Andre Ward speaks on his lack of fights!

[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.

[Silkeyjoe]

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.

Its up to the refs to enforce the laws. Athletes will cheat if they think they will get away with it. Its the same in all sports.

[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.

Its up to the refs to enforce the laws. Athletes will cheat if they think they will get away with it. Its the same in all sports.

Yes and while he continues to cheat he will be in the shadows because he keeps turning the fans off.

[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

[erics44]

mind you watching the first game of the world cup last night, that was a massive fix

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

Yeah I think beanflicker is missing the point on boxing being a show.

Titles and such are secondary now as they always have been.

[J_Undisputed]

I'm not a Brit and I cant stand watching Ward. I'd feel the same if i lived in Oakland. Hell i'd feel the same if i was living in his basement. I've been a boxing fan for decades. It's not his wooden persona or his reluctance to be as d0uchey as mayweather. There are plenty of guys like that all across fight sports...no personality, no interesting quotes, no smacktalk. Hell some of them can't even speak the English language, so they really aren't given the opportunity. However when they get in the ring noone cares, because they make their statements there.
The issue with Ward, is that once upon a time he tried to be the next roy jones jr. He didn't have the reflexes or the athleticism for it and got dropped a couple of times. I applaud him on adjusting his style to fix those kind of errors, however rather than sure up his defense or sharpen his punches or speed up his footwork, he decided he just didnt want to risk any of it and adapted a spoilers style. I didnt have as many objections when he fought Dawson and ko'd him. It was a more open style and he threw counters and punched in combos. So why not fight everyone like that? Because Dawson was ripe, possibly drained and carried his hands low and couldn't take the punches.Everyone else represents too much risk. Now if we consider him a master technician for exploiting the rules and the refs presence with the punch grab smother and hit on the break, doesn't that also make John Ruiz a master Tactician for doing the same?

[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.