Who's Greater Canelo or Ward

That's why I said substitute Stevenson or Beterbiev for Kovalev and Canada for Russia, because the money argument.

Would Dre ever have fought either in Canada, let alone with a Canadian ref, a Canadian ref and one Canadian judge, a Canadian ref and two Canadian judges, or god forbid a Canadian ref and three Canadian judges? You know, like how they stack the deck all the time across the pond and they did to Kovalev in both fights. And the answer to that question is a resounding NO and we all know it is and history confirms it

He could've fought a rematch with Kessler in Denmark, Adonis in Canada, Bute in Canada, Froch in the UK, Degale in the UK, or anyone in their backyard but he never did once and that was obviously intentional on his part.

Kessler tried to secure a rematch in Denmark but he said there was always something with Dre and that he wouldn't make any concessions at all. Who you gonna believe have gloves won't travel serial liar/serial cheat deck stacking phony Dre or fearless road warrior/clean fighter and all round class act and good guy Kessler?

What he did against Kessler was freaking criminal

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''I'm just saying, man, every cut I got is a headbutt or an elbow. Every single one.

''But that's why there's a third man in the ring''

''All these are either blatant headbutts or elbows, literally blatant. Not one of these was from a punch''

"We expected this kind of fight with Bika," Ward said. "Every laceration I have was literally [from] a headbutt or an elbow. I clearly remember each one of them. That's what you get when you fight a guy like Sakio."

''At the end of the day, boxing is already a tough enough business to not have to put up with illegal blows.

''I don't mind the occasional foul if it's an accident but the intentional stuff I just can't put up with it''

--Andre Ward

Checkmate

'Now, the third and final fight of the opening stage of the tournament has problems before fighters Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward even step into the ring.

In short, Mikkel Kessler's team is unhappy with the appointed officials, including a California referee and two California judges. The fight takes place in Oakland, Ward's hometown.

The WBA might refuse to sanction the bout as a title fight unless the California State Athletic Commission finds judges and a referee who aren't from Ward's home state, Kessler's representatives told the Associated Press on Wednesday.

Kessler (42-1, 32 KOs) agreed to travel from Denmark to the hometown of Ward (20-0, 13 KOs), the undefeated Olympic gold medalist, for a lucrative payday in their first bout in the high-profile 168-pound (76-kilogram) tournament.

The contracts signed by each of the tournament's six fighters set out very specific requirements for the nationality of the officials, requiring two judges and the referee to be "from a neutral territory."

Wilfried Sauerland, Kessler's promoter, was told a referee and two judges from California have been assigned to the fight, along with well-known South African judge Stanley Christodoulou.

"Not all the judges can be from California," Sauerland said after a news conference in downtown Oakland. "If it stays like this, definitely there won't be a world championship on Saturday. We have a really serious problem."

The tournament's contracts were, of course, quite specific, and had to be for everything to get rolling and actually happen. Getting six fighters committed to about two years worth of fights, with five promoters in the mix, is not easy. If the appointed officials don't match what the contracts demand, that is a serious problem, and it's something someone has to answer for. How could something like that be overlooked?

The California State Athletic Commission is trying to get something done fast:

"We are aware of the concerns of the promoter, and so we have been working with both the promoter and the sanctioning body to address those concerns, and that process is ongoing," Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the athletic commission, told the AP.

Jake Donovan says that two of the four officials need to be replaced, and that Kessler's team wants one of the California judges replaced with a judge from a Scandinavian country (but not Denmark), and wants a neutral referee instead of California ref Jack Reiss, and he has the bit of the contract that makes it quite clear:

"Judges and referees shall be identified, selected and assigned by the athletic commission with jurisdiction over the Bout; provided that in all events, one judge shall be from the Home Territory of each Boxer Participant and the third judge shall be from a neutral territory, and in all cases, the referee shall be from a neutral territory."

Given that language, Kessler's side is absolutely right to have a major problem with the appointed officials. It's short notice, but you have to figure this will get fixed by the end of today. Really, it never should have happened.'

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Dre ducked Stevenson after being called out by him live on HBO. Stevenson didn't just call him out he even offered to drop back down to 168 and go to his hometown for the first of a two-fight deal.

Why didn't Dre ''answer the call'' when Stevenson called him out directly like he was so eager to do for Golovkin who didn't even call him out? He'd already complained that he couldn't get any meaningful fights and that he was ready to fight anyone from 168-175, but when Stevenson called him out live on HBO (whilst Ward was in attendance) after scoring a sensational first round one-punch KO of Chad Dawson, of which Max Kellerman described as a ''star making performance'', Ward went as quiet as a mouse. Literally.

''Andre Ward is here. I want Andre Ward.''

--Adonis Stevenson

Ward's response?

''Stevenson doesn't have the track record to warrant a title fight. He won't get a shot until he has won some big fights.''

^^Read that again

Ward said this in 2012.

"I am ready to fight the best 168- and 175-pounders that are out there," Ward told ESPN.com in a recent interview. "At this point, a big fight at 175 is interesting to me. I don't want to go up just to go up. But for the right fight, for a big fight, I would go up. I'm willing to fight anyone at '68 or '75."

And again

'People ask me on the street or on Twitter when I'm coming back,' said Ward, who is expecting his fourth child with wife Tiffiney in mid-June. 'Well, I'm coming. I want Bute but I'm ready for any big fight at 168 or 175 pounds.'



''Yvon Michel, promoter of newly crowned light heavyweight world champion Adonis Stevenson, advised *** that in the event a fight with Bernard Hopkins cannot be made, that he would be willing to do a two-fight deal with super middleweight king Andre Ward.

Stevenson (21-1, 18 KOs) stunned the boxing world with a one-round knockout of reigning 175-pound boss Chad Dawson (31-3, 17 KOs) last Saturday in front of his hometown fans of Montreal.

'Adonis's first wish would be to fight Bernard Hopkins, and if that's not feasible to make that fight, his second wish would be to fight Andre Ward,' Michel said. 'Everyone is aware Ward is looking for an opponent that he hasn't fought. He tried to fight [Julio Cesar] Chavez Jr., or Carl Froch, but Froch seems to be busy somewhere else, so he's desperate to sign a quality opponent.'

-----------------------------------------

MONTREAL - Newly-minted WBC light-heavyweight champ Adonis Stevenson wants a piece of undefeated American Andre Ward, but the feeling isn't mutual.

Ward, considered the No. 2 pound-for-pound pugilist in the world behind Floyd Mayweather, says Stevenson (21-1-0, 18 KOs) doesn't have the track record to warrant a title fight.

The WBA super middleweight champion (26-0, 14 KOs) says Stevenson won't get a shot until he has 'won some big fights.'

But Ward might have trouble saying no if Stevenson's devastating first-round knockout of American Chad Dawson on Saturday piques interest in the power-punching, late-blooming Montrealer.

His promoter, Yvon Michel, told QMI Agency that he'll meet HBO top brass next week to try to hammer out a deal that would see Stevenson fight Ward on U.S. soil at 168 pounds, on one condition.

'(Ward must) sign a two-fight deal that guarantees a return to Montreal at 175 pounds,' said Michel. 'We won't give (Ward) all of the advantages!'

HBO commentators were dazzled by Stevenson's left cross that felled Dawson, with ****yst Max Kellerman calling the bout a 'star-making performance.'

Stevenson only began boxing at age 29, but has knocked out his last eight opponents. He says Ward, who was at ringside at the Bell Centre on Saturday, simply wants to avoid Dawson's fate.

'Ward definitely wants to delay this to avoid facing me,' said the champ. 'It took him 10 rounds to defeat Chad Dawson. It took me how many seconds? Ah yes, 76. Ward is crazy to say I'm not ready.'

As a result, Michel has proposed a home-and-home series where each fighter can defend his respective title on his own stomping grounds.

'And so on that, we're willing [to fight Ward],' Michel said. 'Adonis can fight at 168 or 175, so what we're willing to do is to go to Oakland in September at 168, but on the condition that there's a written rematch here [in Montreal] at 175, regardless of the result [in the first fight].'

Ward (26-0, 14 KOs) has not fought since last September, when he protected his Oakland, Calif., home turf by stopping Dawson in 10 rounds, successfully defending his 168-pound world title in the process.

'Andre Ward took 10 rounds to dismantle a guy, who by his own admission was very, very weak, and drained in the fight,' Michel said. 'Adonis took the best Chad Dawson, who said that he had the best training camp of life, and that he was back in his own weight division, and it took one punch for [Adonis] to take him out.'

After injuring his right shoulder during his last training camp, Ward has since undergone surgery in January and returned to the gym to prepare for a targeted September foe, according to his promoter Dan Goossen.

'They said they want to fight in September. We want to fight in September. If he wants a tune-up fight, just say so,' Michel said. 'Don't say otherwise because Adonis is ready.'


Why did the lineal LHW champion Stevenson fresh off a spectacular one-punch first round KO of Chad Dawson have to win some more big fights before he got his shot against Ward but ''MW hype job'' Golovkin who by Ward's own admission was only the ''No. 2 or No. 3 MW" in the world and hadn't beaten anyone didn't?

Why were ''weak link'' and JCC Jr. Chavez, MW Golovkin, shot Pavlik, E-Rod, Dimitri Sartison, MW Caleb Truax, Stanyslav Kastanova all worthy opponents but lineal LHW champion and big draw in Canada Stevenson wasn't? What track record did those guys have to deserve their shot?



''Andre Ward is here. I want to fight Andre Ward''

--Adonis Stevenson

But according to Ward ''Stevenson (the lineal LHW champion) wasn't worthy''

''But GGG ducked Dre doe''

But Dre didn't duck Adonis, right?