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If you was andre wards promoter is there anything you would change or improve about his personality?
He is a nice guy who has a style that is marmite to watch but I enjoy watching him fight.
Does Ward need to change anything to make him more marketable or is he just too good that he puts everyone off.
Be honest, do you really just want ward to go away and vanish so the threat is no longer there?
If GGG has to fight ward then its only fair that Ward needs to step up and face kovalev..
Ward fighting Kovalev would elevate him into ppv fighter and would make him a big fighter that he deserves to be.
Otherwise he could unify the supermiddleweight which he should easily be able to do.
Ward needs to be active and proving that he is the best p4p fighter today.
There are really only two ways to become a PPV star, be a villian, or beat a legend. In wards case he needs to become a villian as there aren't any legends walking around for him to fight. He also needs to start doing a media circuit everytime he fights. Go out and do interviews on non boxing related shows and be an asshole while doing it. But not the kind where he copies others, but instead channel his own inner asshole that every fighter has. Beating Kovalev or GGG may get him closer to solidifying himself as the best figher, but it wont do much for him becoming a marketable star. If i was him id talk smack about how im 10 times better than FLoyd, piggy back off his casual fans and have them tune in.
Fighting more than once every two years would be a good place to start.
Also, avoid choosing opponents like Rohan Murdock and trying to bring him up in weight to boot.
Floyd fans are like him thick and shallow so they would swallow the hype and buy his ppv fights.Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxer4life
I would go on ESPN or Spike TV and fight often just beating up bums every month for 12 months which make it a year.
Ward is a really good fighter and a nice guy, but as you can see it's not enough he's about as excitingQuote:
Originally Posted by imp
as watching the world knitting champion in action,:vd:
Sorry mate it's the truth, can't see the public raving about Ward just hardened boxing fan's.
Ward needs to forget about Floyd, Ward is not going to be the next big thing in boxing. He needs to fight anyone who will get him some attention and some money. Waiting around for the big fights to come to you is BS.
Hey, Andre, you are out from under Gossen now so make your mark. You want everyone to appreciate your greatness, well start kicking some ass. Clean out the division, move up and down (remember Dawson) to make some fights happen, and stop setting in the corner crying like a sissy because no one wants to dance with you. You pissed and moaned that Gossen was screwing you and holding you back, who are you going to blame this time?
You are not Floyd and you have not put in the time or work he did, get off your fanny and make it happen, and please stop crying about how you do not get the attention you deserve! It is sickening, Andre!
I hear all the "he's too boring to be PPV stuff ", but personally I don't buy it. I'm a believer in the best being PPV , maybe that's a bit naive but that's how I feel . In the UK, HE would've been PPV when he was 12!
IMO, the only thing that stops Ward being PPV is Ward. He needs to fight FFS! Trust me if he had fought 2-3 times a year since he won the super 6, he would be 35 or 36-0 , be a 2 weight World Champion and would definitely be PPV!
"Would've.... could've.... should've".
A good title for his autobiography, which by the way he could probably start now since he's not doing anything else.
;)
The problem with ward is he doesnt do anything that translates to he casual fans. He didn't same like an unlikable person (till he started this "little G" taunting which sounds stupid and immature-- he couldn't come up with something better than that?). He's Obviously observant and eloquent enough to get a commentating position. but in the ring, He has no gimmick...
Is he one of the fastest?
Does he have one of the best (left hook/ straight right hand/ defense) in the business?
Is he one of the biggest bangers?
Is he taking out guys in 4 rounds or less?
Is he throwing hard punches every minute of every round start to finish?
Wards strength is in his method. He tried to be roy jones early and got dropped for it. He decided for longevity's sake, he'd change his approach. So now he nullifies his opponents with his chess game, infighting and running out the clock on most fighters. Most of the casual fans have no idea why hes winning rounds or fights. To them he probably looks like an average fighter winning fighting an average fight because they dont know infighting, ring generalship or the finer details of what hes doing. But they do know that hitting on the break and headbutts are probably sh*tty things to do and against the rules. Not to mention he limits his own exposure to oakland.
He's got 2 options:
Do what he does but do it quicker, step up with some malice, and starting wearing guys down and knocking them out early to show hes a force.
or
Proclaim himself the smartest fighter that can out think anyone in the ring and start taking on the tasks with bigger risks and bigger rewards. This ones unidirectional. Go up challenge guys the light heavies, and cruisers ... slay some giants. You cant go after smaller guys, with commentators saying the old adage that a good bigger fighter always beats a good smaller fighter, every broadcast. Its definitely a buzzkill. Only reason GGG would get away with it because they (winner of cotto/alvarez) would hold a title in his division. Ward could fight triple G, rock him to sleep and beat him decisively and Triple G would still be the bigger sell afterward, because of the way he fights. The fact that he went balls to the all on moroe and skimped on his defense to make the fight more fan friendly, already shows hes got more business sense than ward, who never strained himself to make a fight or decisively ko someone except Dawson (who people can argue was weight drained and punchy at the time)
Floyd was one of the fastest? He was a d0uche too (but so was mayorga). He had a defense that was considered the best in the game. That created mystery for people. What would happen when he fought a guy that that finally landed a punch on him? Mosely did that and floyd hung on for dear life? So what would happen when he found someone who could land more than one? or was too fast for him to block all the punches or bullied him around the ring (maidana) , there were all these what if scenarios and unanswerable questions. When it was obvious floyd was cherry picking his opponents regardless of rank, the people turned on him a little. Most of the casual fans, if they couldnt be entertained for the fight, still hung around to see if he would say pacquiaos name. After he fought him, they all said .. the mystery was gone and the questions have been answered so unless he can create another mystery, hes done... He said BERTO! and every went WTF? he's done....
I think I nailed it here
http://www.saddoboxing.com/boxingfor...ml#post1102817
and here
http://www.saddoboxing.com/boxingfor...ml#post1103599
I'd say for guys like Ward and mayweather they just don't have styles that are going to make you spend PPV dollars to watch them. Floyd made himself into Money Mayweather and it worked fantastically for him, millions of people have paid PPV dollars mainly to hope he gets beat. Ward doesn't have an exciting style either but is a relatively quietly spoken nice guy.
Imagine if he'd beaten Kessler and declared himself the actual son of god in the ring afterwards and said he was unbeatable. A black man claiming that in America is going to be an instant media sensation, you've nailed two of the things that really animate Americans in race and religion. If Ward pretended he was gay and waved a gun around he'd have got all of them.
But race and religion are enough to make everybody sit up and take notice. All he'd have to do after that is troll white/religious America with a string of outrageous statements and keep winning. It wouldn't matter that he won boring fights and didn't knock anybody out, so long as he kept winning he'd have become a huge PPV attraction.
But he fucked it up by being himself. Never mind.