Comments Thread For: Andre Ward Hints at Comeback? At Higher Weight?

[lion33lit]

Its WONDERFUL how Kovalev CREDITS Ward for resurrecting his career, after Ward legally PUNISHED him to the body to get the win! Even Kovalev realized the EXCUSES he was making regarding his loss was from PURE EMBARRASSMENT! Kovalev NOW knows the makings of GREATNESS because he's EXPERIENCED it to a TEE!! NO ONE ever went to his body because they were too SCARED to get up close & personal to the "KRUSHER"....not Ward though.

Kovalev doubled over against the ropes in a fetal position because his ribs NEVER felt SUSTAINED body work! Even NOW his opponents don't go to the body because they're STILL scared.....I agree Ward should have NEVER fired that last shot when Kov was doubled over, because the haters nor his supporters could tell cleanly where that last & ONLY questionable punch ended up. The thing is, EVERY punch before that was where it was SUPPOSED to be and it had Excuse Makin' Kovalev where he was SUPPOSED to be: in a wussed out fetal position cringing in pain!

Even his former trainer said Kovalev would HALT training when the sparring partners went to his body. Kovalev wouldnt make ADJUSTMENTS - he'd PAUSE the session and request it HIS WAY like a BABY! Good for Kovalev to NOW humble himself and give Ward the full PROPS he deserves for handing him his FIRST legit loss (in my eyes anyway, I thought the 1st fight was a draw, I may look at it again and probably give Kov or even ward the nod).

[Vadrigar.]

Why not the Cruiserweight tournament winner?

That wouldn't be near enough money for Ward. Besides that fight isn't exciting at all.

A Joshua match up would generate huge interest.

[Vadrigar.]

Seems like the PTSD has resurfaced from Kovtards again.

#wardruinslives

[kafkod]

Yes, it’s illegal to bend below your opponent’s waist. And yes, it’s illegal to sit on he ropes. It’s the equivalent of turning you back on your opponent, then crying about getting hit in the back of the head.

Wtf? You said yourself that Kovalev doubled over from the effect of a punch .. how the fuck can it be against the rules to be hurt by a punch? That's just plain idiotic.

And sitting on the ropes after being hurt by punches is not against the rules either. A fighter being supported by the ropes is down and the ref should give him a count.

The rest of what you said is nonsensical too.

I can understand how an opponent bending below the waist can be used as an excuse for hitting him on the back of the head - like Loma with Rigo - but not below the belt

You have to deliberately aim your punches even lower to go below the belt of a guy who is sitting down on the ropes.

[kafkod]

Seems like the PTSD has resurfaced from Kovtards again.

#wardruinslives

Not Kovtards .. just boxing fans who don't like to see world title fights being won by blatent and cynical fouls.

[club fighter]

Speed beats power, advantage Ward.

[Scipio2009]

No, Ward has shown that Jay-Z is willing to subsidize him on behalf of the Illuminati (lol) or who knows what the situation is. For some reason, Ward is the one person in American big business who a corporation is willing to pay far more money than he generates. It's so illogical that it actually does make you wonder if there isn't some truth to Illuminati theories, or something strange going on, because in what world does any corporation willingly lose money on a boxing match? At least it sure seems by all indications that they lost money.

In reality, Ward's PPVs bombed despite fighting a good exciting opponent. So he hasn't proven a big draw at all. Face it, you might like him if you have the same agenda that many NSB posters do, but objective agendaless boxing fans simply do not enjoy watching Ward "box." They don't like watching someone hold, elbow, and headbutt all night, but get protected by the ref, and rewarded by the judges, for it, while the commentary team waxes poetic about what an all time skilled boxer he is. I guess people who have biased agendas love hearing their biases reinforced, and maybe they can't even tell that's what's happening because they're stuck in their bubbles, but for everyone else, they know when they're being conned, they know when someone is trying to manipulate them, and they don't like it. And they're never going to like it. No matter how much you personally like Ward, you have to understand that most people do not like the experience of watching an overrated cheater (IMO) "box" while a full commentary team of yes men bombard them with repeated lies and spin that they can easily see through.It's a very bad combination, and it probably has a lot to do with why Ward still isn't a big draw.

Add the numbers up. Ward-Kovalev 1 and 2, on each instance, generated over $2m in ticket revenue.

The PPV, on both instances generated over $10m each time out. And Sky Sports bid up for the rights to each of the fights beyond what BoxNation would get for just scooping up US content. And that's before you get to the other revenues (event sponsors all over the ring, international TV, etc).

RocNation definitely supplemented the pot, but Ward was able to generate a total fighters' pot north of $8m+, once all outside parties ended up getting paid.

Ward's not Floyd, but to act as if he's not drawing any money makes you look dumb. Throw your salt some where else.

Is there a cruiserweight fighter, even with all of the belts around his waist, that generates the type of business to get a $1.5m purse? I don't think so.

[Scipio2009]

Lol. If you want another bout similar to Rigondeaux vs Lomachenko, then please feel free to promote and call for a Usyk vs Ward bout and see Ward get beat just as bad, if not worse than how Lomachenko beat Rigondeaux.

Obviously, the most likely outcome if Usyk beats Ward will be: "Oh he was bigger in size, heavier and a weight bully" to discredit the victory. Since that's what you were doing after Lomachenko beat Rigondeaux.

Usyk vs Ward at cruiser weight will be a similar mismatch if it happens and if you aren't going to give Usyk much credit as you didn't when Lomachenko beat Rigondeaux, then don't call or ask for this bout to happen in the first place.

Ward is disliked mainly by GLOBAL / INTERNATIONAL BOXING FANS (not necessarily Eastern Euro fans only) because he isn't willing to compete outside of his home country. He didn't compete against a single top level opponent outside of USA whilst Usyk has beaten multiple undefeated boxers or former champions in just 12 bouts in their own backyward. I'd state that the 'dislike' is very much justified against Andre Ward.

Andre Ward is, right now, 200lbs, without any fight on the schedule (giving him more time to comfortably max out his frame).

Usyk has the height, but you're a put if you think that Usyk is going to have a giant size advantage (especially with Ward being 200lbs right now).

The only folks who hate on Andre Ward, are basically fans of the Eastern bloc, and that's without any real doubt, lol.

[BoxingIsGreat]

My advice to anyone who cares about boxing is to simply ignore, and not click on, any articles about likely (in my opinion) PED cheats returning to boxing, the kind of North American cash cows, or boxers the corrupt establishment sees as future cash cows, who seem to always be protected outside the ring, which means they seem in my opinion to be able to use massive amounts of PEDs but never get caught for it, and who seem to be always protected inside the ring by refs and judges.

Very few people actually like to see these in my opinion cheaters box and get protected by a circus of likely (in my opinion) corrupt refs and judges, so they don't really make their money by delivering an entertaining product. Instead, they thrive on attention, even on critical attention.

So I think the best way to deal with them is just never click their articles. Don't reward clickbait about them, and websites will stop writing as much clickbait about them, and then their careers will stall unless they actually fight top opposition, in which case it is at least a little bit more worth paying attention to them again, as long as you go in with the understanding that they will in my opinion still be allowed to compete at an extreme advantage both outside and inside the ring.

So IF Ward actually comes back and IF he actually fights an interesting opponent, and not Tony Bellew, then click his articles again if you must and follow the lead up to the fight. But until then, I would encourage all real boxing fans to actively avoid posting about him, clicking on his articles, or mentioning his name. The way he has cheated inside the ring but been protected, and possibly cheated outside the ring and possibly been protected, has not earned your attention. I only clicked on this one and posted this post so that I could spread this message. Otherwise, I will actively avoid clicking any Ward article that doesn't also have "Bivol," "Kovalev," "Beterbiev," "Usyk," or "Gassiev" in the title, and I'd encourage all other true boxing fans, as I've said, to do the same. Give attention, and thus motivation to Ward, to either make fights that are interesting to the fans, or don't give him attention, and thus the motivation to come back, at all. One or the other. And even if he does come back and fight the best, do not advertise or hype those fights either unless the comments you make doing so come with a disclaimer to help educate all the casual sports fans out there who don't know any better that while the matchup might be good on paper, the product will probably still be underwhelming, and probably not something they should support, because the playing field is still almost guaranteed to be skewed drastically in Ward's direction.

The opinions in this post are my own subjective personal opinions based on the subjective experience of watching boxing. I know what I believe certain traits (back acne) and trends point to, but I encourage everyone to make up their own minds for themselves, and I do not claim that my subjective conclusions are necessarily fact 100% of the time. They are just what I believe to be fact based on the evidence and trends I have seen, that's all.

You could've followed that advice yourself and not post an essay on him here. What's up with that?

[Scipio2009]

Paulie Malignaggi, Andre Ward, Keith Thurman & Mickey Garcia would be the dream team for commentating fights.

Too many cooks in the kitchen, tbh; all have talent, but having the four of them working together would naturally mess up any flow that could happen.

Showtime has a pretty perfect three-man team; Bernstein for the history, Paulie for the tactical play-by-play, and Mauro to weave the stories together (Farhood keeping pace on the rounds, and Jim Gray asking the right questions, with Brian Custer hosting the event to round out the team).

Having even Paulie and Mikey on a team, as a longterm move (the fourth works alright if said fighter if only there to point out traits on a guy that they'd be fighting) wouldn't work.