If Andre Ward never retired, would he still be P4P #1 today?

[Boxing_1013]

I know but that fight ruined Kovalev. He has never been the same fighter ever since. Since that fight he has been KO twice and almost for a third time in his last fight with Anthony Yarde. He is now a broken and defeated fighter.

I agree that I think the decision going against him in the first fight impacted him mentally...I actually think the Eleider Alvarez KO kind of woke him up though...I think he is still more or less what he was...aging pretty well for 36...interested to see how him vs Canelo goes...glad he is getting a good payday at least.

[Jedi Vader]

Ward schools Canelo easily. I cannot see Canelo taking that fight.

[Chuckguy]

If Ward returned and defeated Canelo, he would be #1 p4p.

Undefeated, 3-time champ with the best win in boxing.

So fighting a guy two weight classes lower makes you P4P #1?

[Squ□redCircle34]

Easily, a stoppage win over a Prime Kovalev is better than anything that others are doing right now!

Only one close to it is Canelo moving up 2 weight classes with no tune up or weight clause against a past prime Kovalev would be the closest to match that win!

Pacman beating a prime undefeated Welterweight champ at age 40 is the next thing!

[South Champion]

So fighting a guy two weight classes lower makes you P4P #1?

If Canelo beats Kov, he'll be a legit Light Heavyweight Champion. Ward is aging and would be shaking off rust.

A win against a prime Canelo would still be impressive.

[4truth]

No, Ward retired for a reason. I think the 2 Kovalev fights were wake up calls. However you might have scored the whole fight, it was pretty clear that he was losing a lot of rounds.

I don't think the version of Ward we saw against Kovalev was going to have anything like same success at LHW he had at SMW.

[Rusty Tromboni]

Going into the first Ward-Kovalev fight, Mayweather was retired, and I believe Kovalev was ranked #1 and Ward #2. Both guys were undefeated, and since Ward was the one moving up, the win easily put him as the new #1. Then, the stoppage in the rematch solidified his ranking.

It's possible.

But Kovalev was clearly robbed the first time - sure, you could argue that being the smaller man, just being competitive with the bigger supposed P4P King warranted moving Ward into that slot.

But again, who was making the rankings? Where were Golovkin, Lomachenko, Chocolatito and Rigo?

And then he should have been DQ'd in the rematch for the foul. At least it should have been scored on the rounds fought up until that point (it was too deep into the fight to declare a NC, as I recall).

Again, very good fighter. One of the best of our era, but never P4P best. Obviously, even if he had stayed on and continued to improve, he was never going to reach the level of Golovkin and Usyk. And he can't even be compared to Lomachenko.

[Rusty Tromboni]

Everything u said was opinion instigated by you.. But fact is Ward was p4p 1. And yo hating ass will never change that lol

There's no opinion involved. It's observable fact: other fighters plied the same trade as Ward but at a higher level. The dude isn't fit to tie Rigo's laces... and do you remember how he got clowned by the Ukrainian Boxing god?

It's like you're trying to call a puddle in front of your house an ocean.

[Rusty Tromboni]

No, Ward retired for a reason. I think the 2 Kovalev fights were wake up calls. However you might have scored the whole fight, it was pretty clear that he was losing a lot of rounds.

I don't think the version of Ward we saw against Kovalev was going to have anything like same success at LHW he had at SMW.

Yeah. He was sitting pretty in an absolute rubbish and unnecessary division (168). And his "wins" over Kovalev were about as corrupt as a sport known for corruption has ever seen. The jig was up. he had to take the money and run... and never stop.

[QueensburyRules]

Andre Ward was recognized as the P4P #1 fighter in the world when he retired. If he never retired, and was still fighting today, would he still hold the P4P crown.

Ward just said that he thinks Canelo will stop Kovalev in 11 or 12 rounds because Kovalev "can't take it to the body."

Max Kellerman just asked Ward: "He will have gone up 2 weight divisions, if your prediction is true, to stop a guy it took you 2 fights to stop."

Kellerman then asked if Ward if he would come back to fight Canelo for the P4P crown. Ward just smiled and said that he doesn't think Oscar or Canelo would say his name.

If Canelo stops Kov, and then Ward comes back and beats Canelo, would that be enough to regain the top spot on the P4P list?

- -Ha, Wart and Jellyman!

Did they get a hotel room for that cluster fest?