Why is Andre Wards recent opposition..

[kafkod]

yet you fools daily defend the most feared middleweight in the world.....2/3 belts he didnt fight for....no wins over elite opponents let alone fighting any in a ten year career...supposedly top 3 p4p

you sound ****** defending a less accomplished fighter and trashing a guy who has literally done everything people are calling for GGG to do at least once

1)Unify the division in the ring....Ward did that at 168

2) Move up if no one will fight him...Ward is at 175 now

3) Fight elite opponents....He has in the past and will be in November


keep hoping Ward-Kov doesnt happen....wont change the fact GGG has a career longer than a decade and hasnt taken any major risks with his career

Ward never unified the SMW division. He held the WBC and WBA titles but turned down offers to fight Bute, the IBF champ.

Note: Carl Froch taking Bute's IBF title and unbeaten record does NOT count as a win for Ward.

[Rip Chudd]

Is that because he is such a diva though?

I haven't heard anyone backing out of serious negotiations with Ward or categorically saying NO to him at 175. Who has said no? Pascal, Beterbiev, Stevenson, Alvarez, Gvozdyk, Brähmer, Bivol, Gonzalez.. Heard rumours of Cleverly but don't know that particular situation. Has he seriously pursued any of them? I respect Kovalev fight but its way off yet & doesn't excuse the run he is on..

What kind of dumb excuse is that? "Oh I don't want to fight him cause he a diva doe"

The problem is nobody really wants to fight the best fighters out there unless they are gonna make crazy money, it's like that throughout boxing, it doesn't change just because it's Andre Ward. The only ones it seems taking decent money to fight title holders or good fighters are mandatories

[1g5a22]

Ward never unified the SMW division. He held the WBC and WBA titles but turned down offers to fight Bute, the IBF champ.

Note: Carl Froch taking Bute's IBF title and unbeaten record does NOT count as a win for Ward.

Calzaghe got closer to unification than Ward.

[HeroBando]

There is no excuse, nobody wants to fight the guy though, it's just the way it is. There really isn't any reward in it. What better opponents are out there? We know Adonis won't fight anyone with a pulse, Skoglund apparently turned the fight down when drug testing was brought up, Cleverly said no, Jean Pascal is coming off two beatings by the hands of Kovalev, Fonfara just fought, Yunieski is coming off a loss to Shabransky.

If Ward doesn't want to give up any of his guarantee I have no problem with that, he's earned what he is getting. But if money is indeed the problem then I don't want to hear his whining. Fighters also think they are gonna get crazy paid when they fight him which isn't the case. Heck GGG is a bigger draw and he isn't even offering opponents big bucks

I dunno about that. He just paid a zero like Wade 500k. Lemieux got 1.5m. Lots of Lhw would step in with Ward for 500k. Remember the drama when Barrera wanted 450k and Ward was unwilling

[1g5a22]

What kind of dumb excuse is that? "Oh I don't want to fight him cause he a diva doe"

The problem is nobody really wants to fight the best fighters out there unless they are gonna make crazy money, it's like that throughout boxing, it doesn't change just because it's Andre Ward. The only ones it seems taking decent money to fight title holders or good fighters are mandatories

What kind of thing is it to say no one wants to fight him? Based on what? I haven't heard anyone backing out of serious negotiations with Ward or categorically saying NO to him at 175. Who has said no? Pascal, Beterbiev, Stevenson, Alvarez, Gvozdyk, Brähmer, Bivol, Gonzalez.. Heard rumours of Cleverly but don't know that particular situation. Has he seriously pursued any of them? I respect Kovalev fight but its way off yet & doesn't excuse the run he is on..

Exactly WHO doesn't want to fight him? Has he pursued any of em seriously? Last I heard he was pursuing some guy called Dunne before Barrera too LOL

Are you saying 175 has lesser balls than Paul Smith? Man give up..

He's virtually un-dealable to work with by all accounts & that's probably why most shun him. if they even do! I'm sure if he was serious & offered a better deal to opponents he wouldn't have to pay peanuts to parking attendants. However, boxing is a business & he's cashing in on the minnows... His prerogative.

Peace.

[DJ_Quaaludes]

Ward's opposition post super six has been piss poor, no doubt about that. By the time November comes around, it will have been four years since he's fought a guy of merit.


However, all will be forgiven in should the Kovalev showdown go on. If wants to 'tune up' with the Smiths/Barerras/Brands of the world that's his prerogative. I personally think he should have sought out slightly better LHW opposition in preparation but again, seeking out and making a fight with one of the boogeymen of the sport will erase that stretch for me.

[Rip Chudd]

I dunno about that. He just paid a zero like Wade 500k. Lemieux got 1.5m. Lots of Lhw would step in with Ward for 500k. Remember the drama when Barrera wanted 450k and Ward was unwilling

Wade was a mandatory after Johnson got injured, I don't think he had much say in what he was getting. Lemieux was a PPV and had a title.

Rodriguez got paid a cool 1M, Barrera was trying to cash in like many others do but where is that money supposed to come from? He was offered 300K (way more then he had ever made) but like others he wanted more, and they ended up with it. I honestly have no problem with fighters getting paid. But if someone is offering you 2 or 3 times what your best purse is and you're turning it down then you are just pricing yourself out or overstating your worth.

I think Jacobs made what 1.5M or something to fight Quillin? If GGG offered him a fight at 1M or the same it would be a slap in the face as he has already made that kind of money and it's a bigger fight. If he offered him like 2M that would be cool imo cause it's more than he has ever made, but I bet he wouldn't take it cause these fighters nowadays are trying to cash in instead of taking on the best

[firstborn]

That's all you need to know.

Bellew, according to UK media wanted that fight, but wanted $100k more, but Ward said no thanks. Ward not able to give 5% from his purse so the fans can see a better fight.

Thank you Andre.

Interesting, do you know how much the final offer was? Ward came out of pocket to make the Barrera fight so maybe he didn't feel obligated to do it this time around.

BTW, Bellew was supposed to fight Ward in the lasted version of Rocky right? Life imitating art, that would have been a great pitch for their fight......

[Rip Chudd]

What kind of thing is it to say no one wants to fight him? Based on what? I haven't heard anyone backing out of serious negotiations with Ward or categorically saying NO to him at 175. Who has said no? Pascal, Beterbiev, Stevenson, Alvarez, Gvozdyk, Brähmer, Bivol, Gonzalez.. Heard rumours of Cleverly but don't know that particular situation. Has he seriously pursued any of them? I respect Kovalev fight but its way off yet & doesn't excuse the run he is on..

Exactly WHO doesn't want to fight him? Has he pursued any of em seriously? Last I heard he was pursuing some guy called Dunne before Barrera too LOL

Are you saying 175 has lesser balls than Paul Smith? Man give up..

He's virtually un-dealable to work with by all accounts & that's probably why most shun him. if they even do! I'm sure if he was serious & offered a better deal to opponents he wouldn't have to pay peanuts to parking attendants. However, boxing is a business & he's cashing in on the minnows... His prerogative.

Peace.

There is a video with Virgil Hunter talking about who turned them down before Brand took the fight. Actually here it is...



Perhaps you should give up cause you're already crying about him being hard to work with but in the same breath stating "well I don't know anyone who has turned him down". I get it man, you don't like Ward. Ok, moving on

[HeroBando]

Wade was a mandatory after Johnson got injured, I don't think he had much say in what he was getting. Lemieux was a PPV and had a title.

Rodriguez got paid a cool 1M, Barrera was trying to cash in like many others do but where is that money supposed to come from? He was offered 300K (way more then he had ever made) but like others he wanted more, and they ended up with it. I honestly have no problem with fighters getting paid. But if someone is offering you 2 or 3 times what your best purse is and you're turning it down then you are just pricing yourself out or overstating your worth.

I think Jacobs made what 1.5M or something to fight Quillin? If GGG offered him a fight at 1M or the same it would be a slap in the face as he has already made that kind of money and it's a bigger fight. If he offered him like 2M that would be cool imo cause it's more than he has ever made, but I bet he wouldn't take it cause these fighters nowadays are trying to cash in instead of taking on the best

When one guy is making 2m, the money is there to pay these guys. Most are not asking for a fortune, maybe 100-150k more than the 300k or whatever Ward wants to pay them. Forget Lemieux, Wade, every Ggg Hbo opponent except Monroe got a much much better split percentage wise than 2m vs 300k, or even 1.8m vs 500k.