Andre Ward Won't Go Back to 168 for Golovkin or Anyone Else

[Ruthless-RKO]

"Andre Ward Won't Go Back to 168 for Golovkin or Anyone Else"

Andre Ward doesnt know if hell fight again after his rematch against with Sergey Kovalev, much less who hed fight.

But if the 33-year-old Ward does return to the ring following their light heavyweight championship rematch June 17 in Las Vegas, he wont move back down to the super middleweight division  not even for a showdown with middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. Ward was asked Monday about comments made recently by his trainer, Virgil Hunter, who told a reporter for a YouTube channel that Ward would be able to make 168 pounds again for a long-discussed fight against Golovkin.

"Im not going to 68," Ward said following a press conference to promote his rematch with Kovalev. "Thats out. I heard something [that Hunter said]. I didnt [see] the whole thing. But Im not going [back to 168]. I said it before I moved up, and I wasnt playing."

"That was a real opportunity for [Golovkin] to take that fight. He didnt want the fight or whatever the case. He wanted to push it out two, three years. Im not  once you go up, you cant go back down. If he wants to come up, thats another story. But Im not going back down."

“I know that they were willing to fight anybody from 154 to 168,” Hunter said. “And at that time we were at 168. So when we found that out, we said, ‘Why not? We will fight you at 168.’ It didn’t have anything to do with the talk that nobody wanted to fight [Golovkin]. It was a legitimate fight – the best fight the best.

“We consider him a top fighter, one of the best, so why not? When it came to [making the fight], that’s when they came with a lot of excuses or reasons [to not do it]. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say reasons.”

[Impractical Poster]

A bit of a strange career this man has had...

[Tanzio]

A bit of a strange career this man has had...

He is not called SOGgy for nothing.

[littlepug]

dont blame him, once you go up you shouldnt be thinking about dropping down again, history tells us its a bad idea

[BAD INTENTIONS]

A bit of a strange career this man has had...

Strange or typical in modern boxing?

[Enlightened-One]

Andre Ward Won't Go Back to 168 for Golovkin or Anyone Else

I guess if K2, Roc Nation and HBO really wanted to see Golovkin face Ward, then they should be able to persuade the S.O.G. to revise this opinion by providing a massive financial incentive.

The problem is… HBO don’t seem to have the funds and neither Golovkin nor Ward are considered big PPV draws, which means that we’ll probably never get to see this fight.

If Andre Ward decided to move back down to 168lbs immediately after the Kovalev fight, then Golovkin will likely remain in his 160lbs comfort zone for the remainder of his career.

In my mind, Andre Ward has been the only fighter over the last few years that I have consistently believed to be good enough to inflict a loss on Golovkin’s resume.

And this seems to be reflected by the claims of Team GGG during recent years…

Abel Sanchez would allow GGG to face Froch at 172lbs… GGG wanted Hopkins at 175lbs… GGG wanted DeGale at 168lbs… GGG wanted Chavez Jr. at 168lbs… GGG wanted Ramirez at 168lbs… but Team GGG mentioned that Golovkin would only consider taking the Ward fight at 164lbs.

[boxing_rocks]

Golovkin agreed to fight Ward at 168 when they both were available and HBO offered them a fight, but Ward preferred to fight Rodriguez.

[Enlightened-One]

Golovkin agreed to fight Ward at 168 when they both were available and HBO offered them a fight, but Ward preferred to fight Rodriguez.

You've seen the videos of Loeffler, Sanchez and Golovkin discussing the 164lb catchweight stipulation. I posted them in two other threads where we were discussing a different subject matter. You acknowledged these videos.

Tom Loeffler also claimed less than a year ago, in a video that I posted that you responded to, whereby the K2 chief has claimed that neither K2 nor Roc Nations or Goossen Tudor Promotions have ever made formal contract negotiations for a GGG & the S.O.G. fight. However, we do know that Ward did email Loeffler agreeing to the 164lb catchweight and also offering 50% purse split, which was declined, because GGG already had the Lemieux fight lined-up... and their immediate plans was to focus on title unification.

You've not commented on the other points mentioned in my post, so I assume you agree with them.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Golovkin agreed to fight Ward at 168 when they both were available and HBO offered them a fight, but Ward preferred to fight Rodriguez.

Actually HBO forced him to fight Rodriguez. He wanted to fight Caleb truax.

[Enlightened-One]

Golovkin agreed to fight Ward at 168 when they both were available and HBO offered them a fight, but Ward preferred to fight Rodriguez.

Actually HBO forced him to fight Rodriguez. He wanted to fight Caleb truax.

Is there any proof that GGG agreed to compete at 168lbs? Did HBO say that they needed a long time to build-up the fight?

Why would Golovkin initially agree to face Ward at 168lbs in 2013, but 164lbs later on?

Golovkin has always marketed himself as a fighter willing to compete at 168lbs, but I cannot find any evidence of him ever having agreed to face Ward specifically at that weight.

I have, however, already posted to this forum multiple videos of Loeffler, Sanchez and Golovkin stating that they’d only consider facing Ward at 164lbs, which you've all seen and commented on.

[boxing_rocks]

When HBO offered them to fight, both Golovkin and Ward were available. One agreed, one didn't.

The "offer" from Ward came when Golovkin just signed with Lemieux, and they also had high hopes to get another unification fight after that. Ward at that time was inactive for a long time. He is not a draw even now, but at that time he was some obscured semi-retired fighter who wanted 50% of the purse against Golovkin for a fight at his weight. That fight was interferring into Golovkin's plans, so Loefler immediately said no. There were no offers from Team GGG to fight at 164. When journalists were asking questions about fighting Ward, Loefler and others were saying hypothetically that 164 would be logical for 50/50 purse split, but those responses were just talking. There was nothing close to real talks.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Ward was never seriously interested in ggg. Just something to talk about.

[Enlightened-One]

When HBO offered them to fight, both Golovkin and Ward were available. One agreed, one didn't.

The "offer" from Ward came when Golovkin just signed with Lemieux, and they also had high hopes to get another unification fight after that. Ward at that time was inactive for a long time. He is not a draw even now, but at that time he was some obscured semi-retired fighter who wanted 50% of the purse against Golovkin for a fight at his weight. That fight was interferring into Golovkin's plans, so Loefler immediately said no. There were no offers from Team GGG to fight at 164. When journalists were asking questions about fighting Ward, Loefler and others were saying hypothetically that 164 would be logical for 50/50 purse split, but those responses were just talking. There was nothing close to real talks.

OK, so I agree with most of this post, since it matches comments I've also made.

However, you said that Golovkin had actually agreed to face Ward specifically at 168lbs and I can't find proof of this.

I've read Golovkin's translated quote... HBO wanted a long time to build-up the fight, Ward said no due to promoter issues, but nowhere did GGG specifically say that he'd actually agreed to face Andre at 168lbs.

Later on, Team GGG told interviewers that they'd only face Ward at 164lbs, they said this multiple times during multiple interviews (regardless as to whether they were discussing a hypothetical situation)... and time-and-time again you called me a liar for having the sheer audacity for suggesting this, but when I showed you the videos of Loeffler, Sanchez and Golovkin expressing this stipulation, you eventually changed your tune.

So I'm asking you to be honest and concede that Golovkin never agreed to face Ward at 168lbs... either that or provide some evidence that supports this.

I don't mind either way, since I'm only interested in the truth.

I'm far from being perfect and I don't mind being proven wrong sometimes, but unlike some people, I won't make claims that I am unable to substantiate.

[boxing_rocks]

unlike some people, I won't make claims that I am unable to substantiate.

Good for you. Go relieve yourself.

[Enlightened-One]

unlike some people, I won't make claims that I am unable to substantiate.

Good for you. Go relieve yourself.

I have to give you credit for your honesty, your response clearly and finally confirms that your claim about Golovkin actually agreeing to face Andre Ward specifically at the 168lbs weight is untrue. Thanks for clearing that up.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Some recent twitter spat.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Tom getting involved

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Enlightened-One]

An old post of mine from 2016 containing videos of Loeffler, Sanchez and Golovkin adamantly claiming that a bout against Andre Ward could only ever happen at 164lbs.

It’s interesting to see Team GGG attempting to refute Andre Ward’s claims, despite their original stance captured on video for prosperity.

I really don't know why people are disputing Golovkin's 164lb stipulation to face Ward when you can actually observe with your own eyes his team making those requests.

Skip to the 7 second mark:

Skip to the 6 minute 54 second mark:


"Golovkin's Coach: Andre Ward Must Go to 164 or No Fight":
http://www.BS.com/golovkins-coach-andre ... ght--93850
"We don't need Ward. Golovkin doesn't need Ward. Dawson needed Ward. The fact that he made Dawson come down to 168 kind of irks me. When [Golovkin's promoter] Tom [Loeffler] said 50-50, and me and Tom talked about it, he meant 50-50 all the way across. That was the reason why I said 50-50 and 50-50 means 164 - right in the middle. If they want the fight, come to what Golovkin is aking for," Abel Sanchez told BS.com.

"I don't think Ward should have a problem making 164. He talked about fighting Mayweather at 160. Why is he talking about fighting Mayweather at 160 if he's not willing to fight Gennady at 164?"

"If they thought that it was in their best interest to fight Gennady at 164, then fight him - or else they can go about their way. For us, Golovkin is the A-fighter in this situation and I don't care what anybody says. It's not like Golovkin is asking him to come down to 160, like [Golovkin] was going to do for Mayweather and go to 154. We're asking him to meet us halfway. If he doesn't want to, that's okay - we'll just go on to the next one."

And if Ward holds the line at 168?

"Then tell Ward to go somewhere else. We don't need Ward. That would be my response to Tom, if Tom came to me with that," Sanchez said.

"What it will take to make Ward-Golovkin":
http://www.espn.com/blog/dan-rafael/pos ... ard-vs-ggg
“GGG is now clearly the ‘A’ side yet Ward still would want to dictate terms, which makes no sense,” Loeffler said. “GGG would fight Ward on a 50-50 basis, the best 160-pounder versus the best 168-pounder [at] 164 [and] a 50-50 split on all proceeds. But it seems like Ward needs more tuneup fights.”

"Dougie's Friday mailbag":
http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/3945 ... ailbag-216
Doug Fischer stated the following:

"I did ask Loeffler about the supposed catch-weight “offer” to Team Ward... Loeffler said he had an email conversation with Dan Rafael, who asked him what it would take to make a GGG-Ward match, and he proposed the 164-pound catchweight and 50-50 money split as a possibility..."

Here’s another video of Golovkin demanding a 164lb catch-weight stipulation to face Ward.

Skip to the 4 minutes and 45 second mark:


“He [Ward] wants 50-50. He wants the fight with me. Absolutely, I’m ready. Right now, he’s not boxed for two years. His situation is not perfect for the fight. I think my situation is much better. Get in a fight, 50-50 money [and] 50-50 weight.”

[margaret thatcher]

lol ugas (a guy who never moved up and is unifying instead) getting involved is kinda random. is the guy running his account a ward boi?

[Ruthless-RKO]

lol ugas (a guy who never moved up and is unifying instead) getting involved is kinda random. is the guy running his account a ward boi?

It did seem rather random! Haha

[Bandog]

In case you don't know, a lot of boxers are also fans of boxing too. Making comments about wanting to see a fight, and putting GGG in his place is right on. If I remember right, GGG would take any big fight from 154 to 168. Then he asks for a 164 catchweight?

Old news not worth discussing.

[margaret thatcher]

and here you are discussing it

[Enlightened-One]

lol ugas (a guy who never moved up and is unifying instead) getting involved is kinda random. is the guy running his account a ward boi?

It did seem rather random! Haha

To be fair, Ugas is simply pointing out that GGG did boast about being capable of defeating anyone from 154lbs to 175lbs , but never attempted to do it.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong about questioning someone on why they never justified their boasts.