Comments Thread For: Andre Ward: I've Always Felt Like The Underdog

[Robbie Barrett]

You are making **** up. 168 was possibly the weakest division in boxing. Not one top fighter with speed and power besides Ward. Lots of unathletic, slow euros who were considered "great" while only fighting other slow, unathletic euros, but were exposed as B-level guys eventually when they fought the top guys from the US.

Ward's run at 168, "scaling down" from his natural weight 175 as Virgil Hunter said, reminds me a lot of Adrien Broner's run at 135. Broner was talked about as the next superstar at that time, as a top P4P guy, just like Ward was at 168. Ward stepped up to his natural weight much quicker than Ward though, to a weight class with actual athletic, talented top level fighters, and quickly got exposed.

Now Ward is finally stepping up to his natural weight, like Broner, and to a weight class with actual top level, talented, athletic fighters, like Kovalev, Stevenson, and Beterbiev. Like Broner, we will now finally see how good Ward really is at his natural weight, against actual A-level fighters. Well, at least one A-level fighter. I have no confidence in Ward fighting Stevenson or Beterbiev if he beats Kovalev, but I don't expect him to beat Kovalev.

But yeah I completely disagree with your assessment about 168. That weight class was awful. One of the worst in boxing. I think the best fighters at 135 during Broner's run were Demarco and Ricky Burns, who he didn't fight. At 168 during Ward's run it was Froch.

Well, Froch beat Lucian Bute. Demarco beat Linares. Linares is now a more decorated champ than Bute ever was, in more divisions. So Broner beating Demarco is similar to Ward beating Froch. Ricky Burns meanwhile got dominated by Crawford once he faced a top guy, but is now also a multi-weight champ. Broner would have walked through him too. So Broner beat, and would have beat, guys who either were, or who beat, multi-weight champs. That is comparable to what Ward did at 168 and yet you saw what happened to Broner once he stopped fight overrated, smaller guys in a weak division.

Is Ward better than Broner? Of course but I'm saying his run at 168 was definitely smoke and mirrors. That weight class ******, and he was scaling down to it to fight smaller guys, as his own trainer admitted.

Ward weighed in the 170s at 168 if 175 was his natural division then 168 is Golovkins.

Compared to 160 today that division was stacked. One of those euro bums shot and past prime beat Golovkins best win. The so called MW king wanted to fight a British level fighter in Chris Eubank Jr and his fans were claiming it would be a good win.

It's hilarious Golovkin fans try to **** on Ward when he's superior to the hype job in every way.

[Robbie Barrett]

Yeah you were a big underdog against Alex brand, Paul Smith etc, you proved everyone wrong by beating them

When has Golovkin ever been the underdog **** gobbler? He's never took a competitive fight in his career.

[MDPopescu]

Ward is fighting for his career... In the Brand fight Ward only made $850k -- his lowest purse since the Dawson fight ($1,367,500)...


... By the way (since I mentioned Dawson here): "The fight started quite cagey with both fighters feeling each other out and only exchanging single shots, with Dawson landing his jab on Ward comfortably. In the 3rd round, a clash of heads changed the entire landscape of the fight in Ward's favour..."

[Bushbaby]

You are making **** up. 168 was possibly the weakest division in boxing. Not one top fighter with speed and power besides Ward. Lots of unathletic, slow euros who were considered "great" while only fighting other slow, unathletic euros, but were exposed as B-level guys eventually when they fought the top guys from the US.

Ward's run at 168, "scaling down" from his natural weight 175 as Virgil Hunter said, reminds me a lot of Adrien Broner's run at 135. Broner was talked about as the next superstar at that time, as a top P4P guy, just like Ward was at 168. Ward stepped up to his natural weight much quicker than Ward though, to a weight class with actual athletic, talented top level fighters, and quickly got exposed.

Now Ward is finally stepping up to his natural weight, like Broner, and to a weight class with actual top level, talented, athletic fighters, like Kovalev, Stevenson, and Beterbiev. Like Broner, we will now finally see how good Ward really is at his natural weight, against actual A-level fighters. Well, at least one A-level fighter. I have no confidence in Ward fighting Stevenson or Beterbiev if he beats Kovalev, but I don't expect him to beat Kovalev.

But yeah I completely disagree with your assessment about 168. That weight class was awful. One of the worst in boxing. I think the best fighters at 135 during Broner's run were Demarco and Ricky Burns, who he didn't fight. At 168 during Ward's run it was Froch.

Well, Froch beat Lucian Bute. Demarco beat Linares. Linares is now a more decorated champ than Bute ever was, in more divisions. So Broner beating Demarco is similar to Ward beating Froch. Ricky Burns meanwhile got dominated by Crawford once he faced a top guy, but is now also a multi-weight champ. Broner would have walked through him too. So Broner beat, and would have beat, guys who either were, or who beat, multi-weight champs. That is comparable to what Ward did at 168 and yet you saw what happened to Broner once he stopped fight overrated, smaller guys in a weak division.

Is Ward better than Broner? Of course but I'm saying his run at 168 was definitely smoke and mirrors. That weight class ******, and he was scaling down to it to fight smaller guys, as his own trainer admitted.

Ohh yes, in hind sight and almost half a decade later we're gonna rewrite history. No, 168 was one of the best divisions in boxing when Ward dominated it. In fact, I believe it was Kessler who was favored to win the super 6. And yes it was dominated by the Eastern Europeans, but the division was on of the best.

Froch
Kessler
Abraham
Dirrel
Taylor
Ward

It's the very reason why Ward was considered a strong pfp#1 candidate. I don't even know how someone can compare Ward to Broner. Or 135 to 168. It was welterweight who was weak at the time 168 was strong. Now the division is weak, but it was absolutely not back then.

Another thing, if Ward does beat Kova, (the division best), why in the world would he duck Stevenson or Beiterbiev?? Beiterbiev doesn't have the professional resume or experience to worry Him. And Stevenson is an afterthought at this point with his ducking self.

And who were these b-level Euro's that were exposed upon fighting the top guys from the US?? Ward is the only top US fighter to win the super 6. Froch beat both Taylor and Dirrel. (He didn't really beat Dirrel), Dirrel beat himself. But Ward is the only US fighter to shine. I'm thinking you're surely confused. Your long unrealistic post suggests as much. Hell, you even compared Broner to Ward, lol.

[DinoCop]

Malignaggi's Resume>Amir Khan's>Kov's>Ward's>Fury's>GGG's

[MDPopescu]

In the recent years, just who at 175 fought some "Russian school" representatives?
... Cloud and Hopkins.

[therealpugilist]

You should be cheater. Without your clinching and head butts you are nothing more than a B level boxer

lol...first post from an Alt....gotta do better kind sir

he has a resume and skills better than 90% of active fighters...you trash him you basically trash every active fighter today....only a few have been lineal champs and ring champs today.

[therealpugilist]

Stop holding and breaking the rules and you will get more respect from fans. It's that simple. Outbox him clean like Rigondeaux did Donaire, with zero holding, and you will get the credit Rigo got. Hug and clinch all night, relying on either an incompetent or favorable referee, and the referee will get the credit, not you. It's really not more complicated than that.

another cry baby alt....you guys gotta do better

[GMAN SUPREME]

ward with his usual b1tchy victim mentality.

[therealpugilist]

I see some bitter dudes crying about Ward in this tread. This mutherfucker done dominated one of boxing's deepest divisions when the so called 1&2 pfp fighters were cherrypicking ppv's.

^^^you got a point...I had him # 2 p4p until he went inactive post Dawson

couldnt deny the level of comp he was facing and dominating back to back..he lost a lot of momentum but he has the talent to stamp his legacy