It's a shame that Krusher has been shelved

ward needs to either rematch him or retire. getting sick of stall and whiny tactics. I wouldn't miss him if he retired anyway.

 

If the outcome is dependent on ME making more concessions, we're all screwed. There's no more meat left on that bone- fight is already going to be in the U.S., Ward is already guaranteed far more than Kovalev, and the judges were all American.

If I had to speculate, I'd speculate that Roc is trying to get Ward to alter his contract in such a way to reduce his guarantee in exchange for a bigger share on the back end.

Ward's smart- I'd be shocked if he didn't already have a clause in place that guarantees him more in the rematch since he won. How much more is anyone's guess, but Roc lost real money the first time around. They don't want to be on the hook for it. If Roc overpromised him, Duva isn't going to bail them out. That's my thesis.

Right now, its a toss up as to whether we see a rematch IMO.
*Ward doesn't need the fight - he got the official W and a fat payday, doesn't want to take a paycut (I Don't blame him). He's been at this for decades. He can pull a Calzaghe and walk away set financially for life if he feels like it.

* Neither does Duva or Kovalev- Many already think Kovalev won, and they'll run wild with the "Ward's ducking the rematch" angle, regardless of how much more complicated things actually are.

*Roc doesn't want it as it's currently structured- they're losing money on a high risk fight. They're the real losers in this scenario, but being a new outfit, they weren't going to land guys like Ward and Cotto without spending more than their competitors. They really need Miguel back in the ring to generate some positive cash flow for them.

 

Kovalev has been f--ked by this deal. 3 belts, earnings potential and months of his career stolen. Whoever is holding it back should do the honorable thing and let Kovalev fight, either against Ward or someone else.

Ward is a dirty cheating skank but he may not be the one delaying this decision.

 

The "holdup" is that Ward wants to retire because he's "not appreciated" by fans or the media.

 

Excellent, insightful post.