Dan Gossen about Ward vs. Bute

I was talking about negotiations. Let more be revealed, before we begin accusing either fighter of ducking.

Besides, I'm perfectly happy for Bute to beat up Froch next, before facing Ward to determine for sure who the number one guy is.

 

i'm agree too that Bute should fight first with Froch and Kessler and then to have a fight with Ward. This will be fair. The main problem is, if Froch and Kessler will accept a fight with Bute. Kessler declined an offer from Bute ; now Bute's promoter started some negotiations with Froch's promoter but i don't know if they came to an agreemant.

 

Maybe in a couple of days Bute - Froch will be confirmed ( 1 fight i hope). We'll see after that...

 

Gossen seems to look with Arum when he talks ......

 

That "earning thing" is all bull to me...What did Ward do to "earn" the right to fight in the super six without having proven anything ?? Nada....It was all a promoter arrangement and now he's yapping.....stfu !!

 

You have video of Ward saying there would be nothing left for him at super middleweight, but that he intends to stay there anyway? If so, I would like to see it.

It does defy logic if he flat out states that there's nothing left to do at super middle after Bute but he's going to stay there anyway. I've never heard Ward say this in any video interviews. I've seen him say in every video that he intends to stay at SMW for a couple more years and then move up to light-heavyweight. There are a number of good fights to still be made at SMW - he wants to rematch Kessler, he wants to fight Bute (eventually), he wants to fight Dirrell (one, the other, or both).

In an interview a couple of years back, he was gung-ho on the idea of moving up to LHW and having a super fight with Dawson, before Dawson lost to Pascal. Since then, Ward has been clear in saying that LHW is part of the plan in a couple of years, but there's more than enough to do for now with the outliers at super middle.

I can't speak for anybody but myself, but speaking for myself, it only takes spending an hour or so on this very website to see the large number of people here who think Bute is all hype. As an obvious Bute supporter, wouldn't it be in your interest as well as Bute's interest to dispel the accusations of being a hype job before fighting Ward?

Think about it - let's say Ward and Bute fight each other next. Say Ward wins more easily than expected. Will either of them *really* get the respect that kind of win deserves? No. People who hate Ward will say that Bute never fought an A-class fighter and was all Canadian hype, causing the fight to be seen the same way as Calzaghe-Lacy or Wlad-Haye. People who hate Bute will say, "You see? He was nothing to begin with!" when he lost to someone who may one day be seen as a great fighter. It's not fair to either of them. Wouldn't Wlad-Haye have been seen in a much more positive light if Hate beat, say, Adamek, Povetkin, and Arreola instead of Barrett, Ruiz and Valuev? If Wlad had insisted that Haye beat Povetkin first, he would have been accused of ducking, BUT if Haye did it, Wlad would have ultimately gotten far more credit for the win over Haye, correct?

If Bute fights and beats Froch, he will have matched Ward's single greatest accomplishment. There will always be haters, but majority of people who are now arguing that Bute doesn't have the resume to be considered the best at SMW, will have to shut up - Bute beat the S6 runner up.

I've been in favour of that approach for a long time. In fact, I was hoping that when Bute was first signed to Showtime that the first thing he was going to do was start munching on the Super Six leftovers. He did that with Glen Johnson, but I was hoping he would have done that with Dirrell or Kessler once they were out of the tournament. Not Bute's fault, of course, but that was always what I hoped for. That hasn't changed now that the S6 is over.

If it were entirely up to me, this is what I would love to happen:

2012:
Ward beats Andre Dirrell
Bute beats Anthony Dirrell
Ward beats Kessler again
Bute beats Froch

Then, the entire division is completely cleaned out, and the two most accomplished fighters, both in talent AND in resume are left standing. At the end of 2012, or beginning of 2013, we see a super-fight with no accusations of hype by any credible parties.

You misunderstand. I don't actually disagree with this, though. I don't think there is a more worthy challenger than Bute. This is why you're wrong in saying that I was somehow "given" my idea by Ward. Ward is saying Bute is unworthy of being a top contender. *I'm* saying Bute is unproven as a peer. There's a huge difference.

Lacy was ranked as the #1 challenger in the lead up to the fight against Calzaghe. He was seen as being on the verge of greatness. Now, does anybody give Calzaghe credit for that win at all? It's actually held against him! Why? Because while Lacy was indeed worthy, he wasn't proven, and we saw that by watching him basically collapse after the fight. He never won an important fight in his life.

If Bute loses against the only A level fighter he's fought, how does he avoid being labeled "Canadian Jeff Lacy"? The way he avoids is that is beating an A level fighter in the form of Froch, Kessler, or Dirrell FIRST. Not to prove he's a worthy #2 (which is already is), but to show that Ward's status as #1 is in dispute. THAT'S how you build a superfight. And I've always believed that.

The boxing public will watch the fight no matter what. They're an impatient lot. But they're also a judgmental lot, as you know from being on this website. The same people insisting that Ward fight Bute next will be the same people who run to discredit both fighters after the fight.

The next LOGICAL fight to take place is Bute vs. Froch. In doing so, Bute will get the casual British public interested in how a fight against Ward will turn out, there will be more mainstream play in the states, and the skeptics will be silenced leading up to the fight. When the fight is over, WHOEVER wins, it can be said without question that the clear and undisputed #1 fighter beat the clear and undisputed #2 fighter. If Ward beats Bute next, I don't think that would be clear at all, because the #2 position would be in doubt and interest would already be lost.

From a pure historical, and financial perspective, Froch vs. Bute is the best next fight to happen.

Strongly disagree here. It's not ducking, it's simply building more interest by playing the timeless game of "anything you can do, I can do better".

Again, a regular fight is between the #1 and the #2. A superfight is between the #1 and the #1. Ward wants a superfight, and I want a superfight. Bute is in a position to make that happen, but he has to make himself the co-#1, the Pacquiao to Ward's Mayweather.

It's not ducking, it's trying to force Bute to take steps to create a superfight. And I think it's the right thing to do.

 

it's baffling to me why people are giving ward a free pass.....bute's the clear #1 in the division behind Ward, that's all that should matter here. He also provides Ward with the most money for a fight.....on all fronts this makes sense for Ward especially if he feels it's an easy fight....if it's so easy then fight him, beat him easy and get the highest pay day of your career instead of calling him undeserving then fighting someone even less deserving like Anthony Dirrell.

 

No he's not ducking the man...he's beaten better fighters, his hand is injured he's just come off a stretch of difficult fights, and is now looking to relax and allow his body to heal and recharge. While that's happening, Bute can fight a Froch/Kesslar and provided he keeps winning, they can meet up down the road. Not sure what's so difficult to understand about this idea.

 

I feel this. If this is how it pans out then fine....my problem is with Ward fighting Anthony Dirrell first.....hella hypocritical seeing as he said Bute ain't worthy....if Bute ain't worthy than Anthony is far from worthy. If Ward sits out and lets himself heal while he waits on Bute to beat a Froch or Kessler then fights him later this year that'd be fine but if he takes a Dirrell bout or any lesser opponent (lets face it everyone at SMW is a lesser opponent) then it's clear to me they're either trying to avoid or prolong the Bute fight.

 

Right now most folks have Ward #1 and Bute #2, but I wonder how people would rank Bute and Ward, should Bute go out and stop Froch & Andre Dirrell and Ward go out and get a UD over Anthony Dirrell? For me that would be enough to give Bute a #1 ranking over Ward.

 

Yes, and that's exactly WHY I want Bute to fight Froch or Kessler first. I don't want #1 to fight #2. I want #1 to fight #1. If Bute fights and brutally destroys Froch, Ward's status as the #1 SMW in the world is in doubt. It becomes a 50/50 fight, instead of what it currently is, Ward a heavy favourite.

If THAT happens, then we have a SMW Pacquiao-Mayweather. As long as Bute doesn't close the gap between himself and Ward, it won't be seen as a true superfight. At least not IMO.

 

@demigawd
We will see in the next future if Ward's next opponent is more worthy, more earn it than Buté.

boxing is like politics, 6 month can be like eternity, boxers fight usually 2 rarely 3 times a year, injuries are possibilties and how many time we saw big fights never happen.

An unification is always a big fight. Showtime want it now too and they are ready to put the money on that and imagine if rather Goosen said: OK, we want this fight too.
Does the boxing fans will said: Oh no, it's too early, we don't want this fight now, we prefer Ward with Anthony Dirrell...

If Goosen has said: OK, we will take the time to sit down , talk with Interbox an others players... but the way he said it proves that he don't want at this time any part of Buté.

It will be a big contradiction: Ward don't want Buté as a next opponent because he find that he is not worthy, but big chance that it will be with an opponent less known than Buté.
And be sure that it will not be Andre Dirrell too.

I don't buy the arguments: building the interest , worthy, earn it.
There is an opportunity for the titles, and the money is there, the diffuser too, , and Ward don't want it, period.

Can we call it a duck?
In my book: YES!!!

 

i agree with demigawd, he should fight froch first, because of him yakking on about bute not being up to par, more than hyping the fight. i think its safe to say that the existing hype is more than enough to face each other.facing froch first will up the anty, but just one fight before facing ward, the ward bute match up should happen at the latest by the end of the year, not 2013, to many things can happen and i absolutly want to see this match up sooner than later without any risk of it not happening.