Andre Ward - Paul Smith

[SlimTrae]

A bloody affair for a boxer who didn't even consider fighting, let alone brawl.
Ward could have ended it early if he chose to bang.
Disposed a tomato can with a slow methodical pace.

No rust, still accurate, quick and overly patient.

What pisses people off with Ward, is he does lack excitement a very good technical boxer, but
not a style for a large fan base, he's a nice guy but has the personality of a plank.
Great boxer very hard to beat, a superstar needs some charisma pity Andre lacks it a boxer
more for the purists.

Yeah, guys who don't bang out their opponents or leave openings, with a clean personality are rarely called "classy" like a Sergio Martinez.
Ward is a class act outside ring, believes in Jesus, but due to his style...all that is negated.

The right foe will bring the fight out in him. It's not like he depends solely on countering.

[erics44]

if you put wards win in perspective

Smith is a british level fighter, i dont think he is good enough for the european belt

and if you take all the world contenders out of the british scene Smith still probably wouldnt win the british title, rocky fielding would probly stop him in less than 9 rounds

[Beanz]

A bloody affair for a boxer who didn't even consider fighting, let alone brawl.
Ward could have ended it early if he chose to bang.
Disposed a tomato can with a slow methodical pace.

No rust, still accurate, quick and overly patient.

What pisses people off with Ward, is he does lack excitement a very good technical boxer, but
not a style for a large fan base, he's a nice guy but has the personality of a plank.
Great boxer very hard to beat, a superstar needs some charisma pity Andre lacks it a boxer
more for the purists.

Yeah, guys who don't bang out their opponents or leave openings, with a clean personality are rarely called "classy" like a Sergio Martinez.
Ward is a class act outside ring, believes in Jesus, but due to his style...all that is negated.

The right foe will bring the fight out in him. It's not like he depends solely on countering.

Ward is a bumptious cretin outside of the ring. Believing in Jesus and the ill judged "SOG" moniker did diddly squat to enamour him to fans. Martinez is seen as classy because he had real humility and a keen awareness of all his limitations. He built a career for himself and was about as polar opposite to Andre as you could be. He based himself away from home, fought away from home and challenged himself even when in terminal decline. Ward acts like the spoilt rich kid for whom Daddies credit card has opened a lot of doors and thinks that a fan base is some kind of God given right. Seriously if you can be as obnoxious as Froch often is, and still build a rabid fanbase like he has, despite not having the skills of Maud, then Andre really has nobody to blame but himself.

[X]

We all know that Ward is a classy operator in the ring. The only question was how much ring rust he had ..... And his team did a great job of hand picking Paul Smith as his opponent, a guy who wouldn't offer much of a threat but would give award rounds to knock off the rust.

ward did a good job, he made weight, he looked sharp, he was his usual self in there and he also was physically beating the shit out of Smith for the second half of the fight. Good hurtful shots.

I was disappointed in Smith. Now, take it as a given that I always have respect for anyone who steps between the ropes and competes (unlike quite a few people on here) ..... but he didn't seem to believe he had any chance at all. There is no excuse for a professional fighter to not make weight, then he looked flabby and sluggish and he offered absolutely no offence at all. Didn't seem to be any gameplan in place, or at least he couldn't follow it if there was one.

I'd like to think that if I had a chance to really make my name with a top top fighter coming back after a long lay off, I would have jumped all over him from the first bell. If I couldn't get him out of there by three or four rounds, I'd have shot my bolt and would get stopped myself, but at least I'd have given it my best shot.

[IamInuit]

Have to admit that it was a pretty classy move by Ward to give Smith his fine back. All tolled Wards proceeds from the fine after the fight day weigh in was 37,250. Adding the commissions take it was 60 Grand. That is a lot of scratch off a 225,000 purse when you consider taxes and expenses. Ward deserves credit for that.

[Ron Swanson]

It would be absolutely marvelous if just one day people would be honest. People say they are boxing fans but trash any fighter that boxes, are they lying or do they not know enough to know they aren't boxing fans, they are fight fans. People say it's Wards fault he doesn't have a fan base, is it his fault he isn't Puerto Rican or Mexican or from the UK? Because if he was from one of those countries that blindly adore their own he would have a following. Hell, even the notion people don't want to watch him is a lie, his views when he was on HBO prove that. He can't put asses in the seats around the world, that's peanuts compared to TV deals. But that fact probably doesn't speak much to the propaganda types. So keep writing your narrative. Yet another top boxer that is hated by "boxing fans".

[Mr140]

Ron wtf are talking about who saying the hate Ward and also the guy has not fought in forever so his fanbase might have gone down. Not to mention he does not fight out of his city which is kinda odd like why not fight in Vegas were all the big fights are held.

[IamInuit]

Ftr my issues with Ward have never been how he fights or his boxing IQ. My issues have always been with his wasting of those talents and his sense of entitlement along with his systemic coddling. I enjoy watching the pure pugilists and superb counter punchers.