Rewatching Andre Ward Fights During This Lockdown? JK. THAT DUDE WAS A CON JOB!

[GhostofDempsey]

He certainly conned a lot of the casuals in here into believing he is an ATG, LMAO!

[Boxing_1013]

But thats besides the point..... What has Ward done in his career that would make you think he retired to avoid this guy? This aint Floyd who has said things that would give us a reason to imply these things.

Just say he most likely would lose, instead of all that

you just have to accept theres a legion of haters that will insist that ward retired to avoid bivol, gvozdyk and beterbiev....its just the nature of this thing

the bottom line is that, at the time and even now, none of those guys are as known as kovalev was...who was headlining shows on hbo....nobody was going to pay ward the purses he got for both kovalev fights to face any of those guys....and they certainly werent going to pay ward "more" than what he got for the kovalev fights....and ward was probably looking for a raise after two tough fights...but he certainly wasnt getting off the couch for less and thats just the reality of it

To be fair...Ward did drop a belt rather than face Anthony Dirrell...he did have that whole 'The winner should face Bute' 'Bute needs to do more to fight me' change of opinion with Bute over a 2 fight span in the Super 6.

Also never took fights outside the US, vs Froch Kessler (or Bute and even Stevenson).

That is just to say that I think Ward showed he definitely liked to call the shots in his career and he liked to be in control of who he fought and where he fought.

I personally don't think he loved the prospect of facing a young(ish) hungry dude like Beterbiev whose level as a fighter was probably considerably above what his name recognition was at that time.

If you fight him and win, no one really gives you credit...if you lose, then you hurt your legacy losing to a 'no name'...I don't really blame him for not fighting AB, just depends on what the money would have been really.

But I mean come on...Ward definitely liked to call his own shots in negotiating and have it his way...if he would drop a belt rather than face Anthony Dirrell, I think he would slide out of the way rather than face someone like AB.

[nacho daddy]

one thing is for sure mental ward was utterly scared sh it of Kessler. he should have been arrested for what he did to Kessler. Kessler should have KO'd ward after the bell rang to end a round

[miniq]

Andre Ward understood the art of boxing

Andre Ward didn't have many...if ANY physical gifts. He was bog standard, he was PHYSICALLY very average. Nothing special.

But he was a smart fighter, the smartest fighter. He had the art worked out & that must be respected

When people call fighters boring you know they have it figured out. Sure it might be boring but to get in a boxing ring and win whilst bieng "boring" is a hard thing to achieve.

[Boxing_1013]

So tell me who he would have lost to besides Sergey?

Ward was a ""find a way to win" type of guy with a high level of boxing IQ and toughness to go with it.

So he most likely would have found a way to win anyway looking at his fights and opponents.( outside of Sergey)

Most of these guys wasn't close to beating him.

Like i say lets not disregard everything about the guy and claim he would lose every fight if the ref was different.

I definitely agree that he was a tough smart fighter man...which from me is about the highest compliment I can give someone...if this was real fighting, the dude would be a great one imo.

But I just never really saw great clean boxing skills from him vs other good fighters that he faced.

I've mentioned it before...but if you look at his fights vs Froch, Kessler, Kov 1 and 2, Bika, Barrera...he was officially 6-0 in those fights...those are like his 6 biggest fights, or 6 of his 10 biggest fights by anyone's metric.

I think in a neutral environment, he is at best 1-1 in the Kov 2 and Kessler fights...I just think he would get DQd in one of those...at least penalized and points off...I think Bayless was a little overzealous vs Fury in fight 2 with Wilder...but think that type of thing...if you are a repeat offender, clearly bending the rules, then the 3rd or so time you do it, you have to get a point off, minimum.

I actually watched the Bika and Barrera fights...I did a lot of research on Ward and Kovalev before their fight, to see who really should be the favorite going in...and I honestly think those fights were really close...if they were fought in a neutral environment where no one knew who either guy was, I think the judges would have called it that way (btw similar story for me with Kov-Chilemba...tight fight until the KD...so at that time watching those fights, I didn't know if Ward or Kov should be favored going in.)

And that's not even getting into what a ref would have done in a neutral spot...I think a draw and a win in those fights are honestly fair to Ward in a neutral environment...and I'm not hating on the guy...if anything I have more genetically in common with Ward than those 2 guys...but yeah I just have to call it like I see it, and I saw like 80%+ close rounds in those 2 fights...they were really tight.

Froch was a good win...7-5 on my card, but only because Ward got a little complacent at the end and let Froch back in it imo...the right man won...you can wonder if Ward would have gotten robbed if that fight wasn't in the US, or at least would have gotten a draw, but again I think the right man won so I won't really go there...if the right man wins, that's good enough for me.

Kov 1 he clearly lost to me...not hating on him, the last 6 rounds were competitive...but it was not an either way type fight for me...and it kind of illustrates the issue with Ward and the scorecards he would get.

I felt the whole fight with Kov would go the way of the last 6 rounds...in that case, I thought I would probably shade a fight like that to Kov, seeing as he is the bigger puncher and maybe a little more active...but I felt the judges and a lot of fans would give it to Ward seeing as he generally received good cards and won a lot of close rounds...and some may value him being competitive vs Kovalev seeing as he was moving up in weight.

But to say Ward won that fight...you really have to give him like 5-1 or 6-0 in the last 6..which is to say that over 12, you would say he won 10-2 11-1 or 12-0 lol if the entire fight went the way of those last 6...and I probably would have had it a draw!! So yeah that is just to highlight the disparity I see sometimes with people scoring his fights...they give him every close round...and he has a lot of them in fights, so a 6-6 7-5 fight turns into 11-1 lol.

Anyway, in those 6 fights I mentioned (Froch, Kov 1 and 2, Kessler, Bika and Barrera), I would say he could easily have been 3-2-1..that is very possibly the right score in those 6 fights...but because he was at home he gets 6-0? Idk man I just can't not factor that stuff in when evaluating a guy.

And again I think in the ring he was really tough and smart...I just personally think he was really protected and helped as well.

[Rip Chudd]

That's the whole point of the post, that he doesn't deserve to be seen as this. Your reply makes no sense therefore

My post was sarcastic so it makes sense. Seems othes got it as they replied and understood but it went over your head

[lolpz]

Yeah I stand by my comments man. His am record was apparently 115-5...maybe 1/3rd of those fights, so 40 of those fights, he was actually fighting a live dog?

20 of those fights he probably was just genuinely better than the guy he fought and won clean...so that leaves like 20 real fights for him...apparently he actually lost 5 of them...15-5 or so...and I would bet that all 20 of so of those fights were really close and he maybe got the nod in more than his earned share because of his country/name/affiliations.

And yeah he definitely had some buzz in the ams, with his association with Virgil Hunter, and then also his personal story...how many ams have a notable trainer like Hunter man...it never happens.

If I saw some tape on him in the ams and saw him schooling the top guys I wouldn't hate, I would give him props...but based on what I saw from him in the pros, he didn't really separate for me skills-wise anytime he faced a B level or above guy.

And when you always fight at home, get really dirty in there, and still have close competitive fights or dubious decisions...I mean idk I just don't really see the cause celebre.

Ward lost all 5 of his fights before the age of 12.

From age 13 to whenever he qualified for the olympics and won a gold medal, he didn’t lose a single fight.

You are talking straight nonsense.

[Curt Henning]

To be fair...Ward did drop a belt rather than face Anthony Dirrell...he did have that whole 'The winner should face Bute' 'Bute needs to do more to fight me' change of opinion with Bute over a 2 fight span in the Super 6.

Also never took fights outside the US, vs Froch Kessler (or Bute and even Stevenson).

That is just to say that I think Ward showed he definitely liked to call the shots in his career and he liked to be in control of who he fought and where he fought.

I personally don't think he loved the prospect of facing a young(ish) hungry dude like Beterbiev whose level as a fighter was probably considerably above what his name recognition was at that time.

If you fight him and win, no one really gives you credit...if you lose, then you hurt your legacy losing to a 'no name'...I don't really blame him for not fighting AB, just depends on what the money would have been really.

But I mean come on...Ward definitely liked to call his own shots in negotiating and have it his way...if he would drop a belt rather than face Anthony Dirrell, I think he would slide out of the way rather than face someone like AB.

theres nothing wrong with calling shots so long as any fight you should make gets made....the only time you could gripe with ward is if it stood in the way of making a good/big fight...it never did with wards career....every real good fight that could be made pretty much did within reason

people say the same about floyd...about how he never traveled or any of that stuff...floyd didnt have to and nobody in their right mind would if they dont have to...its like saying youre offered a job 50 miles away for one thats 10 minutes away with the same pay and benefits and long term growth....neither ward nor floyd ever had any big fight not take place over location

you can take any guys career and nitpick things like dirrell and bute....literally any big name fighter is never going to fight every guy youd want him to....the bute situation is a legit gripe with ward(not in the way you think)...bute hadnt beaten anyone....and when ward was done with a grueling super 6(remember he was the biggest betting underdog going in) it was a tough run....while bute was sitting around fighting less skilled guys....ward had the right to change his mind...he won the big tourney and was king of 168....all he did was ask bute to beat one guy a level up from what he had been fighting...and bute not only failed in his one crack he was stopped.....thats life

nobody was gonna pay ward at least 7 mil to face AB at that time...and tbh ward was prob gonna want a raise...he wasnt getting up for a penny less and its likely he was going to want more which nobody was gonna be willing to put up if were being truthful and honest....there wasnt enough money at the time....AB was still relatively unknown and untested at that point...FFS he fought enrico koelling later that year......it was never gonna be big enough....heck ward would have to still be active/fighting right now for the fight to be worth it to anyone

[HeadShots]

Andre Ward understood the art of boxing

Andre Ward didn't have many...if ANY physical gifts. He was bog standard, he was PHYSICALLY very average. Nothing special.

But he was a smart fighter, the smartest fighter. He had the art worked out & that must be respected

When people call fighters boring you know they have it figured out. Sure it might be boring but to get in a boxing ring and win whilst bieng "boring" is a hard thing to achieve.

art of boxing includes shooting double legs?

[IMG]https://www.************.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1-111916-Sergey-Kovalev-vs-Andre-Ward-577.jpg[/IMG]




highest level of boxing skills

HOLY ****

[TheMyspaceDayz]

Here is 24-25 with 13 KO’s Darnell Boone going Trinidad on Ward.



As you can see, Ward had a momentary lapse in judgement and fought instead of clinching/head butting. It’s moments like this why Ward didn’t straight up fight people and relied heavily on dirty tactics. He discovered long ago that his chin was weak.