Why did Ward retire and not take on Adonis Stevenson?

[club fighter]

OK, this did lead me to do some more reading on Stevenson and yes, he was a pimp, whooped peoples azz, got busted, served time for it, whooped azz in prison, yea scumbag-ish shyt. Not a ton of big names on his resume but he did KO Bellew, Dawson and a few top 10 LHWs. The fact that he held the WBC belt since 2013 and never fought Kov is very suspect though.

Still, there was too much $$$ to be made, a true display of greatness to be obtained, and a way to shut up all doubters. This kind of thing is as bad for boxing as bad judging decisions.

[Willy Wanker]

Stevenson doesnt want to fight Ward

Pretty much this. Stevenson didn't want none of SOG.

And despite some controversies, Ward did beat Kovalev who is worth like three Stevensons.

Stevenson ducked Kovalev, and he's used to beating soft opponents. Ward would have stopped Stevenson without any low blows.

[Real King Kong]

Stevenson definitely wants/wanted to fight Ward but obviously the keyboard warriors will be saying otherwise. I don't think Ward retired to avoid Stevenson either. People have always been so quick to rip on Stevenson yet Kovalev hadn't fought anyone relevant until the Ward fight, yet he gets a pass.

exactly...Stevenson is a bum, ggg was a bum, but kovalev was a killer despite being just as unproven. I guess a fighter gets an immediate upgrade when they're one of the best wins on the resume of a fighter you like.

[MDPopescu]

Stevenson definitely wants/wanted to fight Ward but obviously the keyboard warriors will be saying otherwise. I don't think Ward retired to avoid Stevenson either. People have always been so quick to rip on Stevenson yet Kovalev hadn't fought anyone relevant until the Ward fight, yet he gets a pass.

Stevenson is Showtime, while Ward is HBO...
Stevenson is with uncle Al, Ward is with that "prince"...
Stevenson doesn't fight outside Quebec, Ward doesn't fight in Quebec...

a.s.o.

[WhatDisButtonDo]

We have one guy who throughout his career, despite criticisms. Has always fought the best. You have one guy that is pushing 40 that has shown the opposite. Which one do you think the reason the fight didn't happen.

[boliodogs]

If he was going to continue fighting then Stevenson would have been the proper guy for him to fight next. He chose to retire instead and gave a good believable reason for retiring. I think every pro boxer has the right to retire whenever they want with no questions asked. Boxing is a very demanding potentially life threatening sport. No matter when he retired there would always be some boxers fans think he should have fought.

[TheThirdEye]

Andre Ward ducked Adonis Stevenson, plain and simple...

[jdp28tx]

Ward constantly turned down good fight offers. He could of took Bute's 0 when Bute was regarded as one of the best, but he refused to go to Canada and instead Froch took the glory instead and it revived his career. All the while Ward was suing his promoter and sat out for 2 1/2 yrs.

[yankees7448]

Stevenson definitely wants/wanted to fight Ward but obviously the keyboard warriors will be saying otherwise. I don't think Ward retired to avoid Stevenson either. People have always been so quick to rip on Stevenson yet Kovalev hadn't fought anyone relevant until the Ward fight, yet he gets a pass.

Do you even watch boxing.

[yankees7448]

ward never wanted to fight stevenson. That would have been a way to end a career, a LHW unification against stevenson and people know its going to be wards last fight. I think that would have done decent figures tbh. However theres a good chance ward would end his career with a loss and he knows it. I dont like stevenson and the things hes done in his life are unforgivable, but he knows how to fight and wards showed zero interest in ever fighting him.

Stevenson has no interest in fighting anyone. Ward would have schooled Stevenson. Prior to Ward's retirement I would have my doubts about Stevenson even being the third best light heavyweight.