Comments Thread For: Ward: When You Don't Have Desire, Shouldn't Be in Boxing Ring

[ruedboy]

Love him or hate him, fans should realize Ward probably got more out of his talent level than any active fighter.
Ward will be remembered more for his confidence and tenacity than anything else.
Andre's awkward, octopus style of fighting. simply wore guys down and the conditioning that type of fighting took, eventually wore him down too.

[Lopez_Boxing]

Some Boxing fans are glad ward retired just like nonpatriot fans will be happy when tom Brady retires or when the NBA eastern conference will be glad when lebron james retires. Now they will finally be able to succeed with greatness out of the way

[OmarRueben]

No one in America cares about boring dull off white Andre Ward

Andre Ward had no fan appeal in America and was boring and dull and acted white so blacks hated Ward also. Off White Ward couldn't sell tickets and had few fans so let Ward move on and be replaced with some excitement in other fighters. Ward was flat out boring and dull with no fan base.

[Lopez_Boxing]

Am I reading this right people here writing that kov retired him????

Bwahahahahahahahahahaha

Of course he did. Once ward stopped the man that people were saying was going to crush him he lost interest in the sport it seems. So yeah, in a way kov retired him

[GhostofDempsey]

I said a long time ago this guy's heart is no longer in the sport. His fans said I was delusional. But you can see it in his demeanor. If Ward's goal was to earn enough money to never have to work again and walk away from boxing the moment he no longer needed it, he succeeded. I respect him as a man, but not as a fighter.

[future hendrixx]

when ward won the super 6 then beat dawson he was on top of boxing world. .he disappears due to court battles. now he beats kovalev twice, crowned p4p 👑 once again on top of boxing. decides to retire.

the timing of these decisions makes no sense.

he should've retired after beating stevenson. retire undisputed. whats the point of collecting three belts and just giving em up knowin how hard it is to collect em.

hes a HOF for sure but this sht is disappointing.

[gntsfan84]

What he means to say, is his tv deal ran out and no one was willing to offer him much.

He was on the verge of signing again with HBO, with clauses that would allow him to fight at Cruiserweight and Heavyweight. It was supposed to be announced a couple of weeks ago but Ward decided against it.

[Drunken Cat]

He realised it was hopeless to keep boxing if he was never going to get any recognition. Besides the handful of posters on here, the vast majority of people IRL didn't find him appealing enough to follow, and without fans you might as well pack it up. Boxing is entertainment for the masses, not for bragging rights on a forum about how blows weren't/were low...etc. No one cares. Was he good to watch? No. Will he be missed? What's there to miss?

The only irony is that Floyd Mayweather is the highest paid athlete of his time (in the years of his top earnings), and his style is not at all entertaining.

Floyd even can't knock people out because he has well documented frail hands. Usually a fighter who can't knock people out isn't even on an undercard slot.

Shows you how much (mis)management has to do with the fortunes of a fighter.

Ward was one of the most mismanaged fighters I have ever seen.

The Super 6 was the perfect platform for him however, and he really benefited from it.

[Drunken Cat]

Andre Ward had no fan appeal in America and was boring and dull and acted white so blacks hated Ward also. Off White Ward couldn't sell tickets and had few fans so let Ward move on and be replaced with some excitement in other fighters. Ward was flat out boring and dull with no fan base.

See, Ward should've acted like Broner.

It's pretty disgusting, but that's what sells, (i.e. Floyd).

It's not just a black thing, by any means.

Look at all the vulgarity in the UFC, targeted toward young white audiences.

Hopefully Ward still did okay.

He made a bit of money with the last couple fights.

Wouldn't be shocked if HBO or someone even paid him a little parting gift to go away, so that Kovalev could have a spotlight again. Why do you think Ward announced his retirement the same day as Kovalev's fight announcement?

Was Ward trying to steal thunder from Kovalev? No, that would be completely ridiculous. I wouldn't doubt it at all if part of Kovalev's fight package included a check to Ward to walk away from the game.

[Michael1437]

This upsets me as a boxing fan, to be an Olympic gold medalist and still have so much left to prove, to just call it a career, does not sit well with me, he talked about moving up to heavyweight or fighting Stevenson, just sad. Not sure how you lose the the desire.