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They thought they had some mega star in Ward that they could market to the American audience and have a Mayweather 2.0. It's never going to happen, they stole the fight from Kovalev imo. It's a win in the books for Ward but there are serious doubts in a lot of minds and Ward is already talking like he will make a rematch unobtainable during negotiations; especially when you consider how poorly the first fight did. This dude got $5 million the first time and will surely want several million more than that for a rematch, most likely double.
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How are you going to determine Ward doesn't want the rematch? What criteria will be utilized.....aside from believing everything that comes from Kov's camp.If ward avoids a rematch, i think we have no choice but to call him the D word.
Someone gets it, fans conveniently forget that boxing is a business and sometimes business delays fights. People might not really understand how hard it can be to resolve the issues you pointed out:Cmon!
You guys are better than this, right?
If the rematch doesn't happen, can we kill this noise about Ward being afraid?
The biggest reasons for the rematch happening will be 1) Money and 2) Money.
And we might not be just talking about Ward there.
Sergei is going to want (and will deserve) a good chunk himself.
So how are you going to pay TWO guys who want (and deserve) top dollar when it is clear the PPV buys just may not be there?
Throw in Ward not being tied to HBO (the Kovalev fight was the 3rd required fight in the 2 fight deal he signed last year) and THAT is what we are dealing with, not anyone's fear.
If and when they do fight again, my guess is if JDJ and Sergei don't come up with any tactical and/or strategic adjustments we will see round 13 of what we saw from pretty much the 3rd round on of the first fight- with Ward having the added benefits of knowing what to expect AND a full camp with Mackie Shilstone
Ward's expired contract with HBO. He seems a bit jaded theses days, no guarantee he even wants to resign with HBO.
The aftermath of the low PPV.
Kov's purse, it was speculated he'd receive a percentage of the PPV. Based on the low numbers he might want more money for the rematch.
Last but not least, how much money is HBO willing to contribute, their budget isn't what it used to be.
Each point alone can realistically be a deal breaker.Comment
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Call it whatever you want bubba, I don't care. That's the impression I got, especially when he made a big deal out of saying the rematch will have to be a whole new set of demands since he's champ now. That's the tip of the iceburg, and next thing will be the ducking. I'm all for the fight happening sooner than later. Hopefully Ward doesn't start stalling and whining when negotiations start. This is NOT a fight that Roc Nation can afford to pizzaway another X million $$ on. But Ward could still weasel out of it easily... "not enough money for a legend like me" blah blah blah. Then on to a line of easy defenses where he gets 1/3 the money. You should be able to extrapolate this fairly easily.Comment
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You sir just hit the proverbial nail on the head! Ward is outspoken and yes...Instead of ****ty Las Vegas he prefers to represent in Oakland. I understand people's frustration on this account to a degree, but there is no home team in boxing and Las Vegas is not better than Oakland.
Whenever Ward does something the legions of haters start: He beats Dawson and Dawson was drained, he doesn't win the super middle weight tourney, he dominates it and makes everyone else look a step behind, yet he is a dirty fighter. And on it goes..I suppose he should chop his head off so he can lose twenty pounds and fight Golovakin.
People hate Ward because he is outspoken. He has never ducked, and he has been consistant. There is no way a rational person would think he has any fear of Kovalev. He tasted the crusher's power, he picked him apart from the middle of the fight to the end...with kovolev winning the 10nth round, big deal.
The reason some people thnk Kovalev won is because Ward didn't back him up.Comment
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