the two andres- has dirrell shown us what might happen with ward?

**youbeight** · 11-10-2016, 04:44 PM

in a short response: no. dirrell and ward have not responded the same way both in fights and outside of the ring.

**NaijaD** · 11-10-2016, 04:44 PM

Well it's actually a possibility because it's a leap up in level competition and you forgot to add that it's a different weight class too. Valid points but a key thing is that Ward is not as reliant on athleticism as Dirrell was, he has better fundamentals and more variation to his game. A fighter like Dirrell is always going to struggle when he loses hand and footspeed.... especially footspeed.

**YellowDragon** · 11-10-2016, 05:16 PM

Originally posted by bigdramashow

Now this isnt an anti ward thread, done my fair share of them. But talking about dirrell in another thread has got me thinking.

Dirrell didnt hit the heights that ward did in the super 6, but in my opinion he beat carl froch and he beat abraham, so he did pretty well. Then after the super 6, dirrell was pretty inactive, and when he did fight, he fought bums. Then when he stepped it up against degale (a big step up in class from recent opposition)- he lost. Degales a good fighter for sure, but i just dont think andre dirrell looked the same as he did years ago. And it took dirrell a while to get going in that fight, as if the step up in class took him by surprise initially.

I genuinely think this could be similar for ward, he might not be the same now than what he was. Since the super 6 hes been incredibly inactive, i know people will try and defend his opposition but at the end of the day its been garbage and wards barely broken a sweat in beating them. Hes now going from fighting a 40 yr old super middleweight to sergey ****ing kovalev, ring magazine p4p number 1.

So, do people think that the andre dirrell story is a warning sign for ward and that weve seen this story unfold before? or is it a case of two completely different fighters, two completely different outcomes?

fair question...

huge andre ward fan but he hasnt looked the same in my eyes in his 3 fight comeback as he did before the layoff(though i thought he did look sharper against spoiler brand than he had in the two previous fights)

i will say this though...even should he lose to kovalev on the 19th...i believe ward has more resolve than dirrell could ever possess and i wouldnt expect ward to fall off the face of the boxing scene the same way A.D. did...

**Scipio2009** · 11-10-2016, 06:44 PM

Originally posted by bigdramashow

Now this isnt an anti ward thread, done my fair share of them. But talking about dirrell in another thread has got me thinking.

Dirrell didnt hit the heights that ward did in the super 6, but in my opinion he beat carl froch and he beat abraham, so he did pretty well. Then after the super 6, dirrell was pretty inactive, and when he did fight, he fought bums. Then when he stepped it up against degale (a big step up in class from recent opposition)- he lost. Degales a good fighter for sure, but i just dont think andre dirrell looked the same as he did years ago. And it took dirrell a while to get going in that fight, as if the step up in class took him by surprise initially.

I genuinely think this could be similar for ward, he might not be the same now than what he was. Since the super 6 hes been incredibly inactive, i know people will try and defend his opposition but at the end of the day its been garbage and wards barely broken a sweat in beating them. Hes now going from fighting a 40 yr old super middleweight to sergey ****ing kovalev, ring magazine p4p number 1.

So, do people think that the andre dirrell story is a warning sign for ward and that weve seen this story unfold before? or is it a case of two completely different fighters, two completely different outcomes?

Andre Dirrell never showed, at any level, that he had anywhere near the mental fortitude that Andre Ward has basically shown since he was in his teens.

Let that sink in for a bit; from the moment that Andre Ward was 14 or 15 years old, every fight he's ever had, his opponent showed up with the sense that the fight was their "Super Bowl" and he's never come up short.

For all the talk about Kovalev "being p4p number 1", Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev, WBA/IBF/WBO 175 champ, is the underdog in the fight against Andre Ward, and is the rightful underdog in the fight.

**Redd Foxx** · 11-10-2016, 07:34 PM

That's very high-level thinking there. Compare two guys because they have the same name. I recall a similar approach used on Sesame Street when I was a youngster. Quite genius.

How about Gennady Golovkin and Gennady Zyuganov? I guess Golovkin will fail twice if he steps up just as the other Gennady did in his presidential bids? Sounds like idiocy to me but I'm just trying to dumb-down my thinking since this is a dramashow thread...

**Larry the boss** · 11-10-2016, 11:11 PM

9 more days to go

**Madison Boxing** · 11-11-2016, 02:26 AM

Originally posted by Redd Foxx

That's very high-level thinking there. Compare two guys because they have the same name. I recall a similar approach used on Sesame Street when I was a youngster. Quite genius.

How about Gennady Golovkin and Gennady Zyuganov? I guess Golovkin will fail twice if he steps up just as the other Gennady did in his presidential bids? Sounds like idiocy to me but I'm just trying to dumb-down my thinking since this is a dramashow thread...

did you actually read anything other than the title? They have quite a bit in common, direell is a good example of how years of inactivity and low level opposition can affect a fighter

**boliodogs** · 11-11-2016, 10:21 AM

I don't think so. Dirrell is mentally weak and doesn't like it when things aren't going his way. I thought he ran and held way too much against Froch to get the win and he was running bad in the Abraham fight. Ward is mentally strong under pressure and twice as good as Dirrell. Dirrell has never won a world title because he isn't very good. I pick Kovalev to win but not because Ward won't be ready for the step up in class. Ward will be ready and well prepared. Ward will be in great shape with good sparring partners and a well thought out battle plan.

**KeyboardWarrior** · 11-11-2016, 10:31 AM

If anyone remembers, Andre Ward was going life and death with fighters he wasn't supposed to be from the beginning of his pro career. Early on in his pro career he was boxing cleanly and getting put on his ass and hit cleanly and people were thinking he was nothing special. People thought Dirrell would be the better Andre.

the two andres- has dirrell shown us what might happen with ward?