HBO's packaging of Andre Ward is DISGRACEFUL!!!

No wonder why American boxing is losing out on big paydays and losing out in mass appeal world wide...

Here we have THE TOP OF THE TOP ELITE FIGHTER IN THE WORLD, barring Floyd Mayweather, in Andre Ward, and he can't get a damn ppv fight or a proper build up with a major network like HBO behind him?? WTF??

Heck, even B-Hop gets better fight promotions and hype than Ward. And B-Hop is old as dirt. WTH?

Ward should weigh his options with Showtime and his current promoter if this persists. It's not fair to him.

That's the sad thing about these networks and boxing promoters: they're lazy. If something is a tough sell, they don't seem to want to make the effort. They'd rather jump on what they deem to be "sure things". They don't seem to have any idea how to build stars. If a guy is a natural personality and can draw heat himself, they can jump on and accentuate it. But a soft spoken technical fighter they have no clue what to do with.

Bob Arum did the same thing with Mayweather. He was aggressive in trying to get Mayweather big fights, but he didn't see Mayweather as a draw whatsoever. Mayweather leaves him and becomes the biggest draw in boxing history.

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Originally Posted by Beanflicker

That's the sad thing about these networks and boxing promoters: they're lazy. If something is a tough sell, they don't seem to want to make the effort. They'd rather jump on what they deem to be "sure things". They don't seem to have any idea how to build stars. If a guy is a natural personality and can draw heat himself, they can jump on and accentuate it. But a soft spoken technical fighter they have no clue what to do with.

Bob Arum did the same thing with Mayweather. He was aggressive in trying to get Mayweather big fights, but he didn't see Mayweather as a draw whatsoever. Mayweather leaves him and becomes the biggest draw in boxing history.

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It is fair if you ask me.

Ward is a bore, a horrible fighter to watch and no one enjoys his fights that much.

He's a benchmark, fighters like Amir Khan and TysonFury go out to have a fight because they want to excite fans, when I'd bet Khan would have beaten Garcia (because he was comfortably and clearly ahead), and Fury wouldn't have been dropped the few times he was if they had fought in the style Ward does, but they have good to watch tear ups because nobody, especially a fighter wants to be known as unexciting.

They don't want to market him because people like me don't wanna watch him. I have no interest in watching a free Andre Ward fight let alone paying for one.

He needs to step out and tear it up for a fight and maybe earn the kind of backing he wants.

It's clear you like fighting and not "boxing". And it's nothing wrong with that. But to say Ward fights is boring, I have to question that. His last 7 to 9 fights, he been dismantling people to a point where other fighters is not considering him as an opponent. And his weight division is stacked! And it's not like he's KOing people. He's skillfully destroying people. A great watch for me.

And that's my OPINION

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Originally Posted by Ant Live

It's clear you like fighting and not "boxing". And it's nothing wrong with that. But to say Ward fights is boring, I have to question that. His last 7 to 9 fights, he been dismantling people to a point where other fighters is not considering him as an opponent. And his weight division is stacked! And it's not like he's KOing people. He's skillfully destroying people. A great watch for me.

And that's my OPINION

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i wouldnt call wards style boxing, hes mastered the art of moving in quickly, hitting and smothering in one movement, and he does little on the inside

i like fighting, i like boxing, i especially like a fighter who can and is willing to do both

i dont like wards style at all and it doesnt suprise me he doesnt sell tickets

Its bad enough that fighters have one slave owner but two. These pseudo omnipotent broadcasters and especially HBO are deciding who fights each other. Sadly they want to go back to wearing togas and throwing bread around.

Ps- Ward needs to shit or get off the pot.

I like Ward but a lot of his style does at times make him a bit boring.

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Originally Posted by Ant Live

It's clear you like fighting and not "boxing". And it's nothing wrong with that. But to say Ward fights is boring, I have to question that. His last 7 to 9 fights, he been dismantling people to a point where other fighters is not considering him as an opponent. And his weight division is stacked! And it's not like he's KOing people. He's skillfully destroying people. A great watch for me.

And that's my OPINION

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I much prefer boxing than fighting but ward holds more than a company with bad customer service.

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

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Originally Posted by Ant Live

It's clear you like fighting and not "boxing". And it's nothing wrong with that. But to say Ward fights is boring, I have to question that. His last 7 to 9 fights, he been dismantling people to a point where other fighters is not considering him as an opponent. And his weight division is stacked! And it's not like he's KOing people. He's skillfully destroying people. A great watch for me.

And that's my OPINION

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I much prefer boxing than fighting but ward holds more than a company with bad customer service.

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Yes, and we know that is part of boxing but it doesn't make for a good match with the frequency he does it.

1. What fighter have the fighting style you like?
2. Besides Ward moving into another weight division, who would give him a good fight?
3. The sport of boxing is a business and about making money. But do a fighter make a million and fight to win or try to fight for the fans and potentially lose future millions?

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Originally Posted by Ant Live

It's clear you like fighting and not "boxing". And it's nothing wrong with that. But to say Ward fights is boring, I have to question that. His last 7 to 9 fights, he been dismantling people to a point where other fighters is not considering him as an opponent. And his weight division is stacked! And it's not like he's KOing people. He's skillfully destroying people. A great watch for me.

And that's my OPINION

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I'm with you, I like watching Ward a lot. He made a fan of me. I didn't like him early in his career but he grew on me. I thought he got by on talent and would struggle when he stepped up. But the more I watched him the more I saw. Dude is all class as far as his approach to the craft. These days I even like watching him shadow box because even at that you can learn from him. I still don't care for his personality or his entitled beliefs. Yes, you're good and you proved that but you can't sell so get off you're horse and do whatever you have to do to get guys to fight.

Don't feel too sorry for him. HBO gave him $1.9 million for fighting Rodriguez. The viewing figures didn't even make the top 10 most watched fights at the end of the year. That's some seriously good wedge for a guy with no fans.

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Originally Posted by Fenster

Don't feel too sorry for him. HBO gave him $1.9 million for fighting Rodriguez. The viewing figures didn't even make the top 10 most watched fights at the end of the year. That's some seriously good wedge for a guy with no fans.

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I'll take 2 million a fight without complaining if need be for the rest of my career, until the 10 million fight come around. But who would be his opponent? Even if he moves up or down in weight, he still probably won't get that.
1. GGG
2. Stevenson
3. B-HOP
4. Kovalev

Even if floyd took him up on his offer an meet him at 160, Ward would probably only get somewhere upwards 8 to 10. Saying that, keep winning and make 2 per fight. Better then losing and making 500K

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Originally Posted by Fenster

Don't feel too sorry for him. HBO gave him $1.9 million for fighting Rodriguez. The viewing figures didn't even make the top 10 most watched fights at the end of the year. That's some seriously good wedge for a guy with no fans.

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I agree. It's Berto money.

I'd like to see him step up to Stevenson, Kovalev, Hopkins or Pascal, while he waits for GGG to leave 160. Dismantling that string of guys would do a lot for his marketability.

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Originally Posted by Fenster

Don't feel too sorry for him. HBO gave him $1.9 million for fighting Rodriguez. The viewing figures didn't even make the top 10 most watched fights at the end of the year. That's some seriously good wedge for a guy with no fans.

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Good point. Last two were anorexic light hevs to boot. All his fights at home etc etc. The Goossen feud is getting a little long winded also. Pay him the ten million like Floyd did Arum and move on. There is nothing left at 168 really. What are you waiting for?

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Originally Posted by Ant Live

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Originally Posted by Fenster

Don't feel too sorry for him. HBO gave him $1.9 million for fighting Rodriguez. The viewing figures didn't even make the top 10 most watched fights at the end of the year. That's some seriously good wedge for a guy with no fans.

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I'll take 2 million a fight without complaining if need be for the rest of my career, until the 10 million fight come around. But who would be his opponent? Even if he moves up or down in weight, he still probably won't get that.
1. GGG
2. Stevenson
3. B-HOP
4. Kovalev

Even if floyd took him up on his offer an meet him at 160, Ward would probably only get somewhere upwards 8 to 10. Saying that, keep winning and make 2 per fight. Better then losing and making 500K

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If he got paid $2MM to face Rodriguez, I bet he makes more against the light heavyweights.

Ward just isn't interesting enough inside or outside the ring to be built up into a PPV star. Couple this with the fact that there's nobody at 168 who is PPVable (apart from Chavez Junior who doesn't want to fight him) and Ward doesn't want to move up and fight Kovalev or Stevenson. Things may change if Chavez beats Vera and Bika and has a title however expecting Chavez to hold it together for that period of time and then agreeing a split with Ward is a tall order.

Stevenson and Kovalev might have a barnburner and create another potential PPV opportunity for Ward. But then if Stevenson wins he probably won't want to leave Canada to fight Ward so that fight might not get made. If Kovalev wins is he going to be a big enough name to sell a PPV?

Ward is after big paydays but the big paydays out there would come against guys like Chavez or Stevenson who would be beltholders and easily the biggest part of the draw. Ward would have to take the short end of the purse and he's convinced he's a superstar just nobody noticed yet.

Here's the thing. GGG has stated that he intends on remaining at 160 for now. If he stays at 160 for the remainder of the year, he will not face Ward. There aren't any viable opponents for Ward at 168. So, really, Ward has no option but to move up.

FINAL POST :)

Say what you want, boxing or fighting, avoiding or holding, etc... No matter what it is, it's boring.

Bottom line, if he was more exciting and people wanted to watch him, they'd push him out there faster than a 2lb baby from a 10lb vagina!

But they won't push him because he is a boring fighter to watch.

Thanks for coming, you can all leave the thread now.

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

FINAL POST :)

Say what you want, boxing or fighting, avoiding or holding, etc... No matter what it is, it's boring.

Bottom line, if he was more exciting and people wanted to watch him, they'd push him out there faster than a 2lb baby from a 10lb vagina!

But they won't push him because he is a boring fighter to watch.

Thanks for coming, you can all leave the thread now.

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Why would a thread be wrapped up with such a weak, intellectually-devoid statement?

The fact that Floyd Mayweather is the #1 draw in boxing completely destroys your logic.

There are TONS of fighters who are more exciting than Floyd. His style generally fits into what you described as boring fighting. Add also the fact that he isn't a big puncher and rarely KO's anyone.

Floyd got himself out there into the public consciousness and became a household name. People know who Floyd is, and they are emotionally invested in him (whether it's to see him win or get KTFO). That's the big thing: emotional investment. When your favorite football/hockey/soccer/basketball/ect team is playing, you don't care if it's not the most exciting game. You care about the competition and cheering on your team, because you're emotionally invested.

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Originally Posted by Beanflicker

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

FINAL POST :)

Say what you want, boxing or fighting, avoiding or holding, etc... No matter what it is, it's boring.

Bottom line, if he was more exciting and people wanted to watch him, they'd push him out there faster than a 2lb baby from a 10lb vagina!

But they won't push him because he is a boring fighter to watch.

Thanks for coming, you can all leave the thread now.

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Why would a thread be wrapped up with such a weak, intellectually-devoid statement?

The fact that Floyd Mayweather is the #1 draw in boxing completely destroys your logic.

There are TONS of fighters who are more exciting than Floyd. His style generally fits into what you described as boring fighting. Add also the fact that he isn't a big puncher and rarely KO's anyone.

Floyd got himself out there into the public consciousness and became a household name. People know who Floyd is, and they are emotionally invested in him (whether it's to see him win or get KTFO). That's the big thing: emotional investment. When your favorite football/hockey/soccer/basketball/ect team is playing, you don't care if it's not the most exciting game. You care about the competition and cheering on your team, because you're emotionally invested.

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Floyd makes you wanna watch him though, his personality.

Ward has the personality of a log.

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Originally Posted by Beanflicker

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Originally Posted by Vendettos

FINAL POST :)

Say what you want, boxing or fighting, avoiding or holding, etc... No matter what it is, it's boring.

Bottom line, if he was more exciting and people wanted to watch him, they'd push him out there faster than a 2lb baby from a 10lb vagina!

But they won't push him because he is a boring fighter to watch.

Thanks for coming, you can all leave the thread now.

---

Why would a thread be wrapped up with such a weak, intellectually-devoid statement?

The fact that Floyd Mayweather is the #1 draw in boxing completely destroys your logic.

There are TONS of fighters who are more exciting than Floyd. His style generally fits into what you described as boring fighting. Add also the fact that he isn't a big puncher and rarely KO's anyone.

Floyd got himself out there into the public consciousness and became a household name. People know who Floyd is, and they are emotionally invested in him (whether it's to see him win or get KTFO). That's the big thing: emotional investment. When your favorite football/hockey/soccer/basketball/ect team is playing, you don't care if it's not the most exciting game. You care about the competition and cheering on your team, because you're emotionally invested.

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there is a vast difference in styles between Floyd and ward

floyds hits and doesn't get hit and he does very little holding along the way, he stands in front of his man and avoids punches and hits back

ward hits and smothers, call it technically brilliant if you want, theres still a lot of smothering going on

and I agree with @Vendettos the plank, his personality doesn't help either

HBO wants cavemen its obvious. It's why the openly state 'we are getting out of heavyweight business' and mock Wlad on live tv, essentially tell Rigo to go get back on the raft and they don't have the time etc. What about Lara v Trout stinking out the joint. Meanwhile Lampley has a Stonehenge like hard on while watching Mago and Glen Tapia get damn near beat within one inch of life and career. It's a two way street and Hbo more and more dumbs down fan appeal to the point of Slingblade. Ward has grown on me and isn't a pure backseat boxer like made out. He's actually very crafty in an old school way and it was ironic watching Rodriquez resort to fouls and repeated warning while being methodically beat up.

If I was a promoter, I wouldnt let ward anywhere near my office..

He's very boring and has no personality either.. this is business and he is not marketable..

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Originally Posted by Spicoli

HBO wants cavemen its obvious. It's why the openly state 'we are getting out of heavyweight business' and mock Wlad on live tv, essentially tell Rigo to go get back on the raft and they don't have the time etc. What about Lara v Trout stinking out the joint. Meanwhile Lampley has a Stonehenge like hard on while watching Mago and Glen Tapia get damn near beat within one inch of life and career. It's a two way street and Hbo more and more dumbs down fan appeal to the point of Slingblade. Ward has grown on me and isn't a pure backseat boxer like made out. He's actually very crafty in an old school way and it was ironic watching Rodriquez resort to fouls and repeated warning while being methodically beat up.

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Yes they only wanna show brutal fights, but it's the or nothing, what would you rather have?

At least the uk showcase all their talent, so I don't have too many issues with American TV, because I don't watch it all that often.

Forget packaging the fighters needs to have a personality and charisma which Ward does not have. He is not a monster puncher but he is the best at his weight. He gets what he deserves and if he wants more then he does have to move out of his comfort zone. That means going up to light heavy.

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Originally Posted by Master

Forget packaging the fighters needs to have a personality and charisma which Ward does not have. He is not a monster puncher but he is the best at his weight. He gets what he deserves and if he wants more then he does have to move out of his comfort zone. That means going up to light heavy.

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I think the key with that is his comfort zone. He fights at a weight he's dominated and always in Oakland. If he wants more than he should challange himself more at a different weight or different place. He's obviously got the ability to handle it.

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Originally Posted by IamInuit

Its bad enough that fighters have one slave owner but two. These pseudo omnipotent broadcasters and especially HBO are deciding who fights each other. Sadly they want to go back to wearing togas and throwing bread around.

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Ward is screwed, he is not going to change the way he fights, stop talking about Christianity, take SOG off his trunks, start chasing women or drugs. He's going to keep trying to be as decent as he can.

I am not a huge fan of Ward's fighting style or religious talk (and i am a Oakland native!). But he is one of the 3 best fighters in the world right now...along with Floyd and Rigo. All three of them are technicians (with Ward, much like B-hop, being a skilled/cagey fighter who knows all the tricks in the book). But only Floyd is marketable because of his business acumen and brash personality. Lets not forget...if it wasn't for the fact that Floyd generates the biggest paydays for his opponents...his style and ability would scare off most opponents. This just points to the fact that boxing, like most other professional sports, is as much (if not more) a business than anything else. Lets see if the tide turns a bit for Ward IF he is able to fight guys like Kovalev, Chavez jnr., GGG, Stevenson, etc. But for most these guys, the risk/reward isn't high enough to face a guy like Ward (same problem for Rigo).

Ward needs a fight that can make him fight... Floyd had Corrales and Emmanuel Burton... Ward needs a starter....

Can we stop putting floyd and ward ij the same sentence though? Lol as somebody mentioned, their styles are totally different. Floyd makes you miss and he makes you pay.. he stays within punching range and boxes your ass off without clinching and all the other bs to make up for lack of skills.. he does everything correctly as a boxer and unlike ward, a lot of people do find him exciting and even to those who are thrilled, they stiill admire his work..

Fuck andre ward. He holds escessively like ricky hatton and has as much personality as Cotto which puts him in that wood status.

And that bible thumping nerd image is rubbish and shit aint gonna sell in boxing. Boxing fans wanna see fists flying, period. We dont give a shit about what he talks about with god or moses dividing rivers amd shit.

Andre wadd is rubbish

Former Baltimore Ravens Linebacker Ray Lewis talked about God all the time....
:D

Sports are entertainment that the people pay their hard-earned money for, so maybe ward should try focusing on being more entertaining and exciting in his sporting events instead of focusing solely on winning in the shittiest, dirtiest, borefests in world-class Boxing today. The only guy that managed to become a Draw despite wall-to-wall borefests is mayweather, and that's only because he started getting arrested for woman-beating and he started spewing loads and loads of pure bull$#!t that the press ate up.

ward is the one person that i cannot understand the hate against. he is a class act, an awesome fighter, and has fought the best. personally, i love watching him fight. the rodriguez fight was great. if you didnt like that fight then i question your motives. i would assume that you choose to dislike ward fights. he isnt like rigo to where he just stays on the outside and jabs and the opponent does nothing. ward lands shots and throws power shots. he is a master boxer. he is potentially better than mayweather but mayweather is still #1 p4p because of legacy and he still hasnt lost or come close to it. ward hasnt had a close fight against any top fighter he has faced yet people still want to complain about him.

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Originally Posted by powerpuncher

ward is the one person that i cannot understand the hate against. he is a class act, an awesome fighter, and has fought the best. personally, i love watching him fight. the rodriguez fight was great. if you didnt like that fight then i question your motives. i would assume that you choose to dislike ward fights. he isnt like rigo to where he just stays on the outside and jabs and the opponent does nothing. ward lands shots and throws power shots. he is a master boxer. he is potentially better than mayweather but mayweather is still #1 p4p because of legacy and he still hasnt lost or come close to it. ward hasnt had a close fight against any top fighter he has faced yet people still want to complain about him.

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He is one of the best to ever grace the sport, even at this stage. What has to happen is that he needs better promotions to make himself more attractive. Sure, he isn't exciting- i.e., doesn't get hit a lot, doesn't throw 5 punch combo's every 10 seconds and also doesn't talk a lot of crap, but he can be sold as what he is: A class act that is virtually unbeatable.

What he needs to do, and HBO needs to spend some money on this, is give him access to the mainstream. Floyd forced himself into mainstream and he doesn't even have any endorsement deals- Nike, Fila, etc...

Andre needs to go on the day time talk shows, night time talk shows, guest appear in roles in television and movies as himself, do the youtube thing, invite people into all access into his camp and start to become more regular on the boxing telecasts as he is doing.... there is a lot of things despite his fighting style that would cause people to wanna see him.

Ward needs better PR... as much as he does fight promotion. I think we get that little issue twisted- fight promotions and public relations are two separate issues.

Floyd is a MASTER at PR. He is a master now because of his personal lifestyle that clashed with his amazing ability, he had to learn how to handle the media. And, by extension, he learned how to tamp them down- but he also, by default, found out and knows how to whip them into a frenzy.

Andre can pull it off in a clean, way. Lookit Tim Tebow. As clean as they come, but everyone wanted a piece and he couldn't play a lick of QB.

And there are countless other sports stars that ain't gat spit in the ring, but made it due to the extra.

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Originally Posted by powerpuncher

ward is the one person that i cannot understand the hate against. he is a class act, an awesome fighter, and has fought the best. personally, i love watching him fight. the rodriguez fight was great. if you didnt like that fight then i question your motives. i would assume that you choose to dislike ward fights. he isnt like rigo to where he just stays on the outside and jabs and the opponent does nothing. ward lands shots and throws power shots. he is a master boxer. he is potentially better than mayweather but mayweather is still #1 p4p because of legacy and he still hasnt lost or come close to it. ward hasnt had a close fight against any top fighter he has faced yet people still want to complain about him.

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i havent seen the rodriguez fights and only highlights of the Dawson fight so i cant really comment on those two

and to be honest his style has imrpoved, if you watch the kessler fight that was very frustrating and he did a lot of smothering and got away with a lot of roughness which should really have been stopped

watch the froch fight tho and he had refined his style a lot

his style was still based on smothering tho and wasnt very entertaining

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Originally Posted by ykdadamaja

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Originally Posted by powerpuncher

ward is the one person that i cannot understand the hate against. he is a class act, an awesome fighter, and has fought the best. personally, i love watching him fight. the rodriguez fight was great. if you didnt like that fight then i question your motives. i would assume that you choose to dislike ward fights. he isnt like rigo to where he just stays on the outside and jabs and the opponent does nothing. ward lands shots and throws power shots. he is a master boxer. he is potentially better than mayweather but mayweather is still #1 p4p because of legacy and he still hasnt lost or come close to it. ward hasnt had a close fight against any top fighter he has faced yet people still want to complain about him.

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He is one of the best to ever grace the sport, even at this stage. What has to happen is that he needs better promotions to make himself more attractive. Sure, he isn't exciting- i.e., doesn't get hit a lot, doesn't throw 5 punch combo's every 10 seconds and also doesn't talk a lot of crap, but he can be sold as what he is: A class act that is virtually unbeatable.

What he needs to do, and HBO needs to spend some money on this, is give him access to the mainstream. Floyd forced himself into mainstream and he doesn't even have any endorsement deals- Nike, Fila, etc...

Andre needs to go on the day time talk shows, night time talk shows, guest appear in roles in television and movies as himself, do the youtube thing, invite people into all access into his camp and start to become more regular on the boxing telecasts as he is doing.... there is a lot of things despite his fighting style that would cause people to wanna see him.

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Dribble. Rigo has a far better skill set, as does Floyd.