HBO turned down Dimitri Sartison and Caleb Truax as Andre Ward opponents

Read that two fighters Ward wanted HBO to approve for his next fight were Sartison and Truax, and HBO said no. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

Good for HBO.

Truax is a clubfighter. Sartison is decent but not quite world-class.

Ward should fight Edwin Rodriguez, who has in recent fights proven himself worthy of HBO.

 

Agree. Both guys are ok fighters and not bad opponents as far as tune-ups go. But these aren't HBO fights at all and I hope HBO stands its ground and says no to this level of opponents.

I think a Rodriguez would be a good fight when you consider Ward has had one fight in almost 2 years by fight time and he's coming off an injury.

 

Dibella won't put Rodriguez in there with Ward at this time. Ward might have a hard time securing an HBO apporoved opponent.

 

Steglitz would be a decent opponent for Ward but I dont know the chances of that happening.

He doesnt have many options left at 168. The Froch rematch will probably happen if Froch gets by Groves

 

Curious where he goes for an opponent. Froch really doesn't want the fight, and quite
a few potential fighters are already matched up. Edwin Rodgriguez believes he's
ready but his handlers realistically don't. A second Bika fight makes no sense.

 

so Warddke ducked Bute who was untested cause he wanted to fight Pavlik and Truax. Lol, what a joke, this guy is making Ottke blush

 

Ain't it Bute-Pascal in December anyway. Doubt Bute wants to risk the big Canadian payday

 

Be that as it may, Truax is on a roll coming off a dominant televised performance over Don George (who just a few months ago was still the best name on the records of both Adonis Stevenson and Edwin Rodriguez) and has beaten half a dozen other well-known contenders and only ever lost to a former lineal middleweight champion whom he floored. He is also in the WBA top 30 - if only barely (#29) and is honestly better than at least half of those above him...so it wouldn't be too farcical a defense if the handful up top are unavailable.

Sartison is WBA #4. How, don't ask me, since his last meaningful victory was in 2010 - but he is. :conf

Neither would draw much of a crowd or test Ward all that much - or create for an ideal viewing experience, I guess...but for HBO to reject them outright is a bit unfair. Truax has recent positive television exposure and would bring it to Ward, at least making it aesthetically pleasing although he would probably get countered into dust. (and possibly lock ram-horns enough for either or both of them to be cut from butts) Sartison does have the legitimacy of that ranking - however questionable it may seem, and let us recall that he put up a very brave effort against Kessler...and Balzsay vs. Sartison was a war.

 

The other X-factor is that we don't know what Andre's asking price is.

From a budget standpoint, it's sounding like the price of a Ward-Truax or Ward-Sartison fight could probably land them a solid title fight in another division that more people would want to see. He'll have to take less to make that happen because both of those fights are a tough sell.

 

Never heard of them but i'd like to see Ward fight anybody at this stage.

 

Ward is such a bada$$ going after those two. Tucker Pudwell and Darnell Boone probably said no when he offered them rematches.

HBO must be nuts.....WAR S.O.B!!!

 

Well.. i understand why Ward wants a tune up but as a boxing fan i am glad HBO are not letting him take a soft touch.

 

Don't go there

All Vlad does is fight club fighters..sometimes they knock him out.:deal

 

Record against fighters who've ever rated Ring top 10 in their careers, at any weight:

Wlad: 21-2
% of career fights vs opponents who've ever been rated: 36.5%


Ward: 7-0.
% of career fights vs opponents who've ever been rated: 26.9%

So, Wlad's got three times as many wins vs current and former rated fighters (including champions) and fights them more frequently than Ward.

Still wanna drag Wlad into it? :!: