Do you think Andre Ward is more skilled than Mayweather?

[boliodogs]

I would give Mayweather the edge and I think Kovalev will knock Ward out. Ward is great but so is Crusher K.

[_original_]

I think even Ward himself would admit that Floyd is greater. Also, I feel that people are comparing prime Ward against old Money May (Shawns post). PBF is far better than Ward at this point and let's see where Ward is at in 7-8 years to see if we can compare that version to Money May. No knock on Ward, he's a tremendous fighter in his own right.

[MurkaMan]

I think its a case that they have different skill sets, owing to differing levels of athleticism and natural gifts such as reach.

I think Ward may have a more rounded skill set, and a deeper bag of tricks as he has done more with less. Aka, he has never had the consistently massive reach advantage over most of his opponents that Floyd enjoyed. He never has had the kind of explosivity or athleticism that Floyd had either.

Floyd refined a very specific set of skills around his exceptional reach, and athleticism. And became one of the most skilled counter punchers ever, and became very adept at forcing fighters to fight his fight. Most of his fights look the same. Jab to the stomach ("Something he is able to do as consistently as he can because of his reach") consistently for the first few rounds, until fighter fall for jab feints as a body jab, when he then turns into a hook. Defensively he is very good, one of the best ever, and he once again used his reach speed and athleticism a very potent weapon for him.

Andre Ward doesn't have the same kind of reach or explosiveness or speed that Floyd was gifted with, so he crafted his skill set around being able to adapt to different scenarios and think his way through fights instead of relying on his physical assets and gifts. Much more like Bernard Hopkins. I feel like Ward probably has a more well rounded bag of tricks than Floyd has, but none of his tricks are as good as the couple that Floyd refined.

Does that mean Floyd is better or Ward is better? I think it just means that they have different skill sets.

I don't think Floyd could have made the game plan Wards used against Dawson work, just the same as I dont think Ward could have made the game plan Floyd used against Corrales work.

I think overall Ward is probably the more Cerebral fighter, and the smarter fighter. Floyd is more athletic and physically gifted.

Floyds Skills that he has mastered are sharper than Wards, but ward has bit more of a broad skill set, especially in the sense that no two Ward fights look the same. Some times they are ugly mauling pinning your opponent against the ropes fights. Some times they are boxing from the outside, some times they are inside fighting in the middle of the ring. Floyds fights, from fight to fight all look pretty similar. Its Floyd doing what Floyd does.

Maybe that means Floyd is more skilled because he is able to make fighters fight in a way that he can fight the same every fight. Maybe Ward is more skillful because he due to lack of natural gifts must adapt his fighting style to every opponent.

They are both great fighters. Stylistically, Ward is much more comparable to hopkins though, skillset wise as well.

Floyd doesnt have any massive reach advantage dude Lol Stop looking at tail of the tape and Boxrec! Floyd is always 15lbs smaller, and waaay shorter, shorter arms! I think Pac and JMM are the only opponents he faced that had shorter arms than him and are smaller than him!

You know Ghost was the biggest WW, and Floyd and Thurman were way shorter than him! Ghost arms were way longer! Mosley was a few inches bigger with longer arms!

And Canelo was big af! Floyd looked like a little old man! Its NO WAY that Floyd's arms where longer than Canelo's!

[MDPopescu]

Do you think Andre Ward is more skilled than Mayweather?
... It just seems like both are so flawless in everything they do that it's hard to even say who's more skilled overall. ...

... then why ask?
... or the thread was rather about Kovalev?

[LoadedWraps]

Do you think Ward is a better overall fighter than Floyd was or do you think Floyd had better overall skills/talent than him? It just seems like both are so flawless in everything they do that it's hard to even say who's more skilled overall. I honestly think he's going to beat Kovalev fairly easily unless Kovalev lands a lucky punch.

[John Locke]

Nah, both are special talents tho.

[LetOutTheCage]

Both are great fighters but Mayweather is the more skilled fighter.

[BattlingNelson]

Both use their heads a lot. Floyd the inside and Ward the outside.

[stuff jones]

More skilled but less talented. Floyd has that freakish long reach and great reflexes.

[Redd Foxx]

A lot of people fail to see why Ward is just as skillful. You can't just go by appearances because things change when you go up in size. For instance, a HW that was light on his feet like Loma would get KTFO by the first guy who stepped forward and sat down on his punches. Size changes things, changes styles. Even though it looks like Ward is trying harder, they're both top 10 in punches connected and in defense as well. They only other guy above 6' tall that comes close is Wlad K.

Beyond physical differences playing a part in their styles, the competition changes things too. When you're fighting a Froch, Kessler, Bika, Abraham, etc, you have to get gritty with them. Where Ward's brilliance lies is in the "like water" thing that Bruce Lee spoke of. He adapts and becomes many different things. Ward has the best defense in the division, yet he's possibly the roughest inside fighter as well. He's not particularly large, nor does he shoot for power often, but he's physically able to dominate just about everyone he fights. Calm and quiet, but leaves opponents looking frustrated and demoralized. He's a bit of an anomaly and unless you really break-down a lot of his fights and check out some of his technique in slow-mo, you'll never pick up on all the brilliant nuances in the man's style.

There's no taking away from the things that Floyd excelled in and no one did them better than him. It's easy to pick May because the media says he's the best. But, don't overlook the subtle yet complex techniques that Ward employs. Both have what I call "the instinct", the ability to predict and mentally be a step ahead. I have thought of them as being equal in talent and the (technical) best in the sport for about 5 years now.