... Ward was a very gifted athlete and and extremely intelligent also... unfortunately for him, he injured his right shoulder since childhood and fought his whole career as a "one handed" inverted southpaw...
Why didn't Andre Ward become a superstar
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-Wins super 6 tournament
-fights dawson 1 year later at 168, stops him (would have gotten more credit if it was at 175)
-fights 1 whole year later vs some stiff
- takes 2 years off
- fights a string of stiffs
-fights Kovalev x2, ends series with a 5 ball punch combination
- retires at 33
He has been able to prove hes the best at 168-175 but he takes too much time off. He fought nobody but stiffs for the 4 year period between the chad dawson fight and kovalev fight. He doesnt even try to be a boxing star, his heart isnt in it. After the kovalev wins, he "retires" at 33. Im fully expecting him to come back in another year or two against some stiffs, its what hes always done.Comment
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I believe a lot of the reason was his refusal of leaving his comfort zone of Oakland, CA. Moreover, signing with the wrong promotional company too. If you wanna be great then you have to be willing to take chances; Something that Andre Ward has never done or refused to do. These are just some of things that I am convinced that held him back in his career.Comment
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i agree about signing with the wrong promo company....and i think him wanting to stay around oakland had alot to do with who he signed with....if he signed with someone else he likely would have had to do some fighting in the east coast...probably more than he would have liked to.....they brought him out to memphis, ct and tampa early on his career...but for the most part he was able to stay around his home and stay in lowkey areas...he never really had to deal with NY....which can be strange to a quiet, cali, kid....I believe a lot of the reason was his refusal of leaving his comfort zone of Oakland, CA. Moreover, signing with the wrong promotional company too. If you wanna be great then you have to be willing to take chances; Something that Andre Ward has never done or refused to do. These are just some of things that I am convinced that held him back in his career.
i find it a bid odd that a fighter of wards pedigree and background never once fought in the state of NY
all in all id just crack it up as americans are less interested in boxing these days....ward aint much different than most guys...shane, bernard or whoever....very talented and were stars in the sport...but never really superstars....there are tons of guys at about wards level of fame that were very good-great boxersComment
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Long time no see Curtis! Nice avi, is that the new Star Wars movie Sith Lord?i agree about signing with the wrong promo company....and i think him wanting to stay around oakland had alot to do with who he signed with....if he signed with someone else he likely would have had to do some fighting in the east coast...probably more than he would have liked to.....they brought him out to memphis, ct and tampa early on his career...but for the most part he was able to stay around his home and stay in lowkey areas...he never really had to deal with NY....which can be strange to a quiet, cali, kid....
i find it a bid odd that a fighter of wards pedigree and background never once fought in the state of NY
all in all id just crack it up as americans are less interested in boxing these days....ward aint much different than most guys...shane, bernard or whoever....very talented and were stars in the sport...but never really superstars....there are tons of guys at about wards level of fame that were very good-great boxersComment
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I agree. He could have benefited from a little bit more of exposure fighting outside of Oakland. He needed to fight around different parts of the U.S. and then toward the twilight of his career he could have been a staple in Las Vegas; While becoming this box office, crossover pay per view fighter like Money May.i agree about signing with the wrong promo company....and i think him wanting to stay around oakland had alot to do with who he signed with....if he signed with someone else he likely would have had to do some fighting in the east coast...probably more than he would have liked to.....they brought him out to memphis, ct and tampa early on his career...but for the most part he was able to stay around his home and stay in lowkey areas...he never really had to deal with NY....which can be strange to a quiet, cali, kid....
i find it a bid odd that a fighter of wards pedigree and background never once fought in the state of NY
all in all id just crack it up as americans are less interested in boxing these days....ward aint much different than most guys...shane, bernard or whoever....very talented and were stars in the sport...but never really superstars....there are tons of guys at about wards level of fame that were very good-great boxersComment
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Are you still pissed at Ward for his greatness and achievements in the ring; Like winning the Super Six and defeating the Light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev twice, while ruining his career in the progress? Are you ever gonna to forgive him for that?
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