There's no way you could make a convincing case for Ward as FOTD, even leaving out the qualifying asterisks against every one of his career highlights, which Mannix does.
Here they are with the asterisks:
Winning the SMW Supersix tournament.*The tournament did not include Lucian Bute, who was the undefeated IBF champion and ranked No1 in the division by Ring Magazine when it began. Ward was the only contestant who was allowed home advantage for all his fights.
Beating Chad Dawson, "arguably" the best 175 fighter in the world, at 168 lbs.*Dawson was severely weight drained at 168, and turned out to be nowhere near as good as he was touted as being prior to fighting Ward.
Moving up to 175 himself 3 years later and beating WBA, WBO and IBF champion Sergey Kovalev twice. * Both Ward's wins over Kovalev were highly controversial, to say the least. In fact, they would both be strong contenders for "controversial result of the decade"
Kovalev was the only 175 lb fighter that Ward ever fought at 175.
As I read it I was thinking his editors told him were gonna go with Ward since everyone else is going with Floyd. Now write up something that we can sell to our readers.
As I read it I was thinking his editors told him were gonna go with Ward since everyone else is going with Floyd. Now write up something that we can sell to our readers.
Whether you love him or hate him, Floyd as FOTD should be a no-brainer.
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