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

Same here,don’t respect him inside the ring though I don’t mind him as a commentator lol.
One or two incidents you could excuse but with Ward it’s fight after fight like the Kessler debacle where the replays show how calculating he his with deliberate elbows,head butts,lacing,rabbit punches,dick punches add to that his clinching,wrestling which he likes to call inside fighting that just turns the fans away in droves it’s hard to respect someone like that or at least like it.
I swear in that second Kovalev match with his Ref onside it just looked like he’d planned to come out and win by punching SK in the groin and yet again like most his fights it ended in more controversy.

 

Oh that he’s ATG isn’t in question for me,his resume would suggest so but the way I look at it is that it’s a good job nobody else fights like him or is allowed to fight like him as boxing would be in an awful state.
My problem with him is that I know he can Box beautifully like he did against Barrera(which looks a better win now than ever)in those tune ups he never clinched,wrestled ect he used his movement and boxing gloves.problem with him is he’d worked out a way of winning his big fights without having to Box beautifully and with Ref onside who’d ignore all his fouling he basically shut down the fight by wrestling for two mins of each round,stinking out the joint on purpose and he wondered why he wasn’t popular with the US fans or sold out big venues with PPV ect like Floyd,not hard to work out as the fans aren’t stupid and aren’t gonna turn up in droves to watch someone shut up the shop in round three onwards.

 

I dont agree at all and even though many may have a similar opinion to yours in regards to unsportsmanlike behaviour in the ring the reality is that people far more qualified then you and I ruled in most of his fights there was no issue and wasnt even given many warnings for any such behaviour.

Ward was briliant in the ring and his opponents were always outclassed and there was no unfair advantage, just because you dont like something does not make it wrong.

He won almost all of his fights easily ,which fights outside the Kovalev fights do you think Ward didnt have the answer for so needed illegal tactics to help him win?

 

I used to defend him on here, but lost all respect for him.

 

he could have been an all time great, but we never saw enough of him to really know how he would do against other legends. that is why having many superfights is a good defining aspect of a fighter. Fighting the best a guy can shows us how they would do against similar styles. I don't think he has the resume to show us how he would do. Even Floyd. lacks the resume to show how he would do against a Leonard or Hearns since he never fought that level fighter in his whole career. He fought Oscar when he was old. Pacman when he was old, but never guys like Leonard or Hearns who had great offence and speed. and Ward did even less.

 

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Why is it so difficult to admit he's a dirty fighter?

 

Dont believe i ever said he wasnt a dirty fighter,roughouse tactics are just 1 part of boxing and always will be a necessary part of the sport as far as Im concerned.

I appreciate all aspects of the sport and different styles but I can understand you and others not liking how he fights or some tactics he has used. From my experiences being involved from a young age as well as watching decades worth of fights I am fully aware of what can happen in a fight and I dont see anything Ward has done as anything more then little niggly fouls that are part of pro boxing and referees should be able to stamp out after warning and take points for repeated offences.

For me the ability to sometimes push those fine lines is just part of the game,that 2nd Kovalev fight is the perfect example with Ward landing some beautiful bodyshots that ****ed Kov up and perhaps landed 1-2 that may have been just under belt line ,which at worst would have been his 1st warning.

If they were fouls they were clearly accidental fouls as he was dominating and well and truely on the way to him being KOd but Weeks robbed Ward the chance or of Kovalev quitting which was looking probable imo.

 

Don't respect him but he will be an ATG.

 

SOB is a Piece of fecal matter! He is a cheat! He lost to Kovalev two times if the rules of boxing were followed!

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He done nothing that well respected ATGs of the past didn't do. Anybody who calls Ward one of the dirtiest fighters the sport ever seen knows not a lot about the sports history. Thats just the honest truth of the matter. I don't claim to be a historian myself.

Look at that video you posted which apparently is meant to prove Ward is a dirty headbutter. Most of the segment is taken up of Kessler talking and sitting in his corner.
The footage show's two and ONLY two clash of heads. One was accidental the other could be argued as intentional.
Either way that last butt happened in the 10th round of a fight where Kessler was comprehensively outboxed for every minute of every round.
There was no butts from 1-8. Head clashes happen all the time in the sport. There are unavoidable and not always intentional.
Wladimir K clearly intentionally launched a head butt into Tyson Fury. Does that blatant butt define Wlad has a head butter?
Ward is classed as career long butter for just two instances alone in the Kessler fight. This is why people who call him a dirty fighter are saying it out of hate and because they just cannot come to accept the fact he was so many levels above Kessler.
Mayweather was a worse culprit for elbows , on top of sucker sucker punching people (Ortiz ,Gatti) yet gets none of the hate Ward receives.
I have to say it but you don't know what a dirty fighter is. Look up the heralded and respected Atturo Gatti's fight with Gamanche to see the real dark side of this sport is all about.

 

I like him.

I see him as a division ATG, but doesn't have the resume to be a P4P ATG

 

You guys are still using those fake tweets?

Look at the account that posted them, totally fake.

They go against Weeks actually statements after the supposed tweets tool

 

He would have defeated Joe Calzaghe.

 

I agree except for that I consider Kovalev to be a very good boxer. He's not flashy, but he has a beautiful mastery of distance, jab and power. He'd outbox a lot of people.