Requirements for a fight with Andre Ward

[jehoshaphat]

Since Ward fought at 175 in the amateurs, there can only be one reason he insisted Dawson fight him at 168: he wanted Chad to be weight-drained.

That was unsportsmanlike, and very selfish for someone who calls himself the "Son of God".

Actually in the amateurs light heavyweight is 178. But Ward wasn't a real light heavy. He fought at and was the #1 ranked 165er but he moved up to 178 because he wanted his cousin to make the Olympic team with him. Ward weighed in at 170-172 for light heavy in the amateurs and was actually a smaller 165er. One of our guys fought him at the US Challenge and he weighed in at 164 for a 165 tourney and then the next tournament we saw him at light heavy weighing in at 171 with socks and boxers on.
But with the Dawson fight he is not wrong because Dawson called Ward out and also said he could and would make 168. Dawson is even here stating that the weight cut is nothing and that he is only 178 with 5 weeks to go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HSMTn8WfL0 After watching the fight I believe Dawson underestimated the cut and was indeed drained but he brought that situation to himself. Golovkin said he would go down to 154 for Mayweather, Ward and Hopkins both said they would go to 160 for Mayweather. If they underestimate the weight cut and are drained then you blame them not Mayweather. Though I doubt any of those fights will ever happen. But the other points of the original post such as Ward fighting outside of home is hard to ignore. At some point he has to give up home advantage. As far as the additional PED testing I think he should at least pick an agency of his own preference and join in with the other guys doing this. Its the only way boxing will get cleaner. Boxing bodies never try to correct boxing so the fighters have to take it in their own hands.

[Violent Demise]

3) Fight must be in in California

- Ward has never fought a contender outside of the USA and only once as a pro fought a live opponent outside California.

That's not an accurate statement. Aside from Carl Froch (which I'm sure is the one live body you're referring too) in Atlantic City he also fought Roger Cantrell in Saint Lucia and Jerson Ravelo in the Cayman Islands. The names might mean nothing now. But they meant something when he fought them. Ward was 13-0 when he fought the 12-0 Cantrell. Cantrell was a multiple Golden Gloves winner who was highly touted in the Washington area. It was a good prospect vs prospect fight. Ravelo is useless now a days. But the former Olympian was still a credible opponent when he fought Ward

[powerpuncher]

1) There can be no PED testing (no OST, no VADA)

- Kessler, Abraham and Rodriguez all wanted PED testing, Ward said "NO" during negotiations for Abraham and Kessler fights.

2) Fight must be at 168

- Regardless of whether you're a light heavyweight, super middleweight or middleweight. Dawson asked for 170, Ward insisted on 168.

3) Fight must be in in California

- Ward has never fought a contender outside of the USA and only once as a pro fought a live opponent outside California.

4) Referee must be from California

- maybe in certain cases a shady foreign referee or a nationalistic American referee like Steve Smoger would let Ward foul (hit while holding, hit off the break and deliberately head butt) but Andre Ward feels more secure with a California Boxing Commission referee

i agree that ward has been kind of a diva with certain things but in his defense, he has fought a lot of good fighters which is more important to me than everything else. its sad that great fighters fighting the best is the exception rather than the rule. anyways, i will give you reasons why all of those reasons dont matter too much.

1. i think that he should just give in to the PED testing but in his defense, unless boxing creates a harder standard of testing then he doesnt have to oblige. im sure that it is annoying having to always be waiting to be tested at any time.

2. i dont mind him staying at 168. dawson called him out and said that he could easily make 168 so ward accepted. until he moves up in weight, he has no reason to have to fight anyone at a higher weight. the better fighter (which is ward) will always have the bargaining power.

3. i like it when people fight in their hometowns because it fills seats. its better than if he fought somewhere else and the stadium was empty. and again, since he is the champion and the man to beat, he has the bargaining power and can make the fight in california.

4. i might care more about the refs being from california if they actually had an impact in the fight.

it all comes down to ward just dominating all of his opponents. if fights were close and the ref was helping ward or the judges were unfairly giving the fight to ward then i would agree, but he has shown me that none of these things really matter because he would have dominated either way.

[Max Power]

Agreed. Ward is shame job and a selfish coward!

[imp]

Ward has a great resume regardless of where he has fought.

Who do you want ward to fight?
Who do you think ward is now ducking?

He has just had major surgery on his shoulder and has been out of action for ages.

What Master said made sense.
Pay Ward enough money and he will fight in uk.

[IamInuit]

Ward has a great resume regardless of where he has fought.

Who do you want ward to fight?
Who do you think ward is now ducking?

He has just had major surgery on his shoulder and has been out of action for ages.

What Master said made sense.
Pay Ward enough money and he will fight in uk.

His domination of the S-6 was truly impressive but he had home field throughout and venues seemed to be quite the disruptor in the thing. Now that's not his fault cause for some reason his team was able to stack the deck in his favour. Atlantic city is still home field in an international tourney.

Who should he fight?

How about a rematch with Carl? He's earned it by unifying and working for it. Simply saying the same thing happens again is not a reason not to anymore then it was in the second Robinson/Lamotta fight.
Lamotta even out jabbed him which would have been unheard of.

Fight Stevenson after he demolishes Bellew and go to Quebec where the money will be. He's just a crude puncher. Nothing to fear there for a guy so technically savvy.

I dont think he's ducking anyone and it would be a shame if injury problems ruined his career so quickly.

Pay Ward enough money and he will fight in uk

Looks like a built in escape clause my friend.

[imp]

Could be an escape clause.

The fact still remains no one has beaten ward or even come close in a long time.

I like froch and would love to see the rematch but hearn is not looking to make this fight anytime soon either when a groves, kessler or even bute rematch could be a possibility after pascal.

[IamInuit]

Could be an escape clause.

The fact still remains no one has beaten ward or even come close in a long time.

I like froch and would love to see the rematch but hearn is not looking to make this fight anytime soon either when a groves, kessler or even bute rematch could be a possibility after pascal.

Not sure Carl would be satisfied with that route given his character. Hearn is starting to remind me of Warren.

[imp]

I just think ward is a nice guy and so what he doesnt sell as much as this person or that person he is winning and beating every type of style out there.

[IamInuit]

Really valid point and it was wrong of me to base or infer anything on "his draw" perhaps even hypocritical given my rather dark feelings about the whole ppv / hbo monopoly situation. Point is I guess is that he may have to dance the opponents tune even if he's better then him because of it. Unfortunately boxing has laid itself at the feet of the casual and at times totally ignorant fan base. They want knockouts not boxing displays and they want to see that ko before they exit the drive-through.

[Freedom]

Rodriguez says VADA testing was brought up during negotiations, Ward said "no":

Ward-Rodriguez tensions mount over drug testing | RingTV

Why is Ward stubbornly refusing to take the test? Random PED testing is good for the sport of boxing.

That's not an accurate statement. Aside from Carl Froch (which I'm sure is the one live body you're referring too) in Atlantic City he also fought Roger Cantrell in Saint Lucia and Jerson Ravelo in the Cayman Islands. The names might mean nothing now. But they meant something when he fought them. Ward was 13-0 when he fought the 12-0 Cantrell. Cantrell was a multiple Golden Gloves winner who was highly touted in the Washington area. It was a good prospect vs prospect fight. Ravelo is useless now a days. But the former Olympian was still a credible opponent when he fought Ward

What my opening post states is "Ward has never fought a contender" outside the USA and only once outside California. Cantrell and Ravelo are not contenders. Lots of fighters win golden gloves and are highly regarded in their hometowns, like Raphael Butler the heavyweight journeyman, but they never become contenders.

[jehoshaphat]

Rodriguez says VADA testing was brought up during negotiations, Ward said "no":

Ward-Rodriguez tensions mount over drug testing | RingTV

Why is Ward stubbornly refusing to take the test? Random PED testing is good for the sport of boxing.

That's not an accurate statement. Aside from Carl Froch (which I'm sure is the one live body you're referring too) in Atlantic City he also fought Roger Cantrell in Saint Lucia and Jerson Ravelo in the Cayman Islands. The names might mean nothing now. But they meant something when he fought them. Ward was 13-0 when he fought the 12-0 Cantrell. Cantrell was a multiple Golden Gloves winner who was highly touted in the Washington area. It was a good prospect vs prospect fight. Ravelo is useless now a days. But the former Olympian was still a credible opponent when he fought Ward

What my opening post states is "Ward has never fought a contender" outside the USA and only once outside California. Cantrell and Ravelo are not contenders. Lots of fighters win golden gloves and are highly regarded in their hometowns, like Raphael Butler the heavyweight journeyman, but they never become contenders.

Did you read the article you posted? Rodriguez clearly says he DIDN'T bring this up in negotiations. I wish Ward would take the additional tests but he is right if you want something of concern done then you put in writing and don't wait until negotiations are over. But lets get to the real subject. What do you want from Ward? You can't call it fair play for a guy to fight outside of his weight class just because he is the best. So who do you want Ward to fight, where at, and under what conditions?

[Freedom]

What do you want from Ward? You can't call it fair play for a guy to fight outside of his weight class just because he is the best. So who do you want Ward to fight, where at, and under what conditions?

To begin with, he should agree to random PED testing.

Why will he not?

And he shouldn't demand light heavyweights drain down to 168. It would be the same as Ward draining down to 160 to fight Golovkin.

And he shouldn't always demand his own way. When Kessler was the champion, he went to Ward's hometown, and despite it being written into the Super Six contract that referees be from neutral countries, Ward had his home ref Jack Reiss (Sauerland protested to no avail). This is what happened:

[jehoshaphat]

Lets keep it factual bro. Ward never demanded to fight any light heavyweights let alone for them to come to 168. Dawson called Ward out and also said he would come to 168 to fight him. Dawson asked for that and got what he wanted. In the Kessler fight there were some bad headbutts but Ward blew Kessler out. That fight would have to take a 180 in every round. I'm sure you want this thread to be a "pour it on Ward" type of thread. But instead of just going back and forth I was just asking you what you wanted. I agree Ward should take on additional PED testing. Who do you want Ward to fight and under what conditions?

[IamInuit]

Why will he not?

And he shouldn't demand light heavyweights drain down to 168. It would be the same as Ward draining down to 160 to fight Golovkin.

And he shouldn't always demand his own way. When Kessler was the champion, he went to Ward's hometown, and despite it being written into the Super Six contract that referees be from neutral countries, Ward had his home ref Jack Reiss (Sauerland protested to no avail). This is what happened:

In fairness it was not in negotiations and if they think everyone should just volunteer then just institute a rule. Quit cherry picking. Cant believe this has resurfaced again.