Andre Ward speaks on his lack of fights!

[zhubin]

Andre doesn't possess a style of fighting that sells tickets...but unfortunately for him...he also does not possess a personality (Floyd) to sell tickets either. And i can tell you from watching his career up close...the guy just doesn't want to promote himself outside of the bay area. He really makes no effort. Maybe he is ok with that. if he isn't...he has to shake things up for himself.

Most guys aren't comfortable playing a "character" like Floyd, Haye, ect do. And most guys can't pull it off without look transparent, even if they wanted to.

The fact is, being in the top 3 best should be enough. The fact that it isn't spells a lot of trouble for boxing. It means that boxing is no longer about sport, it's about spectacle, and boxing IS NOT going to out-spectacle the UFC in the long run. Boxing is not going to compete in the "blood" game with guys getting kicked and elbowed in the head.

I am not disagreeing with you. The "casual" sports fan would rather see two guys pummel each other in a brawl. I am not a fan of it...but that is unfortunately the reality. Of course Andre can't transform himself into a Floyd like personality. But what he CAN do is make a better effort to promote himself nationally/internationally. You can't just sit around Oakland and expect people to come knocking on your door...regardless of how skilled he may be. At the end of the day....maybe he doesn't care. Maybe he is content being a god loving nice guy with a non crowd pleasing style. But if he isn't happy with his current situation...he is the only one that can try to change it.

[Beanflicker]

I just don't know what he can do himself personally. It takes a lot of money and backing to get a guy over. HBO invested HEAVILY in Floyd with all the 24/7 specials and promotion for the mega fights. In turn, Floyd expanded on that with appearances everywhere that made him a household name.

Floyd was in the exact same boat as Ward is now for years. He was under a promoter (Arum) who had no faith in his selling potential and was too busy devoting all his energy into DLH. Floyd was ducked because he was a super talent with no name value, so he couldn't get big fights because the big names wanted to fight other big names and didn't want to take a huge risk fighting Floyd for little reward.

It sucks. Andre is taking the right step now by trying to get away from Goossen, because they have proved to be absolutely USELESS in building Ward up.

[ross]

Fuck me, I bet Mayorga could generate more viewers for a match with Golovkin than Ward could generate against Kovalev.

You have to sell yourself. As a pro boxer you are selling yourself to the fans. Tyson Fury is doing it now. You have to promote yourself. On top of being a good salesman you have to have a good product.

Now Mayorga may not have won all his fights but he certainly entertained in the build up and the fight itself, you always get value for money no matter who hes fighting.

Ward on the other hand cant sell fuck all and if he did, people would ask for their money back because he promised them a sublime display of fighting skill when all they ended up getting was a load of holding, mauling, elbowing and head butting.

[Spicoli]

Man. Maybe I'm off the cliff but I actually like Ward and just wished he would get his arse in the ring I think he has that gnarly grind and gritty style that you love in spots, but want to spray paint the screen black in others. I understand frustration and injury for him but you can't just go out and pop off about "if I were to fight Kovalev and win...then what" and expect someone to keep a straight face. Just start with fighting...someone. He took a bad rap on last fight as he embarrassed a decent challenger and had the tables turned. It was Rodriquez going dirty and ugly. He's letting it all pass him by as 175 is in a mix with Stevenson blowing out a top mutual victim, even Hopkins staying more active and unifying and at 168 Froch has banked two of his most impressive victories destroying Bute and Groves 2. Ward is a fookin craft master but if he wants to fall back on "then what" he can blame himself. That kinda tells me Kovalev has already sent him a welcome to the neighborhood basket..

[Beanflicker]

You have to sell yourself. As a pro boxer you are selling yourself to the fans. Tyson Fury is doing it now. You have to promote yourself. On top of being a good salesman you have to have a good product.

Yeah but what about people who don't want to or can't play a character? The fact that guys need to be actors as well to get paid is pretty sad.

And again, being a top 2 or 3 athlete would constitute having a "good product" in any other sport.

And people argue that boxing isn't a dying sport. Please

[erics44]

You have to sell yourself. As a pro boxer you are selling yourself to the fans. Tyson Fury is doing it now. You have to promote yourself. On top of being a good salesman you have to have a good product.

Yeah but what about people who don't want to or can't play a character? The fact that guys need to be actors as well to get paid is pretty sad.

And again, being a top 2 or 3 athlete would constitute having a "good product" in any other sport.

And people argue that boxing isn't a dying sport. Please

not really, in most other sports you don't have to sell yourself to get a game


in football spain are frustrating to watch sometimes, not the most exiting of teams anyway but other teams now have to do something about their own playing style to try and take spain off their peak


boxing is different, in this case ward looks unbeatable at the minute at his own weight, yet froch (for example) can make a lot more money fighting a number of other fighters, he doesn't need ward


I really think ward has very little to offer, the only thing being that he is very good at what he does


and what he does isn't very interesting, I watch him fight and think yeah great, he can land more punches over 12 rounds than the other geezer

[powerpuncher]

i bet if ward were from across the pond then you brits would be singing his praises instead of hating on him for easily beating froch with one hand.

[cyclone]

i bet if ward were from across the pond then you brits would be singing his praises instead of hating on him for easily beating froch with one hand.

Most definately.

The way they praise trash like Calzhage makes you realize how much of a God Ward would be if he were unfortunate enough to be a British fighter.

[Beanflicker]

I really think ward has very little to offer, the only thing being that he is very good at what he does

...which is boxing and winning fights.

I've never seen Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, or any other top athlete have to play a character and act a fool to get signed to the big leagues. People flocked to see those guys because they had talent that was off the charts, and teams signed them because they helped them win.

Nobody shit on Tiger Woods when he was destroying the competition in tournaments where it wasn't even close. Nobody told him "hey why don't you try to putt with your 9 iron to make it more interesting." I've never heard anyone ever tell Peyton Manning that, when winning in the last minute of the game, he should go for a hail mary pass to run up the board instead of taking a knee and running down the clock, because it would be more entertaining.

In all these sports, there's no expectation for an athlete other than to win the game. People flock to see the sport played on the highest level. Andre Ward is boxing on the highest level. He's the best guy in the sport now not named Mayweather. He's whipped almost all the best fighters at his weight class, and his weight class is beaming with talent right now.

So to suggest that he doesn't have a "good product" or that he should be out there playing a character is just sad. It shows that boxing is more pro wrestling than it is a sport.

[ross]

I really think ward has very little to offer, the only thing being that he is very good at what he does

...which is boxing and winning fights.

I've never seen Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, or any other top athlete have to play a character and act a fool to get signed to the big leagues. People flocked to see those guys because they had talent that was off the charts, and teams signed them because they helped them win.

Nobody shit on Tiger Woods when he was destroying the competition in tournaments where it wasn't even close. Nobody told him "hey why don't you try to putt with your 9 iron to make it more interesting." I've never heard anyone ever tell Peyton Manning that, when winning in the last minute of the game, he should go for a hail mary pass to run up the board instead of taking a knee and running down the clock, because it would be more entertaining.

In all these sports, there's no expectation for an athlete other than to win the game. People flock to see the sport played on the highest level. Andre Ward is boxing on the highest level. He's the best guy in the sport now not named Mayweather. He's whipped almost all the best fighters at his weight class, and his weight class is beaming with talent right now.

So to suggest that he doesn't have a "good product" or that he should be out there playing a character is just sad. It shows that boxing is more pro wrestling than it is a sport.

Its the cheating that makes his fights boring. He mauls, holds, elbows and headbuts to slow the action.

Tiger woods doesnt pick the ball up and place it in the hole with his hand. He doesnt need to cheat. Its Wards cheating that is the main problem.

[erics44]

I really think ward has very little to offer, the only thing being that he is very good at what he does

...which is boxing and winning fights.

I've never seen Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, or any other top athlete have to play a character and act a fool to get signed to the big leagues. People flocked to see those guys because they had talent that was off the charts, and teams signed them because they helped them win.

Nobody shit on Tiger Woods when he was destroying the competition in tournaments where it wasn't even close. Nobody told him "hey why don't you try to putt with your 9 iron to make it more interesting." I've never heard anyone ever tell Peyton Manning that, when winning in the last minute of the game, he should go for a hail mary pass to run up the board instead of taking a knee and running down the clock, because it would be more entertaining.

In all these sports, there's no expectation for an athlete other than to win the game. People flock to see the sport played on the highest level. Andre Ward is boxing on the highest level. He's the best guy in the sport now not named Mayweather. He's whipped almost all the best fighters at his weight class, and his weight class is beaming with talent right now.

So to suggest that he doesn't have a "good product" or that he should be out there playing a character is just sad. It shows that boxing is more pro wrestling than it is a sport.

again tho tiger woods and the basket ball teams didn't need to promote themselves to get a game


in boxing you have to


and as hard as it is to admit boxing is more pro wrestling than it is a sport in some cases, sven ottke, wlad klit for example

[ruthless rocco]

I really think ward has very little to offer, the only thing being that he is very good at what he does

...which is boxing and winning fights.

I've never seen Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, or any other top athlete have to play a character and act a fool to get signed to the big leagues. People flocked to see those guys because they had talent that was off the charts, and teams signed them because they helped them win.

Nobody shit on Tiger Woods when he was destroying the competition in tournaments where it wasn't even close. Nobody told him "hey why don't you try to putt with your 9 iron to make it more interesting." I've never heard anyone ever tell Peyton Manning that, when winning in the last minute of the game, he should go for a hail mary pass to run up the board instead of taking a knee and running down the clock, because it would be more entertaining.

In all these sports, there's no expectation for an athlete other than to win the game. People flock to see the sport played on the highest level. Andre Ward is boxing on the highest level. He's the best guy in the sport now not named Mayweather. He's whipped almost all the best fighters at his weight class, and his weight class is beaming with talent right now.

So to suggest that he doesn't have a "good product" or that he should be out there playing a character is just sad. It shows that boxing is more pro wrestling than it is a sport.

Jordan, Gretzky, Manning, Woods didn't have to break the rules to achieve their dominance in their respective sports. Woods didn't stand have an air can to blast when other golfers were teeing off. Jordan didn't trip opponents to steal the ball. Manning didn't need to rely on the hometown refs looking the other way at the facemask or jersey grabbing to have a successful offense. These guys were all great because they had the natural talents to be exceptional AND played within the rules.

Ward doesn't have that. Ward is more like the Sean Avery or the Ron Hextall of boxing. Boxing at the highest level means you follow the rules and succeed based what you do within the rules not what dirty tactics you can get away with because the refs turn a blind eye to the local fighter.

[IamInuit]

You have to sell yourself. As a pro boxer you are selling yourself to the fans. Tyson Fury is doing it now. You have to promote yourself. On top of being a good salesman you have to have a good product.

Yeah but what about people who don't want to or can't play a character? The fact that guys need to be actors as well to get paid is pretty sad.

And again, being a top 2 or 3 athlete would constitute having a "good product" in any other sport.

And people argue that boxing isn't a dying sport. Please

Indeed and this is comical. I think Wards Ozzie and Harriet routine is hurl worthy. I think he's a smug, self absorbed momma's boy who thinks boxing should be lining up at his door. I think he's been milking the S6 and needs to purchase a personality and he's the kind of guy I'd probably take a swing at if I had to spend time around him.

He's also one of if not the most technically savvy boxers on the planet and I have no desire to see him go full on Jake Lamotta to satisfy the dumb ass ppv public. Nor should he have to. That idea is as dumb as that stupid blue light FOX put on the puck so dumb hockey fans could follow the damn game.

Oh yeah and I'd also like to see Ward doing an impression of plywood flooring. Laid out. I'd like to see him knocked out more then any other fighter. That is not relevant to the subject matter.

[cyclone]

You have to sell yourself. As a pro boxer you are selling yourself to the fans. Tyson Fury is doing it now. You have to promote yourself. On top of being a good salesman you have to have a good product.

Yeah but what about people who don't want to or can't play a character? The fact that guys need to be actors as well to get paid is pretty sad.

And again, being a top 2 or 3 athlete would constitute having a "good product" in any other sport.

And people argue that boxing isn't a dying sport. Please

Indeed and this is comical. I think Wards Ozzie and Harriet routine is hurl worthy. I think he's a smug, self absorbed momma's boy who thinks boxing should be lining up at his door. I think he's been milking the S6 and needs to purchase a personality and he's the kind of guy I'd probably take a swing at if I had to spend time around him.

He's also one of if not the most technically savvy boxers on the planet and I have no desire to see him go full on Jake Lamotta to satisfy the dumb ass ppv public. Nor should he have to. That idea is as dumb as that stupid blue light FOX put on the puck so dumb hockey fans could follow the damn game.

Oh yeah and I'd also like to see Ward doing an impression of plywood flooring. Laid out. I'd like to see him knocked out more then any other fighter. That is not relevant to the subject matter.

What a bunch or hate-filled rubbish.

He easilly beat your best in Froch..now all you have left are bitter rants?

While you're waiting for him to get layed out...be sure to hold your breath

[IamInuit]

You have to sell yourself. As a pro boxer you are selling yourself to the fans. Tyson Fury is doing it now. You have to promote yourself. On top of being a good salesman you have to have a good product.

Yeah but what about people who don't want to or can't play a character? The fact that guys need to be actors as well to get paid is pretty sad.

And again, being a top 2 or 3 athlete would constitute having a "good product" in any other sport.

And people argue that boxing isn't a dying sport. Please

Indeed and this is comical. I think Wards Ozzie and Harriet routine is hurl worthy. I think he's a smug, self absorbed momma's boy who thinks boxing should be lining up at his door. I think he's been milking the S6 and needs to purchase a personality and he's the kind of guy I'd probably take a swing at if I had to spend time around him.

He's also one of if not the most technically savvy boxers on the planet and I have no desire to see him go full on Jake Lamotta to satisfy the dumb ass ppv public. Nor should he have to. That idea is as dumb as that stupid blue light FOX put on the puck so dumb hockey fans could follow the damn game.

Oh yeah and I'd also like to see Ward doing an impression of plywood flooring. Laid out. I'd like to see him knocked out more then any other fighter. That is not relevant to the subject matter.

What a bunch or hate-filled rubbish.

He easilly beat your best in Froch..now all you have left are bitter rants?

While you're waiting for him to get layed out...be sure to hold your breath

Read the thread you dumb ass troll and quit following me around like a lost puppy.