Ward thinks he could beat AJ

If this fight is competitive it's the nail in the coffin for super heavyweights. Hopefully Ward has some tricks up his sleeve

 

His only hope is wrestle for twelve rounds and he gets the decision in Vegas.

 

Anthony Joshua would literally kill Jake Paul, and violently hurt Andre Ward.

why is boxing turning into low rent reality TV? I get it, this era is all about fame and metrics and little else - but have some respect.

They would both be forever changed by the beating.

 

The issue that Ward has is that he seems to struggle with the fact that he isn’t remembered. That he never crossed over (as someone earlier in the thread pointed out), even though he was American, had a gold medal, was skilled, and (let’s be honest) had things his own way for the entirety of his pro career. And therefore he retired undefeated. And people are still like “who?!” - he just doesn’t register with people.

so, he does the age old “I coulda been a contender” routine, even though he was a unified champ. It’s sad really.

I think in part it’s genuinely delusion as he had so much smoke blown up his ass by everyone in the industry, and was given every opportunity- all the way down to a cushy post retirement job on a major network. And it still didn’t stick.

boxing fans are smart though. It’s that false economy of giving advantages and robberies to the a-side/home fighter. It doesn’t work. They see through it.
Had Kovalev rightfully defeated Ward in their first meeting, Ward would’ve taken an L, but people wouldn’t have hated him for it like they did. And he would’ve had a great/heroic redemption story had he won the return (without any low blows). Fans would’ve loved him for it. Likewise if he’d gone on the road to fight Froch at Wembley, etc etc. That’s how you build a loyal national audience. Not having walkovers and favours and robberies when you are p4p level fighter.

For further evidence see Haney over Loma (again, Haney was a likable if dull talent, but people hated him after that egregious result). Canelo over GGG (golden child became a love/hate character), etc etc etc.

Rant over!

 

Ward has been saying he could beat Joshua since 2017, and never done anything about it. That tells you all you need to know.

 

Ward is one of the most overrated fighters of the last 25 years. Joshua is limited, but he punches through Ward for 2/3 rounds before stopping him.

 

Word is so corny bro

 

You make a good point. For me Ward comes across as a guy who feels sorry for himself like he was hard done by. He was a dirty fighter and the whole Kovalev saga really rubbed people the wrong way. He is obviously after a pay day as he left several million on the table from retiring young which I think had more to do with his ego and wanting to remain undefeated. He likely could've gotten a fight with Canelo had he stuck around. I remember there was even talk of him fighting Tony Bellew which would've been a good pay day as well.

 

There are definitely some LHW's historically who could trouble Joshua. The problem for Joshua is that he can be outboxed, is exceptionally slow to recover, and has questionable resolve. The idea that a 175 guy who quickly eats his way up to 205 could beat Joshua is far from out of line. A 215lb Usyk easily defeats Joshua.

 

It is so easy to get a rise out of Joshua he probably just couldn't resist.

The most effective and mature response would have been just to laugh it off but Joshua's sensitive ego just won't allow him to.

 

Of the 3 prime Haye is the only one with a chance of beating Joshua.

 

Any reasonably decent heavyweight would beat the **** out of a 41-year-old undersized Ward coming off an 8-year layoff. I don't care about the difference in skill. Joshua seriously hurts him.

 

at this point he probably could, but it ain't worth what it used to be...

 

Wow, the only guy to get AJ haters to actually root for AJ, lol!

I am cool with Ward, but he also never dared to be great or become an ATG. Getting some fights were out of his control, but I do think he should have had the rubber match with Kovalev, fought Hopkins, GGG, Canelo, and stuck around for Beterbiev. I think he should have moved up and fought Huck at cruiserweight, and that was probably his limit. Usyk wasn't famous during the Ward era, but would have got beaten badly. I don't think he would have had much chance of gaining a title at any point during the Klitschko, Fury, AJ, Wilder eras.

 

This is why the old school fighters were so lucky to not live in the Age of the Grifter, Age of the Clout Chaser, and social media.

Could you imagine the amount of people who would have climbed out of the woodwork to slag off Lewis and claim they could beat him after he got knocked out by Rahman? Or after Ali lost to Spinks?

Show some respect to the 2x Unified HW champ. AJ murders Paul in the first 20 seconds and he murders Nutcracker Ward in a round.