Why didn't Andre Ward become a superstar

[Illmatic94]

if your definition of superstar is PPV king and Floyd status then NOBODY in boxing history fits that criteria. Floyd is in a league of his own. but if superstar means crazy success, HOF legacy and rich as fxck then Andre Ward more than surpassed that in his career. yes it could've been better. he killed all his momentum after the Dawson fight with court cases and inactivity. but the guy did more than enough to be one of the greats of his era. Roy Jones as skilled as he was never became a "superstar" either and he wasn't boring in or out the ring. and again that is if we are defining superstar as a PPV king.

[Illmatic94]

top 25?!?!?!?! hes not anywhere near floys skill level. first of all he had the ugliest style ive ever seen in my life. he was also boring out of the ring. 3rd of all most the time he fought weak opposition, yeah he fought kovalev but that was like 1 hard opponent in 4 years of his prime. then when the division heated up and he really could have given himself an ATG resume he decided to retire, he apparantnly lost his passion for the sport but only after he rung up frank buglioni to try and arrange a fight

Ward's two wins over Kovalev take a hot steamy shxt all over GGG's legacy. name one opponent GGG beat that was ranked top 3 PFP at the time?? Ward was so good that when he returned after the inactivity he was immediately placed top 5 PFP without doing a damn thing except be active. that's called greatness.

[Madison Boxing]

Ward's two wins over Kovalev take a hot steamy shxt all over GGG's legacy. name one opponent GGG beat that was ranked top 3 PFP at the time?? Ward was so good that when he returned after the inactivity he was immediately placed top 5 PFP without doing a damn thing except be active. that's called greatness.

Ward didn't beat him twice, the first fight was a robbery and the second one should have been a dq. It was corruption thst got him the wins nothing to do with his 'greatness'

[BirdSong]

wards a nice guy, i think he has lots of personality just in a quiet spoken thoughtful way, he smart in the ring but hes also hell dirty and boring a lot of the time and annoying winning that first kov fight with his smug face when he knew he lost, thats not ppv superstar stuff right there, nowhere near and the second fight, just as bad, he shouldnt even have an 0, hard to pin down in the ring but often in a fouling way

[yankees7448]

Yeah right. GGG manager or trainer said GGG was the man from middle to super middle, Ward ok let's go then? and waited and waited but nothing then he moved up. The fight was there to be made but never happened because GGG or his people never wanted it. Trying to put any other spin on it is nonsense.

Waited my a$$. The guy was having legal problems with his promoter that were only resolved when the ***er died. Then you have the issues with Ward making weight. The last time Ward made 168 for a fight was in November 2013. In Janurary 2015, Ward signed with a new promoter and there was brief window when the fight was technically possible. However, by that point (November 2014 to be exact) GGG had beaten Marco Rubio and became the mandatory for a belt held by Miguel Cotto. So GGG was lined up a for a far more lucrative fight against another Hall of Famer. Of course, GGG's team would focus on that fight. When you have the chance to fight two different Hall of Famers why would you settle for the guy who just headlined a BET card when you can make a lot more money fighting on HBO against the type of superstar fighter Ward never became.

IMO Ward never wanted to be a "Superstar" Seems like a pretty chilled out kind of guy to me, his skills in the ring speak for themselves.

Yes he did. He always whined about how he didn't get respect and love from the broader audiences.

[sicko]

Division! 168-175 will never be Big Draw Divisions if he was at 160, 154 or 147 then yeah he would've been a bigger STAR

No regrets from him I'm sure because he still made GREAT Money during his career and at times was PAID like a Superstar especially his last few fights

In General, most of the GREATS wasn't "Superstars" or Big Draw Guys. Crossover Superstars are RARE in this Sport

[billeau2]

What is a superstar?

Threads like this need the OP to define the terms being used, as though they are common knowledge.

This is problematic on many levels with the concept of a superstar. first off, by its very definition some people would say you cannoy have more than a few at any given time. If we look at Floyd, for most of his career he was not a superstar. I mean he was not marketable until he fought De La Hoya.

A media superstar is one thing though. A sports superstar can be another thing entirely. Was Gatti a superstar? he was a media sensation, he was selling out fights way before Floyd could do anything but complain.

Ward chose a path where he was an original Gangster, from the hood, about the hood, and true to the hood. Ward also chose to manage his own career and when it got dicey he fought the good fight to keep control of his labor. Ward also took good competitive fights, for example, what would have been his gate if he had pursued the triple G fight?

Ward still gets no credit for beating Dawson, for emptying out his division before leaving, and for taking on the best fighters he could.

So does the lack of media support make it so he is not a superstar? Or does one have to have the media support to be a superstar? I believe that history will be very kind to Andre as people study geography one day and learn that Oakland is a city relatively near to Vegas, with an infrastructure, including a city bigger than Las Vegas (San Francisco) with the support system necessary to carry a large fight.

People will also realize that the accomodating the lizards to a guy like Ward is secondary to accomodating the fans...Oakland needs the luv of the local talent...and to this day, going to a ballgame in San Francisco and spend 500 bucks, easy! I took my younger boy to Oakland colesium, he wanted to see a monster truck show...We went, we wanted to eat, went to a chef at a table who proceeded to fix nachos with chicken and all the fixings...my son and I could not finish it because he gave us so much, one of the best meals in my life! I bought the kid a tee shirt as well....WE Did not spend 100 bucks that night! And I think somehow that a real superstar like Ward would understand exactly the point I am trying to make here.

[Southpawology]

Very boring fight style and personality coupled with Excessive clinching, headbutting, and generally just making a fight unpleasant to watch. This drives away viewers.

[stefjonno1]

Waited my a$$. The guy was having legal problems with his promoter that were only resolved when the ***er died. Then you have the issues with Ward making weight. The last time Ward made 168 for a fight was in November 2013. In Janurary 2015, Ward signed with a new promoter and there was brief window when the fight was technically possible. However, by that point (November 2014 to be exact) GGG had beaten Marco Rubio and became the mandatory for a belt held by Miguel Cotto. So GGG was lined up a for a far more lucrative fight against another Hall of Famer. Of course, GGG's team would focus on that fight. When you have the chance to fight two different Hall of Famers why would you settle for the guy who just headlined a BET card when you can make a lot more money fighting on HBO against the type of superstar fighter Ward never became.






Yes he did. He always whined about how he didn't get respect and love from the broader audiences.

You obviously hate the man, no point in trying to convince you otherwise. Quite puzzling how you can hate and down play an Olympic gold medallist and two weight division World champ but hey ho. You must have hated it when Ward was in the UK last year doing a meet and greet and was showered with love from the UK fans.

[GhostofDempsey]

Dirty and boring inside the ring. Polite and not thuggish outside the ring.