Comments Thread For: Andre Ward: Time Away From Ring May Have Extended My Career

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Andre Ward's lengthy periods of inactivity have been covered and opined on countless times. He fought just once in 2012, once in 2013, and not at all in 2014, dealing with injury and an extended attempt at parting ways with Dan Goossen, a promoter who has since passed away.
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[Redd Foxx]

I've thought about that before. Sometimes, taking a break lets the body heal nagging injuries. For a lot of guys, it's better to get your fights in while you're younger but for a technician like Andre who hasn't taken a lot of damage, just wear and tear in the gym, this might not have been a terrible thing. He was extremely sharp against Barrera and didn't show the diminished reflexes most guys do as they get older.

[Madison Boxing]

well thats one benefit to being a coward

[todaline]

well thats one benefit to being a coward

The valiant keyboard warrior has spoken...

[j0zef]

Absolutely. It's also very helpful that his style does not revolve around athletecism, his game should age gracefully. Hopefully he'll still be in top form when the next generation of fighters invade LHW.

I can see him being moderately successful into early/mid 40s, not as good as Hopkins, but better than Roy.

[Lou Cipher]

So he finally admits he ducked GGG. Suck it haters

[dazzo16]

the coward who wont face ward is the coward who pulls guys up from 2 weight classes

[Eastcoast]

Time off can definitely help some guys, but I don't know about Ward. Ward wasn't taking alot of shots where he needed time away to let his brain recover. Guys like Rios, Alvarado, and Vera are good examples of guys who should take a couple of years off for that.

I know Ward has a history of shoulder, hand, and knee injuries, so time away from high intensity training is a good thing. I just wonder if his reflexes and punch resistance have eroded as a result? Stephen Edwards has talked about this in the past (not on Ward, but in general).

Additionally some guys are just naturally injury-proned, in which case time away doesn't really have much benefit. We kind of seen that when Ward pulled out of the last November fight on the Canelo/Cotto card vs Brand, due to knee swelling. The UFC is starting to do full body scans on fighters, where they can tell if somebody's body is unsymmetrical in certain features, causing excessive strain/injuries so they can adjust their training techniques to avoid chronic injuries.

[Madison Boxing]

The valiant keyboard warrior has spoken...

i might be a sad keyboard warrior but if i had the skills ward did i wouldnt spend 5 years in the prime years of career (27-32) not fighting a single good fighter

[Jewish-Reptile]

Not his biggest fan but I admire his ring work unlike others.

Boxing needs more guys like this, guys prepared to move up in weight and challenge themselves for their legacy giving the fans the fights they wanna see. Unlike that creeper with the worst fan base on NSB, Triple Duck.

Lets see if Triple Duck dares do the same as Kell Brooke moving up two weight classes to challenge a p4p king to challenge Ward once he's beaten Kovalev. Or will he continue to call guys up from two weight classes below to cash in care free of his fans or his legacy as his prime years ebb away.