BoxRec

Sure there are some Andre Ward fans out there hoping that he pulls through tonight for the victory. But why that number is not greater puzzles me. What is it about Andre Ward that makes him so difficult to like? He's USA's last gold medalist. He's been undefeated since 13 years old. He's intelligent and well spoken. He appears to be a solid husband and father. He came up the hard way and defied the odds to the top of his professional. Ward's been a model citizen. 10 out of 10 times, that's a recipe for a phenom craved by Madison Avenue marketing dollars. What am i missing here?

Here we have a fight tonight that mimics Rocky IV's storyline but in this one, most people want Ivan Drago to win. Why is the world having such a hard time liking Andre Ward? There has to be a reason. Let's hear it.

His win against Carl Froch was almost 5 years ago now.

What's he done since then to make anyone care about him?

Horse wrote:His win against Carl Froch was almost 5 years ago now.

What's he done since then to make anyone care about him?

I think that it's more than that, Horse. Something about the guy in general turns people off, myself included. I don't know if it's his attitude or what. Can't figure it out. The guy should be running the sport like Floyd did but he can't sell a ticket outside of California.

"Why is the world....."

You're a bit OTT here. A section of a relatively small internet forum don't show him a lot of love.

Who was the last boxer to be a recognised role model and loved/liked by Joe Public, in the US.

caldo2025 wrote:I think that it's more than that, Horse. Something about the guy in general turns people off, myself included. I don't know if it's his attitude or what. Can't figure it out. The guy should be running the sport like Floyd did but he can't sell a ticket outside of California.

Mayweather slowly built a major following after many years of success at world level.

Ward fought at world level for two years in the Super Six and then became an inactive bottom-feeder.

If he had kept fighting at a good level then he'd have more interest in his career.

I think he could have been managed better. He could be marketed better as well, people tend to see him as boring, which is quite a negative view. Then again, this is boxing. If he looks good tonight, his stock may soar.

Pretty simple for me; he has come off as an entitled, self absorbed, prick, deservedly or not. Accepting a nickname like son of god pretty much says it all for me. The fact that he (and his team) have allowed that to stick immediately makes him a target of ridicule for me, not because he is religious, but rather because of the image that it portrays.

It is the epitome of oblivious arrogance in my book.

SOGgy's demeanor fleshes out the image. He comes off as someone who has little ability to objectively self reflect and acknowledge reality. He does not recognize that he portrays a poor image of his religion. He fails to acknowledge that he has not earned the royal place that he believes that he occupies in relation to us mere unsaved mortals.

I would like to see Krusher win tonight.

Boring, uses dirty tactics and you can tell he's extremely unfriendly.

I think Ward is a phenominal talent, best jab i've seen in the modern era, crisp and accurate, but i like agression. I like knockouts. I like punchers. I like rockem sockem robots.

We've had the snorefest borefest era of Floyd, Hopkins, cheating grabbing fouling and boxing snobbery. This is the era now of punchers, golovkin, kovalev. I hope Kovakev gets it done tonight for the good of boxing.

Ricky_ wrote:I think Ward is a phenominal talent, best jab i've seen in the modern era, crisp and accurate, but i like agression. I like knockouts. I like punchers. I like rockem sockem robots.

We've had the snorefest borefest era of Floyd, Hopkins, cheating grabbing fouling and boxing snobbery. This is the era now of punchers, golovkin, kovalev. I hope Kovakev gets it done tonight for the good of boxing.

Amen my friend, amen.

I think he comes off as quite aloof. Not very personable.

Although personality wise- I don't think Kovalev comes off as hugely likeable either to be honest.

lefty wrote:Although personality wise- I don't think Kovalev comes off as hugely likeable either to be honest.

Krusher knows exactly who he is and where he stands; he is a professional fighter who takes a measure of pleasure in inflicting punishment on his opponents, who is not being paid what he deserves and as a result is being disrespected.

SOGgy is deeply conflicted with his profession, imo. He seems to consider boxing his cross to bear.

Doesn't Kov have form for racism?

Srebmun wrote:Doesn't Kov have form for racism?

Tanzio wrote:
SOGgy is deeply conflicted with his profession, imo. He seems to consider boxing his cross to bear.

I think that's an excellent point, Ward is clearly not in love with the sport, as his anti-warrior approach in the ring suggests.

There's something of a parallel with Chris Eubank sr, here. CES made no secret of his low opinion of the game. The difference was he lacked Wards skills, thus couldn't shut a fight down like Ward can, and in Benn and Watson (and Collins and Thompson) he had dance partners who.forced him to be involved in a couple of breathtaking brawls, thus ended up showing warrior spirit almost in spite.of himself, thus becoming at least somewhat beloved by boxing fans in the UK at least.

caldo2025 wrote:Black, White or Green: Why doesn't anyone like Andre Ward?

What a silly thread title! People don't know Ward well enough, due to his inactivity, to neither like nor dislike the man.

Most casual fight fans prefer to witness blood and guts trench warfare and are far too ignorant to appreciate genuine skills. So Ward will never become a highly-respected name by those that fail to appreciate the true objective of the sport of boxing, which is to "hit but not get hit."

Srebmun wrote:Doesn't Kov have form for racism?

He put up a picture of himself pointing at a kid wearing a t-shirt with a chimp on it with the message "Adonis looks great!!!" .... I don't know if making comparisons between black people and primates is viewed in the same way in Russia in his defence however. It seems pretty racist to me but then I'm looking it at from a western perspective.

Tanzio who is a lot more familiar with Russian customs might be able to give a better insight into that.

Enlightened-One wrote:

caldo2025 wrote:Black, White or Green: Why doesn't anyone like Andre Ward?

What a silly thread title! People don't know Ward well enough, due to his inactivity, to neither like nor dislike the man.

Most casual fight fans prefer to witness blood and guts trench warfare and are far too ignorant to appreciate genuine skills. So Ward will never become a highly-respected name by those that fail to appreciate the true objective of the sport of boxing, which is to "hit but not get hit."

I don't agree with this. You can still entertain and show skill at the same time.

https://youtu.be/-pAj93MLKDA

Killer Blow wrote:

Enlightened-One wrote:

caldo2025 wrote:Black, White or Green: Why doesn't anyone like Andre Ward?

What a silly thread title! People don't know Ward well enough, due to his inactivity, to neither like nor dislike the man.

Most casual fight fans prefer to witness blood and guts trench warfare and are far too ignorant to appreciate genuine skills. So Ward will never become a highly-respected name by those that fail to appreciate the true objective of the sport of boxing, which is to "hit but not get hit."

I don't agree with this. You can still entertain and show skill at the same time.

https://youtu.be/-pAj93MLKDA

Ward's been undefeated for twenty years and he's earning $5m for his next fight, so he must be doing something right.

lefty wrote:

Srebmun wrote:Doesn't Kov have form for racism?

He put up a picture of himself pointing at a kid wearing a t-shirt with a chimp on it with the message "Adonis looks great!!!" .... I don't know if making comparisons between black people and primates is viewed in the same way in Russia in his defence however. It seems pretty racist to me but then I'm looking it at from a western perspective.

Tanzio who is a lot more familiar with Russian customs might be able to give a better insight into that.

Having a quick Google, seems it's not an isolated incident.

Srebmun wrote:Doesn't Kov have form for racism?

probably, just like everybody on the planet

Srebmun wrote:

lefty wrote:

Srebmun wrote:Doesn't Kov have form for racism?

He put up a picture of himself pointing at a kid wearing a t-shirt with a chimp on it with the message "Adonis looks great!!!" .... I don't know if making comparisons between black people and primates is viewed in the same way in Russia in his defence however. It seems pretty racist to me but then I'm looking it at from a western perspective.

Tanzio who is a lot more familiar with Russian customs might be able to give a better insight into that.

Having a quick Google, seems it's not an isolated incident.

Ah I didn't know that.

littlepug wrote:

Srebmun wrote:Doesn't Kov have form for racism?

probably, just like everybody on the planet

I'm not, are you?

lefty wrote:

Srebmun wrote:Doesn't Kov have form for racism?

He put up a picture of himself pointing at a kid wearing a t-shirt with a chimp on it with the message "Adonis looks great!!!" .... I don't know if making comparisons between black people and primates is viewed in the same way in Russia in his defence however. It seems pretty racist to me but then I'm looking it at from a western perspective.

Tanzio who is a lot more familiar with Russian customs might be able to give a better insight into that.

Western style political correctness does not apply in Russia. Most of you would consider my wife a racist, based on western hyper sensitive culture. She is not a racist, although (due to her roots) she is still relatively oblivious of others' sensitivities.

Btw, I have to mention that hyper sensitivity in relation to political correctness is one of the primary reasons that Trump was victorious.