Comments Thread For: Froch: I Have a Feeling Bivol Influenced Andre Ward To Retire

[Rubber Ducky]

I strongly doubt that.

I believe Ward left out of frustration, he could never be a super star no matter who he fought. The "i'l fight Joshua" was just him pushing to see how far he needs to go before people can start appreciating him and paying for his fights and there was still barely any buzz about him. Instead people said he should, dare to be great blah blah....

The man fought all comers with ease, the Kovalev first fight failed PPV wise. The 2nd fight was meant to be a huge seller seeing the first fight was really intriguing but that failed again. Then Floyd came out of no where, fought a non boxer and sold mega PPV. Canelo and GGG was about to do the same just a few days before Ward called it quits with boxing. The man couldn't take it anymore.

In his statement he said "....my desire to fight is no longer there". I may be totally off but I truly believe this is the reason he retired.

I agree with some of that. It was pretty clear he was never going to be a big star or even a mediocre one. He never really learned to manage his image properly, he constantly made decisions that damaged his marketability.

In some ways he managed his career well, he was very well paid by Roc Nation, that deal came at a time when he was seen as too much trouble to deal with but he missed out on a number of big opportunities because of his diva ways.

He should of fought Bute, by not doing so he allowed Froch to resurrect his career. He should of been ring side for Froch/Groves 2, not being so made him look reluctant to rematch Froch. He should of accepted the Froch offer that fight alone would of made him the only option at super middle for anyone to prove themselves.

I think after the PPV failures against Kovalev it was clear if Ward was to continue he was never going to get the kind of pay days he was used to again. He would of been relegated to Rigo levels of obscurity, highly rated but nobody wanted to watch him, his image had taken too much damage to build a fan base. So he quit in frustration as you say rather than fight on for peanuts.

[Kali_KO]

I’m sure there are a few reasons why Andre Ward retired, he had a good run, but never crossed over into a huge star or PPV draw. Froch lost a close decision to Ward, if that fight had been in UK, the judges might have given it to him. Just like the judges would have given Kovalev the first fight in Russia, but Ward refused to fight outside of USA for those fights, even though he wasn’t a big draw in US

I don’t think Froch is salty, just stating his opinion, which many people would agree that Bivol beats both Ward and Kovalev.

Ward not going to risk losing to a guy who looks very devastating and if he vacated his WBA title because of the mandatory, it would make him look as bad as when Canelo vacated the WBC title because of GGG.
Ward is a good commentator and you can’t blame any boxer for walking away with his faculties intact and HBO keeps him in front of the camera, just not in the ring

[vaynardevil]

I strongly doubt that.

I believe Ward left out of frustration, he could never be a super star no matter who he fought. The "i'l fight Joshua" was just him pushing to see how far he needs to go before people can start appreciating him and paying for his fights and there was still barely any buzz about him. Instead people said he should, dare to be great blah blah....

The man fought all comers with ease, the Kovalev first fight failed PPV wise. The 2nd fight was meant to be a huge seller seeing the first fight was really intriguing but that failed again. Then Floyd came out of no where, fought a non boxer and sold mega PPV. Canelo and GGG was about to do the same just a few days before Ward called it quits with boxing. The man couldn't take it anymore.

In his statement he said "....my desire to fight is no longer there". I may be totally off but I truly believe this is the reason he retired.

yep
no more $

his promoter overpaid him twice when he fought kovalev
what;s left for him ? chickenson will never fight him anyway lol, hard to make deal him

what's the point fighting w/e contender for few $ when he can make easy money from commentator job

[My Low Place]

the light heavyweight division is heating up with some great fights on offer and ward didnt want any part of it. If hes as good as he says he is, he could have fought for two more years and got bivol, beterbiev, stevenson and jack on his resume but he didnt fancy the job.

all the other comment before this were a bunch of ppl here to defend a man that decided not to fight at 32...he also decided not to fight at 28 too...the man just isnt a fighter and the division is much better without him...

[P4Pdunny]

Froch need to let this go now its been years.

[TyrantT316]

So many foreign fighters come along with 5-0 (5KOs) or 10-0 (8KOs) or 14-0 (13KOs) records and people act like they are the second coming. Like they are P4P greats that established champions and greats are "afraid" of.

What has Bivol done other than being another up and coming foreign fighter?

I call it the Drago-Effect. A big punching foreign fighter will always seem like a threat that the "American" is "ducking". It's been sold that way in Boxing for a long time because it's a marketable story. I could easily see a much more experience/accomplished/aware Ward going in a dispatching of Bivol without breaking much of a sweat. Only for those who said Ward was ducking Bivol to turn around and say that "Ward chose to fight Bivol because Bivol had enough professional experience! Ward suxors!"

[mvooom]

I agree with some of that. It was pretty clear he was never going to be a big star or even a mediocre one. He never really learned to manage his image properly, he constantly made decisions that damaged his marketability.

In some ways he managed his career well, he was very well paid by Roc Nation, that deal came at a time when he was seen as too much trouble to deal with but he missed out on a number of big opportunities because of his diva ways.

He should of fought Bute, by not doing so he allowed Froch to resurrect his career. He should of been ring side for Froch/Groves 2, not being so made him look reluctant to rematch Froch. He should of accepted the Froch offer that fight alone would of made him the only option at super middle for anyone to prove themselves.

I think after the PPV failures against Kovalev it was clear if Ward was to continue he was never going to get the kind of pay days he was used to again. He would of been relegated to Rigo levels of obscurity, highly rated but nobody wanted to watch him, his image had taken too much damage to build a fan base. So he quit in frustration as you say rather than fight on for peanuts.

I would also add his fixation on fighting in and around Oakland had an impact on him having little to no fan base. Imagine if Floyd fought in Michigan only or GGG fought in Kazakhstan, they would have needed 10x the amount of push to get to where they are now.

Oakland is not a boxing city neither is it a tourist attraction, it's not even a place Americans love to travel to. That also affected him badly. There is a reason fighters and promoters choose NY, LV, mega cities for fights. A huge strategy goes into picking a city and venue, "my home" has little to do with it.

He can't really change his character or magically get a cash cow to chase in his division but he can choose the right cities.

[Mammoth]

Did they get this quote from Froch while he was hammered at a New Years Eve party or what? Ward would have beat the piss out of Bivol.

[Shane1091]

Was reading the article on SkySports this morning and thought it was a load of drivel; although it was somewhat inevitable that Froch would mention Ward in some way.

That said he did also say that Bivol would give Kovalev trouble too so it's less anti-American and more his hatred of Ward along with him clearly being high on Bivol.

In that same article Jonny Nelson mentioned Connor Benn as one to watch for 2018!

Yea also read it this morning and was thinking It's no wonder why some in GB have a distaste for Froch he's a complete tool can't stand the fact he got schooled. As for Nelson he talk **** most of the time. I like listening to Jamie and the rest ride on AJ ****.

[Rubber Ducky]

I would also add his fixation on fighting in and around Oakland had an impact on him having little to no fan base. Imagine if Floyd fought in Michigan only or GGG fought in Kazakhstan, they would have needed 10x the amount of push to get to where they are now.

Oakland is not a boxing city neither is it a tourist attraction, it's not even a place Americans love to travel to. That also affected him badly. There is a reason fighters and promoters choose NY, LV, mega cities for fights. A huge strategy goes into picking a city and venue, "my home" has little to do with it.

He can't really change his character or magically get a cash cow to chase in his division but he can choose the right cities.

Agreed. His insistence on fighting in Oakland was damaging for his marketability for sure. It created the image that he was always trying to get an angle or advantage. Fans just want the fights that matter to be made, putting these kind of obstacles in place and looking for every possible advantage puts fans off.

While he would never be a superstar he could of done far better financially than he did. The Froch rematch would of made him a ton of money. Then he could of fought Groves, DeGale, Eubank Jr, the UK PPV money would of been there, UK fans will turn out for a Brit against an American. Golovkin vs Brook is proof of that. But of course he would need to fight outside of the US to do so.