the mat in almost every fight.
Bradley got his ass kicked decisively by a guy who actually belonged on a P4P list (pac)
Estrada - who knows. When he fights Roman next year we'll see.
Cotto? I like him, but he lost every big fight he's been in.

You lost all credibility when you said rigo has the best resume of all those fighters.

His only win is donaire

[j0zef]

You lost all credibility when you said rigo has the best resume of all those fighters.

His only win is donaire

Why are you quoting me again? Go troll someone else, thanks.

[aboutfkntime]

No hate from me on this subject. Don't get me wrong, I'm rooting for Kovalev as I'm a sucker for the crowd-pleasing knockout but Ward deserves all the respect in the world for taking the fight and he wouldn't do so if he didn't think he could win.

I'll always root for the puncher over a spoiler and it's marginally easier to be a defensive fighter than offensive but it doesn't belittle the skill or achievement.

Sometimes a win is the only goal.

I don't believe that for 1 second, the exact opposite is true.

Anyone can punch, seen a million punchers.

I will always go for the skilled fighter over the puncher.

In saying that, Kovalev is more than just a puncher.

[aboutfkntime]

I don't think Ward gets much hate. what he does get is a lot of people expressing frustration with the way he has squandered his huge talents and stalled what could have been one of the greatest ever careers. He hasn't made things any easier on himself by talking out his ass more often than is good for him. He is apparently tone deaf as to how his constant whining will be received so his team should do more to shut him up and just get him in the ring. In the ring he's an artist. With a mike in his hand he keeps snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Come on man, most " people " don't give a flying fat fk about Ward..... and people who don't give a fk don't usually comment at all.

The undeserved hate is because Ward punked the current hero, lil'G.

Luckily, Ward is tone-deaf to that level of whining.

What sort of clowns would continue to whine about Ward's inactivity, even after he resumed his career?

Dey be hating, and Ward be rollin.

[aboutfkntime]

When Malignaggi opens his mouth, the ridiculousness has already begun.

What, as opposed to some of your gems ?

Paulie knows the game inside out, and he tells it straight.

I can see why you guys don't like him.

[aboutfkntime]

How has he squandered his career? He did what a man is supposed to do. If you dont like your current situation, you change it. He wanted out of his contract with goosen and he was willing to sit out until it happened. That's what men do. Stand on what they believe in regardless if it's the popular thing to do or not. He got his wish.

now he is with roc nation who is paying him more than he was gonna make with goosen tutor and he is about to fight the toughest fight possible.

People don't hate ward cause he sat out for 2 yrs. They hate ward because he is a threat to their favorite fighters

Exactly, great post !