Andre Ward- better than Floyd Mayweather?

[Master]

I swear I'm not trolling or trying to hate on Floyd, but I have to respectfully disagree with u on Floyd having a similar r comparable resume. Even at this point, I can see an argument that Ward has beaten superior competition. Froch, Kessler, Abraham, Bika, Green and Dawson is a phenomenal line up. Especially considering each guys prime and standing at the time Ward beat them.

Andre has beaten more quality opposition? I don't think so.

People like to shit on Floyd's opposition but it really is underrated. You have to consider how good/respected the fighters were at the time.

For instance, we mention Arthur Abraham for Ward's credit, but in reality he was coming into the fight 1-2 in his last 3 including a complete domination by Froch.

If you think Froch, Kessler, Abraham, Bika, Green and Dawson put Andre above Floyd you're either crazy or just hating.

At welterweight Floyd has beaten far less superior opposition to Ward at super middle.

[ykdadamaja]

Andre Ward doesn't think he's better than Floyd, he's taken things from him and is quick to admit that. I think he's more comparable to a Hopkins myself, he doesn't have great raw speed or power compared to anyone he fights but is a supreme ring general. If you take Floyd after about the same time in the game as Ward, their resumes are pretty comparable I'd say.

I was going to type more but then I remembered who made this thread.

I swear I'm not trolling or trying to hate on Floyd, but I have to respectfully disagree with u on Floyd having a similar r comparable resume. Even at this point, I can see an argument that Ward has beaten superior competition. Froch, Kessler, Abraham, Bika, Green and Dawson is a phenomenal line up. Especially considering each guys prime and standing at the time Ward beat them.

... and Ward has GGG, Quillin, Chavez Jr. and both Direll's on his radar.

[Beanflicker]

I swear I'm not trolling or trying to hate on Floyd, but I have to respectfully disagree with u on Floyd having a similar r comparable resume. Even at this point, I can see an argument that Ward has beaten superior competition. Froch, Kessler, Abraham, Bika, Green and Dawson is a phenomenal line up. Especially considering each guys prime and standing at the time Ward beat them.

Andre has beaten more quality opposition? I don't think so.

People like to shit on Floyd's opposition but it really is underrated. You have to consider how good/respected the fighters were at the time.

For instance, we mention Arthur Abraham for Ward's credit, but in reality he was coming into the fight 1-2 in his last 3 including a complete domination by Froch.

If you think Froch, Kessler, Abraham, Bika, Green and Dawson put Andre above Floyd you're either crazy or just hating.

At welterweight Floyd has beaten far less superior opposition to Ward at super middle.

Ok I'll put you on the spot, or anyone else who wants to have a go (I suspect nobody will), explain to me exactly why guys like 43-0 Ricky Hatton, JMM (who beat the guy Floyd is supposedly ducking 3/4 times by my count), Shane Mosley (people will say was old, but was actually ranked higher at the time Floyd fought him than he had been since his back to back losses to Vernon Forrest), ect, are so much worse than Arthur Abraham, Carl Froch, Allan Green, Sakio Bika, ect?

Explain to me how an Arthur Abraham, Sakio Bika, or Allan Green is a much better fighter and much more of a challenge than a guy like Marcos Maidana, or even lets say a Sharmba Mitchell (who Manny Stewart, on a HBO broadcast, said he thought would beat Mayweather).

And while people will no doubt fault Floyd for fighting Ricky at WW instead of 140 (I've gone into great detail over the years about how utterly stupid and devoid of logic this is), I'm sure people will see no issue in Ward making Dawson starve/drain down to a weight he hadn't fought at in 6 or 7 years prior. That's boxing forum logic for you, though haha

[Beanflicker]

And when I say that I in no way want to diminish Ward, who is a fantastic boxer, but nobody in their right mind can compare him to Mayweather. It's just idiocy.

[mikeeod]

I swear I'm not trolling or trying to hate on Floyd, but I have to respectfully disagree with u on Floyd having a similar r comparable resume. Even at this point, I can see an argument that Ward has beaten superior competition. Froch, Kessler, Abraham, Bika, Green and Dawson is a phenomenal line up. Especially considering each guys prime and standing at the time Ward beat them.

Andre has beaten more quality opposition? I don't think so.

People like to shit on Floyd's opposition but it really is underrated. You have to consider how good/respected the fighters were at the time.

For instance, we mention Arthur Abraham for Ward's credit, but in reality he was coming into the fight 1-2 in his last 3 including a complete domination by Froch.

If you think Froch, Kessler, Abraham, Bika, Green and Dawson put Andre above Floyd you're either crazy or just hating.

At welterweight Floyd has beaten far less superior opposition to Ward at super middle.

Ok I'll put you on the spot, or anyone else who wants to have a go (I suspect nobody will), explain to me exactly why guys like 43-0 Ricky Hatton, JMM (who beat the guy Floyd is supposedly ducking 3/4 times by my count), Shane Mosley (people will say was old, but was actually ranked higher at the time Floyd fought him than he had been since his back to back losses to Vernon Forrest), ect, are so much worse than Arthur Abraham, Carl Froch, Allan Green, Sakio Bika, ect?

Explain to me how an Arthur Abraham, Sakio Bika, or Allan Green is a much better fighter and much more of a challenge than a guy like Marcos Maidana, or even lets say a Sharmba Mitchell (who Manny Stewart, on a HBO broadcast, said he thought would beat Mayweather).

And while people will no doubt fault Floyd for fighting Ricky at WW instead of 140 (I've gone into great detail over the years about how utterly stupid and devoid of logic this is), I'm sure people will see no issue in Ward making Dawson starve/drain down to a weight he hadn't fought at in 6 or 7 years prior. That's boxing forum logic for you, though haha

I will gladly explain it to you. Marquez: Came up two weight classes with no acclimation fights and Floyd didn't even make the contractual weight. The JMM that beat Manny was much better at 147 than the small piss drinker who fought Floyd. If you can't see that, it's only because you don't want to. Mosely: NOWHERE near the undefeated fighter who Forrest beat, and actually worse than the Mosely that Winky Wright dominated. Shane had hype coming off of his knockout of Tony Margarito, but when you look at Margarito's state of mind after being busted trying to cheat, its easy to see how that is an overrated win. Shane hadn't beaten anyone of significance in years and his last solid performance prior to Mayweather/Margarito was his loss to Cotto.

Sharmba Mitchell? Are you kidding?? This is where the Floyd lovers just lose all credibility. The guy who was destroyed by Kostya Tszyu YEARS before Floyd fought him and didn't have a significant win in years? But Manny Steward said he stood a chance at winning so that makes him the biggest challenge out there, right? I can easily say that Bika was tougher, at that point, than a has been Mitchell with a bad knee was. Not even close.

Floyd's best wins were Hatton, Chico and Castillo. All three were at their peaks when he beat them, and two were undefeated (I also remember Hatton and Chico being ranked P4P when Floyd fought them, but I may remember wrong). Castillo was a very dominant champ who had pretty much cleaned out the division by beating Johnston, Ceasar Bazan, Juan Lazcano and Joel Casameyor around the time Floyd beat him (although I feel Floyd lost the first fight). Kessler, Froch and Dawson are Ward's best wins to date. Both have proven their worth and class in fights vs. Abraham, Dirrell, Groves, Pascal, Bute, Calzaghe...etc. and Ward dominated both. Dawson was the lineal champ a weightclass up and coming off of his win over Hop (being the first fighter to convincingly beat Hop since Roy) and Ward destroyed him. Most likely ruined his career. While Hatton was undefeated and an impressive win, I don't feel that his one big win over Kostya puts him over Froch, who had multiple big wins prior to his loss to Ward. Chico was destroying guys and had a good win vs. Gainer, but I don't view him as being as dangerous or versatile as Kessler. Castillo was a beast, and an impressive win, but I feel that he beat Floyd in the first fight and Floyd didn't destroy him like Ward did to Dawson (who I feel was on Castillo's level when it comes to quality of opposition beaten but more athletic than Castillo was).

[beenKOed]

Why so much online abuse?

I imagine there would be a lot less online abuse if we were all meeting in a room to discuss these ridiculous threads you come up with.

Face to face? Are you sane? This is much better, no screaming, less foul language, nobody can say, "I didn't say that.", and everybody has a chance to be heard. Besides, I don't like spittle in my face. LOLs

[Spicoli]

Honestly I don't think heaping Green in as a massive credential for Ward does him any favors. Bit of a reach and I don't think Green was the same fighter after Miranda cold cocked him late and left Jim with a bad habit of staring at his shoes. He was fortunate to be a late fill in for Ward and it showed.

[IamInuit]

Floyd has not lost in close to 17 years. Contrary to popular belief, he has not ducked anyone along the way save Margarito and that was more personal then practical. And besides, lets try to be real here. Does anyone actually believe that Margarito would have given that version of Floyd any problems?


Ward won the S6 a lifetime ago and it was a 1 year tourney that took over two years to complete which also included fighters and rescue subs that had no business being there. Post that tourney he has not really done that much. He did a Lalonde on Dawson and that's been about it. From a guy that said right after the games that he was going to be the next Robinson.

I dont think the two can really be compared. If we were looking at potential then yes and I'd say that Mr Ward is every bit as good as Floyd is. But "what if's" and "could haves" dont count.

In fairness the dramatic change in the boxing atmosphere over the last 5 years must be mentioned and the seemingly schizophrenia of its fans. Had Floyd came onto the scene today, he would be kept off the airwaves and forced to fight in China or he simply would not get the fights. And yet he established his stardom through the same(or similar) safety first style as Ward and Rigo and commands 40 million a fight and yet nobody wants to pay to watch Rigo dismantle in the same vein.
Broadcasters, promoters and fans never referred to fighters like these guys as boring and there was no knockout or bust mentality. Floyd established himself in an era where the sweet science of the sport and pugilistic prowess mattered. Today we are foot away from dawning togas.

[TitoFan]

While Andre Ward is a nice guy, and probably the "anti-Floyd".... one thing is to like the guy and quite another is to make outlandish comparisons. Enough has been posted about each guy's records. Suffice it to say that Floyd has been facing (and defeating) household names a hell of a lot longer than Ward has. Mention Floyd's name to anyone in the street and you'll either get a look of amazement or a look of disgust. But either way he'll be instantly recognized. Mention Ward's name to anyone but a true boxing fan, and you'll probably get a blank stare. Maybe that very same nice guy personality, coupled with that bland boxing style of his, have kept him from having more name recognition.

Is he "better than Floyd"? Pound-for-pound? Wishful thinking from Floyd haters would say yes. But love him or hate him, Floyd has boxing skills that Ward will never achieve. Let Ward continue his achievements.... and then later we can look back and make the comparison again. Right now it's not even close.

[Master]

Give Ward 3-5 years then we may be the new Mayweather and best p4p fighter.

[Gandalf]

Give Ward 3-5 years then we may be the new Mayweather and best p4p fighter.

Give Ward 3-5 years and he might even fight again!

[ykdadamaja]

I happen to think Ward is a better technician than Floyd... he engages the fight the way I like to see.

He's not a pot-shotter, but he does control the fight more than Floyd does and attacks more effectively.

If Ward had a Castillo, I believe no question Ward would have won better than Floyd did the first and second time.

[mrbig1]

I happen to think Ward is a better technician than Floyd... he engages the fight the way I like to see.

He's not a pot-shotter, but he does control the fight more than Floyd does and attacks more effectively.

If Ward had a Castillo, I believe no question Ward would have won better than Floyd did the first and second time.

He has a ways to go to match Money. The Ward story has yet to be told.

[Ron Swanson]

The equal point in Floyd's career is the Ricky Hatton fight(fall of 30 years with similar birthdays)

By then Floyd was a 4 division champion with at least 4 HOFers on his resume and many others that would be considered if anyone on Wards resume is worthy of consideration.

Andre Ward would tell you this topic is absurd.

[IamInuit]

The equal point in Floyd's career is the Ricky Hatton fight(fall of 30 years with similar birthdays)

By then Floyd was a 4 division champion with at least 4 HOFers on his resume and many others that would be considered if anyone on Wards resume is worthy of consideration.

Andre Ward would tell you this topic is absurd.

Best keep any reference to Floyds fight with Ricky as evidence to something valid to a minimum. That was quite possibly the biggest freakin ref hack job that I have ever seen in this sport. Strike that. Not possibly but is.