Ward !

[IamInuit]

Forget about that fight for a moment. This is what his own promoter Goossen said afterward;

Ward needs someone “fresh and dangerous.”

Tyson threw out the possibility of a fight with Stevenson or Kovalev saying;

“They could fight at 170,” he said. “Ward goes up two, they come down five. Why not?”

Wards reply;

“I’m at a stage of my career that it’s – whatever,” he said at the post-fight press conference, adding that he’d love to take on Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., in a pay-per-view fight.

Followed by;

“I’m working on my exit strategy right now,”

Seriously?

[J_Undisputed]

Wards not a fighter at heart. A technician yes, a boxer yes, not not a fighter. It shows in his words, his style and to his dismay, his paycheck. To address a few points already made in this thread...

Mayweather and his flamboyancy aren't ruining it for ward.Ward is ruining it for ward. Floyd fights oversized guys at the top of their division and nullifies them with skill, reflexes and some head games and recently catch weights. Roy jones was a safety first fighter too that did also took on bigger guys. To see a guy who is so far skilled above their competition, that they can afford some eccentric behavior will draw viewers. To see a guy like ward, who was still light years above the flailing rodriguez, still have to resort to holding and arm bars is less than impressive. Its a byproduct of how he fights but it doesn't win him any style points.

I found it rather funny that the fight was so sloppy in the first few rounds, that the ref decided to make it the Jack reiss show. Personally, rodriguez going crazy on ward and the ref was one of the few things that kept me awake. Ward was in control and was landing more cleanly and impressively after Rodriguez further stopped giving a crap about winning or even fighting.

As for ward needing someone fresh and dangerous. Its true, bit the prerequisite is that they not be stronger and bigger than ward as that hurts his chances of success on the inside and tying his opponents up. Ward looked a lot better later in the fight when rodriguez's energy and hopes dropped and rodriguez wasn't as wild on the inside. Ward's still feels its everyone else that has to make concessions.. come to his weight, fight for his belts, wait till he suggests drug testing etc. He's believing his own hype at this point. His aspirations to fight a lesser skilled, bloated and almost sure to be weight drained chavez is ward picking the easiest fight for the biggest money and is pretty transparent. His "exit strategy" will be the same despite the fact that half of the boxing fans not believing he's actually arrived yet.

[powerpuncher]

some of you people are so ridiculous. for one, it was a great fight. what more did you want from ward? he threw a lot of punches and landed a lot. does he need to intentionally get hit so that it can be more exciting? also, rodriguez was being very dirty by grabbing ward and pushing him against the ropes. grabbing is one thing but you cant bull rush somebody. one more thing, maybe some of you dont know but hitting during a clinch is 100% legal! thats why refs will say fight out of the clinch. i actually think that ward is very smart for doing it. most fighters dont do that. they clinch and wait for the ref to break them up. so if the ref doesnt break you up, you can keep on swinging.

i feel like the hate for ward has become higher than the hate for mayweather. everybody always talked about how mayweather ducks everybody and has never fought anybody good. and now everybody says that mayweather has fought top quality opponents and has even gone up in weight to do it just to discredit ward. just enjoy a great fighter while he is still here. i dont understand people who like boxing that cant enjoy a master in the ring like ward or mayweather. if that were the case, i wouldnt even watch boxing. yes, i do like the toe to toe fights, but i also love watching great fighters outclass their opponent.

[Kirkland Laing]

Wards not a fighter at heart. A technician yes, a boxer yes, not not a fighter. It shows in his words, his style and to his dismay, his paycheck. To address a few points already made in this thread...

Mayweather and his flamboyancy aren't ruining it for ward.Ward is ruining it for ward. Floyd fights oversized guys at the top of their division and nullifies them with skill, reflexes and some head games and recently catch weights. Roy jones was a safety first fighter too that did also took on bigger guys. To see a guy who is so far skilled above their competition, that they can afford some eccentric behavior will draw viewers. To see a guy like ward, who was still light years above the flailing rodriguez, still have to resort to holding and arm bars is less than impressive. Its a byproduct of how he fights but it doesn't win him any style points.

I found it rather funny that the fight was so sloppy in the first few rounds, that the ref decided to make it the Jack reiss show. Personally, rodriguez going crazy on ward and the ref was one of the few things that kept me awake. Ward was in control and was landing more cleanly and impressively after Rodriguez further stopped giving a crap about winning or even fighting.

As for ward needing someone fresh and dangerous. Its true, bit the prerequisite is that they not be stronger and bigger than ward as that hurts his chances of success on the inside and tying his opponents up. Ward looked a lot better later in the fight when rodriguez's energy and hopes dropped and rodriguez wasn't as wild on the inside. Ward's still feels its everyone else that has to make concessions.. come to his weight, fight for his belts, wait till he suggests drug testing etc. He's believing his own hype at this point. His aspirations to fight a lesser skilled, bloated and almost sure to be weight drained chavez is ward picking the easiest fight for the biggest money and is pretty transparent. His "exit strategy" will be the same despite the fact that half of the boxing fans not believing he's actually arrived yet.

This post is excellent apart from criticism of the ref. If he hadn't did what he did then a seriously ugly fight could have got even worse and maybe unmanageable. He did grandstand when he deducted the points but he'd just taken a glancing left hook and he said he took his time so he could clear his head and get his bearings back. I've got no reason to disbelieve him, they do say it's the punches you don't see coming that are the ones that get you and he definitely wasn't expecting to take that left hook.