Do you respect Andre Ward and think he should be considered as an ATG?

Yep he was technically amazing, i mean to land all those low blows win via low blow knockout takes some skills.....

 

46 tried..The man was every bit as adaptable as Ward, and the engine to outpoint him. Neither mans knocking the other one out quite obviously. Its gonna take all the mauling he can muster to slow down the Valley boy, and it wont be enough

 

Absolutely.

I'm certainly not a Ward fan, but I have him 3 or 4 all-time at SMW.

(Calzaghe, Jones, maybe Toney)

And the maths don't seem to work either.

If there are 29 better SMWs, then it's difficult to put Ward in the top 100 all-time p4p (or the top 500, for that matter.)


Unless, you are being mathematically technical here, the top 3 being a subset of the top 30.

That still leave the second part of the assertion more than a bit troubling.

 

Interesting comparison. Ottke doesn't get much respect around here, some of that is deserved, for the reasons you laid out.

I think Ward's legacy will be judged higher based on his competition. And while I felt that Ward was a dirty fighter that doesn't seem to have any effect in terms of boxing legacy.

 

I respect his accomplishment. HOFer for certain.
But what is an ATG?
I don't have enough knowledge to compile a list of top 50. But reading some of the experts' list on who are in them, I think Ward falls outside the top 50.
He might come in the lower top 100.

 

i agree
ward would have beat ottke even if the fight took place in germany

i was playing devils advocate a bit ,the fact that a european has to travel and fight overseas to be recognised on the world stage while an american can fight his whole career ala mayweather & ward and be recognised without the stigma attached.

 

Bingo

 

Unless your rationale is his throwing religion in peoples' face, the answer to the first question should be yes if you watch and follow boxing. As far as ATG, it comes down to the "well how many ATG's have there been? At what number does that become diluted?" Either way, he is one of the best boxers of the last decade, and of this current century, so I dunno. Ask again in 20 years.

 

He's very good but he's a dirty, stay at home bore. He lost to Kov the first time and the last punch in his "win" was a low blow.

 

Interesting question.

For me an ATG is one who's greatness transcends time, meaning that unlike the HOF it is not a cast iron status as more people come along dislodging past greats from being seen as time transcending.

With that in mind I consider anyone who's amongst the ten best in the traditional weightclasses to be an ATG and select few others who proved their skills in an none traditional weight class. (Wilfredo Gomez for example).

To exemplify what I mean right now Riddick Bowe is number 10 in my HW list, therefore he's someone I class as an ATG. But if Joshua does enough to establish himself as a top ten HW, Bowe then gets knocked out of my top ten. So a great fighter yes, but no longer one who transcends time.

 

I have absolutely no respect for Andre Ward. He kept his 0 thanks to corrupt officals He is one of the dirtiest cheats Ihave ever seen

 

Good post. I do subconciously favour the traditional classes as well or dominant in one particular weight class. Things get a bit tough with the weight jumpers.

 

LOL he would have been an ATG and in the hall of fame even without the Kovalev fights ,his resume includes an olympic gold medal and undefeated professional career where he easily defeated the best in multiple divisions .

Since when does 1 disputed decision in a close fight like the 1st Kovalev fight stop a fighter being an ATG?

The 2nd fight which haters hopelessly hold onto was a stoppage win against a clearly beaten Kovalev but people arguing about 1-2 possible illegal punches from Ward which at worst would have bought about his 1st warning.

 

It wasn't just the Kovalev fights. Ward has a history of dirty or unsportsmanlike behavior when his opponent presents a challenge he cannot solve legitimately.It throws his opponent off and gives Ward an unfair advantage. Excessive clinching,headbutting,lunging, along with low-blows and elbows makes his repertoire one of the dirtiest of active boxers.He has a dirty move for every punch. Someone should create a video with an accurate, unbiased commentary of his dirtiest "victories".