Andre Ward vs. Alexander Brand

[littlepug]

My guess is they're trying to preserve a Kovalev v Ward fight, but it's like wrapping Andre Ward in cotton wool and bubble wrap.
FFS this is boxing at the highest level.

That is the most logical answer.

Lucas Brown has been playing similarly careful to what Ward is in the lead-up to his title fight against Chagaev.

can forgive browne because some fighters just arent good enough to take on the big dogs and need to be matched carefully which is fair enough, ward on the other hand is one of the big dogs so i can only guess that he is having some sort of confidence crisis, wouldnt be surprised if he contacted fast eddie about appearing on the next prizefighter

[Ricky_]

I'd throw my hat in the ring but Ward would probably consider it, since i'm 175lb and never had a fight.

[ikorolev]

I'd throw my hat in the ring but Ward but probably actual consider it, since i'm 175lb and never had a fight.

I can easily make 175. The last street fight I had was 30+ years ago, so Ward may consider me too.

[Baby Face Finster]

Is everyone sure he isn't signed on to fight Russell Brand instead of Alexander?

[bogan whisperer]

My guess is they're trying to preserve a Kovalev v Ward fight, but it's like wrapping Andre Ward in cotton wool and bubble wrap.
FFS this is boxing at the highest level.

That is the most logical answer.

Lucas Brown has been playing similarly careful to what Ward is in the lead-up to his title fight against Chagaev.

can forgive browne because some fighters just arent good enough to take on the big dogs and need to be matched carefully which is fair enough, ward on the other hand is one of the big dogs so i can only guess that he is having some sort of confidence crisis, wouldnt be surprised if he contacted fast eddie about appearing on the next prizefighter

I'm a fan of Browne, but I disagree.

IMO it is about fighting well matched opponents, and Welliver and Long were just plain safe fights for Browne while he awaits his fight with Chagaev. The same sort of stunt Ward is pulling.

Granted Long was a short notice replacement. But Browne was originally to fight Gonzalo Omar Basile and then Icho Larenas, and all 3 were chosen as easybeat opponents.

[Freedom2013]

I'm a fan of Browne, but I disagree.

IMO it is about fighting well matched opponents, and Welliver and Long were just plain safe fights for Browne while he awaits his fight with Chagaev. The same sort of stunt Ward is pulling.

Granted Long was a short notice replacement. But Browne was originally to fight Gonzalo Omar Basile and then Icho Larenas, and all 3 were chosen as easybeat opponents.

But do you think Browne and Ward are on the same level?

I don't hear Browne's name come up in P4P discussions.

[bogan whisperer]

I'm a fan of Browne, but I disagree.

IMO it is about fighting well matched opponents, and Welliver and Long were just plain safe fights for Browne while he awaits his fight with Chagaev. The same sort of stunt Ward is pulling.

Granted Long was a short notice replacement. But Browne was originally to fight Gonzalo Omar Basile and then Icho Larenas, and all 3 were chosen as easybeat opponents.

But do you think Browne and Ward are on the same level?

I don't hear Browne's name come up in P4P discussions.

Read the first sentence of my post that you quoted again:

IMO it is about fighting well matched opponents

[Badhusker]

6 pages on Andre Ward? If anything, you guys are doing your best at keeping him relevant, love him or hate him.

Ward has been inactive, but for those of you out there that know boxing, know that he is an elite fighter, and imo would come out on top vs GGG or Kovalev. He is smart enough and talented enough to get the wins.

[ikorolev]

6 pages on Andre Ward? If anything, you guys are doing your best at keeping him relevant, love him or hate him.

Ward has been inactive, but for those of you out there that know boxing, know that he is an elite fighter, and imo would come out on top vs GGG or Kovalev. He is smart enough and talented enough to get the wins.

Looking relevant was Ward's purpose of the fake "offer" to Golovkin and current fake "negotiations" with Kovalev.

[Pureist]

Hard to sore like an eagle when your flying with turkeys, while ward is at the turkey farm no one should even mention the idea of him on the P4P list or that he is elite, elite fighters challenge themselves and ward hasn't done that for a very long time

[koolkc107]

6 pages on Andre Ward? If anything, you guys are doing your best at keeping him relevant, love him or hate him.

Ward has been inactive, but for those of you out there that know boxing, know that he is an elite fighter, and imo would come out on top vs GGG or Kovalev. He is smart enough and talented enough to get the wins.

It's just the normal hypocrisy in full bloom.

Guy has been inactive due to injury and contractual desputes?

Screw that! He should be fighting top guys right away and so what if he may have ring rust? And if he won't fight top guys right away we'll just conveniently forget that even though he has fought the absolute best his division has to offer, no one has come close to beating him.

But the guy who has been fighting scrubs 3 and 4 times a year?

Let's treat the fringe contenders and journeymen he fights as if it's a "Rocky" fight come to reality. Let's fall all over ourselves gushing with superlatives even though he does exactly what we expect him to against 2nd rate competition. And by all means lets overlook him ducking the elite guys who continually call him out.

One guy already IS great. He never fights again he is in the HOF just off his career so far.

The other guy looks to also be headed there, but has yet to challenge himself against an opponent that has a decent legit chance to beat him. And you can't get in the Hall without those signature wins.

[ikorolev]

guy already IS great.

The problem is that Ward thinks exactly that. He thinks that he is so great that he can fight C level SMWs at LHW limit and fans/networks/press will all clap and pour millions on him.

That is not the case. He is making a total mockery out of himself throwing in names like Murdoch or Brand.

[koolkc107]

guy already IS great.

The problem is that Ward thinks exactly that. He thinks that he is so great that he can fight C level SMWs at LHW limit and fans/networks/press will all clap and pour millions on him.

That is not the case. He is making a total mockery out of himself throwing in names like Murdoch or Brand.

I think it is more a matter of him trying to get back to a certain level of sharpness without risking his rust betraying him against an elite guy.

I think he realizes the big money isn't going to be Golovkin, who is too scared to jump to 168 and face him.

That leaves the lightheavies, and you just don't jump into scraps with Krusher and Superman without making sure you are properly tuned up first.

Do I like these opponents? No.

But, I see Ward working...

[ikorolev]

guy already IS great.

The problem is that Ward thinks exactly that. He thinks that he is so great that he can fight C level SMWs at LHW limit and fans/networks/press will all clap and pour millions on him.

That is not the case. He is making a total mockery out of himself throwing in names like Murdoch or Brand.

I think it is more a matter of him trying to get back to a certain level of sharpness without risking his rust betraying him against an elite guy.

I think he realizes the big money isn't going to be Golovkin, who is too scared to jump to 168 and face him.

That leaves the lightheavies, and you just don't jump into scraps with Krusher and Superman without making sure you are properly tuned up first.

Do I like these opponents? No.

But, I see Ward working...

No, Golovkin isn't afraid to fight Ward at 168. He will just do it after achieving his main goal -- unifying MW belts, and of course not at 50/50 purse split.

Ward could fight decent light-heavies outside of top 5, but he is the one who is afraid. As a matter of fact, he is also afraid to fight Golovkin. He only produced his fake offer when he knew that Golovkin had his first PPV scheduled with other unification fights lined up.

Also, speaking about being afraid, Mayweather was afraid to fight the "damn giant" GGG.

[koolkc107]

His main goal is to make money without risking defeat.

He wasn't thinking about middleweight titles when he tried to get JCC jr or Froch in the ring- and he didn't ask either guy to come down to 164 like he reportedly tried to get Ward to do.

Canelo got 300K buys with Lara as an opponent. Any doubt that Erislandy gets Golovkin better numbers than the fiasco we just sae with Lemieux?

And BTW, the offer made had nothing to do with the Lemieux fight. Roc nation made the offer prior to be aware of the PPV fight and in any case were calling for each guy to have one fight before they met in the first half of 2016 anyway.

That myth of Andre making an offer after he knew a fight was made is just that, a myth.

[littlepug]

I'm a fan of Browne, but I disagree.

IMO it is about fighting well matched opponents, and Welliver and Long were just plain safe fights for Browne while he awaits his fight with Chagaev. The same sort of stunt Ward is pulling.

Granted Long was a short notice replacement. But Browne was originally to fight Gonzalo Omar Basile and then Icho Larenas, and all 3 were chosen as easybeat opponents.

But do you think Browne and Ward are on the same level?

I don't hear Browne's name come up in P4P discussions.

Read the first sentence of my post that you quoted again:

IMO it is about fighting well matched opponents

I see what your saying suppose its about matching to your level, just think your never gonna get the best out of an elite fighter by matching him below his level, in fact its probably the best way to blunt a good boxers skills.

[digzee]

guy already IS great.

The problem is that Ward thinks exactly that. He thinks that he is so great that he can fight C level SMWs at LHW limit and fans/networks/press will all clap and pour millions on him.

That is not the case. He is making a total mockery out of himself throwing in names like Murdoch or Brand.

I think it is more a matter of him trying to get back to a certain level of sharpness without risking his rust betraying him against an elite guy.
He already fought Smith how many fights does he need?
I think he realizes the big money isn't going to be Golovkin, who is too scared to jump to 168 and face him.

That leaves the lightheavies, and you just don't jump into scraps with Krusher and Superman without making sure you are properly tuned up first.
Nobody has said he should fight the elite LHW's in this next fight, he just fought Smith so its time to step up, someone like Yunieski Gonzalez would be ideal. YOU say he is a great but great fighters don't fight journeyman, V Klit had 4 years out and fought Peter in his first fight back, pisses over Paul Smith
Do I like these opponents? No.

But, I see Ward working...

[ikorolev]

His main goal is to make money without risking defeat.

He wasn't thinking about middleweight titles when he tried to get JCC jr or Froch in the ring- and he didn't ask either guy to come down to 164 like he reportedly tried to get Ward to do.

Canelo got 300K buys with Lara as an opponent. Any doubt that Erislandy gets Golovkin better numbers than the fiasco we just sae with Lemieux?

And BTW, the offer made had nothing to do with the Lemieux fight. Roc nation made the offer prior to be aware of the PPV fight and in any case were calling for each guy to have one fight before they met in the first half of 2016 anyway.

That myth of Andre making an offer after he knew a fight was made is just that, a myth.

At the time Jr and Froch were chased, no MW champ was willing to fight GGG. Situation changed with Lemieux agreeing to fight, Lee willing to fight and WBC enforcing the mandatory.

You don't understand psychology of people raised in the Soviet Union, so stop pretending to know what they really want.

[Freedom2013]

Andre Ward-Murdock Rejected By NSAC as Mismatch

http://www.BS.com/andre-ward-m ... tch--97350

[bogan whisperer]

Read the first sentence of my post that you quoted again:

IMO it is about fighting well matched opponents

I see what your saying suppose its about matching to your level, just think your never gonna get the best out of an elite fighter by matching him below his level, in fact its probably the best way to blunt a good boxers skills.

Too many fighters play it too safe for too long these days. It is one of the key things holding the sport back.

[Evander]

Problem with the Eastern Europeans and Russians is they fight the same way and rely on physical strength and more of a toe to toe man to man break down approach.
It really hasn't differentiated from a decade or so ago if the truth is told, it has a change but not enough to warrant a change in boxing policy.
The opposition may have been weakened but they progressed very little technically.

[Evander]

Which is why a boxer like GGG has the P4P No 1 as vacant.

[ikorolev]

Problem with the Eastern Europeans and Russians is they fight the same way and rely on physical strength and more of a toe to toe man to man break down approach.
It really hasn't differentiated from a decade or so ago if the truth is told, it has a change but not enough to warrant a change in boxing policy.
The opposition may have been weakened but they progressed very little technically.

Ah, they actually fight ! They want to finish their opponent ! They didn't "progress" to running and slapping ! That is so disappointing. We need all fighters be like Mayweather/Lara/etc.

[Evander]

Problem with the Eastern Europeans and Russians is they fight the same way and rely on physical strength and more of a toe to toe man to man break down approach.
It really hasn't differentiated from a decade or so ago if the truth is told, it has a change but not enough to warrant a change in boxing policy.
The opposition may have been weakened but they progressed very little technically.

Ah, they actually fight ! They want to finish their opponent ! They didn't "progress" to running and slapping ! That is so disappointing. We need all fighters be like Mayweather/Lara/etc.

I could destroy that in 2 seconds.

[ikorolev]

I could KO Wlad in 2 seconds.