Andre Ward vs. Alexander Brand

[Tam Seddon]

Andre Ward-Alexander Brand on Cotto-Canelo PPV - Boxing News

[erics44]

whats does it achieve?

no fan will be happy, nobody in the boxing business will take anything from it, ward will not gain anything in the ring by in skill or experience

counter productive more than anything

[Tam Seddon]

Can only think its to shake off any ring rust...That's about it.

[Primo Carnera]

Can only think its to shake off any ring rust...That's about it.

Again! "And the new shake off the ring rust and blow off the cobweb champion is............"

[erics44]

Can only think its to shake off any ring rust...That's about it.

what was the paul smith fight for?

[Tam Seddon]

Can only think its to shake off any ring rust...That's about it.

what was the paul smith fight for?

To start to shake of the ring rust

[p4pking]

Sadness. For all his inactivity, Ward has never actually looked "rusty". He's also not the type of fighter who looks that much better against journeymen than he does against elite fighters, so he won't benefit from this type of gimme any way I can see.

[Tam Seddon]

Sadness. For all his inactivity, Ward has never actually looked "rusty". He's also not the type of fighter who looks that much better against journeymen than he does against elite fighters, so he won't benefit from this type of gimme any way I can see.

He just might have some insecurities, he could of taken a few hits in the gym and doesn't want it to happen on the main stage.

[ross]

Can only think its to shake off any ring rust...That's about it.

what was the paul smith fight for?

To start to shake of the ring rust

That was the ring rust on his left leg. This is for his right leg.

[Tam Seddon]

Can only think its to shake off any ring rust...That's about it.

what was the paul smith fight for?

To start to shake of the ring rust

That was the ring rust on his left leg. This is for his right leg.

Its sounding like a Kovalev showdown in 2016, so they wont put him in any risky fights till then.

[imp]

Can only think its to shake off any ring rust...That's about it.

what was the paul smith fight for?

Its hard to make excuses for the supposedly best fighter in the world but as already mentioned these first two fights are shaking off the rust and then he gets down to business.

Ward really needs to make waves and get another ko or tko in this bout...bring on kovalev

[Spicoli]

This is actually embarrassing. Newsflash..the rust was self imposed. Ya just can't have it both ways. Over 4 years he drains a lt. heavyweight to have a showcase. Beat a robot with a dumb hat in a fight that looked half cat boxing/ half sumo wrestling and faces obscurity types in annual CW farces. Ward is beginning to come off very hand held.

[IamInuit]

This is actually embarrassing. Newsflash..the rust was self imposed. Ya just can't have it both ways. Over 4 years he drains a lt. heavyweight to have a showcase. Beat a robot with a dumb hat in a fight that looked half cat boxing/ half sumo wrestling and faces obscurity types in annual CW farces. Ward is beginning to come off very hand held.

He's lucky he has any fans left at all. Its really hard to put together or understand whats happened here since he won the S6. That cant be what he meant when he said, "I'm going to be bigger then Robinson?"

I've actually come to the conclusion that the guy does not like boxing and like Taylor admitted, the only reason he got into it was for was fast big money. I guess nobody explained to him that he first needed to fight the big fights. Unlike Jermaine who actually had a grasp of that fact even though he disliked the sport.

Try to imagine what a guy like Burley would have done with the opportunities this guy has had or Langford before him? His disrespects these guys. His sense of entitlement makes my skin crawl and considering his unbelievable talent it starts to peel off. I'm also pissed off at the guy for purely selfish reasons. We dont get a chance as boxing fans to witness the special ones that have that little something extra. Next year will be half a century for me following this sport and I think I've witnessed about 10 real standouts and perhaps 5 or 6 in the same league skill wise as him. They fought everybody. When a guy with his kind of talent sits out, one feels kind of robbed or violated as a fan. I dont find him boring, I've always enjoyed the technicians but his shtick is a party crasher. Its like he's waiting everything out.

On a related note, I dont like HBO picking peoples opponents. The waters are muddy enough. Its a weird boxing era. Rigo gets stripped and black balled for being to good. Golovkin gets shafted what will end up 3 times by frauds, Kov and Stevenson cant finalize a division, the welter weight division watches itself rot with a bunch of primadonnas, Wlad and Wilder cant get any ink and Ward sits out playing musical chairs.I think its foolish and naive unfortunately to believe that Ward/Kovalev is some kind of sure thing or end game in some 3 fight deal