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

[jdp28tx]

I have a feeling that the answer to your question has to do with the business side of boxing.

It is not like we haven't heard that a billion times before.

Ward was shelved for 2 years of his prime due to the business side of boxing.

He's willing to fight Stevenson or Bellew, but the business side of boxing has not seen those fights come to fruition.

He was seemingly somewhat close to a fight with Bellew, but the business side of boxing is more intent on Bellew-Haye. Ward was just there as a backup prom date to Bellew, in case Haye should behave like a diva as he's want to and cancel the prom appointment due to a mismatch between the color of his dress gown and that of the decor on his limousine.

Also, there are those moneyed interests in boxing which are also happy to see him gone, and I wouldn't be shocked if they even provided him with a retirement gift. (Duva, *cough *cough.)

Ward shelved himself. The business side of boxing treated him well. The proof is in his failed lawsuits against his promoter.

[jdp28tx]

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.

He mismanaged himself. He turned down fight after fight. His stipulations were always inflexible. It seems like he hated boxing, but since he was good at it he believed he did not feel he had a choice. He always had a victim mentality, his promoter was out to get him, HBO was out to get him, the public was out to get him, etc, but people who get paid millions are not victims, they should be grateful.

[MrRolltide91]

True.......

[Travycat]

Aww you'll be ok.

Watching an episode of 24/7 is not educating yourself. Plus do u expect him to brag about how broke he is or how his investments lost money? Googling net worth is bull**** because no one has access to his tax returns.

[BrometheusBob.]

I wish guys like Toney and Jones would have lost their desire 10+ years ago.

lol kovalev took ward's heart and soul.

Yeah, I'm sure those two paydays and Ws haunt him

[Chuckguy]

Props to him for going out healthy on top and realizing that he isn't into it. To be honest Ward hasn't been into it for a while now

[Don Mac]

Yeah the timing tho. He's good at calling out fighters right after they signed for fights (GGG in 2015) but ran from the two main guys at light heavy when they called him out a few weeks ago.
Ward always need to fight a name to get a good gate, couldn't fill a thimble on his own

[zerosixthree]

Kovalev krushed his soul. Mentally broke him.

The man lost his will to box long before Kovalev and still beat him. He's been talking of retirement for years now.

[OmarRueben]

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.

Andre was a great boxer but had zero appeal. Look for a return in a year or so by Ward but no one will care. Ward just didn't sell any tickets or PPV's. Funny how a blight on society like Felon Floyd was popular and a decent man like Ward had no fan base. Andre could fight but just put fans to sleep for some reason.

[Drunken Cat]

Ward shelved himself. The business side of boxing treated him well. The proof is in his failed lawsuits against his promoter.

You can argue that this is the case; it doesn't contradict in any way a tendency to become fed up or frustrated.

As for the time on the shelf--it was a terrible type of limbo for a fighter to be on, and not one which is unique. It has occurred from time to time; and a fighter being shelved awaiting court proceedings is always a dark spot. Also, given the time trajectory of a fighter, they are inherently in a disadvantaged position in court proceedings--their adversary can always gain leverage merely through stalling.

He mismanaged himself. He turned down fight after fight. His stipulations were always inflexible. It seems like he hated boxing, but since he was good at it he believed he did not feel he had a choice. He always had a victim mentality, his promoter was out to get him, HBO was out to get him, the public was out to get him, etc, but people who get paid millions are not victims, they should be grateful.

He got paid millions because he has a very specialized ability, in which he is in the absolute top tier of proficiency.

He is a phenom of an athlete, in professional sports. It's absolutely absurd to talk about it that way.

Yeah, he should be thankful for those millions of entitlements--not like he had to do anything difficult to earn the money. All he did was win boxing world championships in multiple divisions, while going undefeated. That's all. He should be grateful for whatever he got.

I'm afraid not, go educate yourself.