After watching Ward vs Bika I couldnt help but feel that Ward gets too much advantage fighting at home. Ward was allowed to hold and hit Bika and do excessive holding that should cost points. When Bika was using Wards rough tactics and getting the better, the ref seemed to break the action, but if Ward was getting the better the ref seemed to let it continue. Ward used the forearm when punching at some points but was never warned for this. The the real funny part was the scoring for Ward vs Bika. No doubt Ward won but the scoring was too wide for Ward. No doubt Ward has some skills and isnt easy to beat but - For Ward fighting in Jokeland he is able to get away with headbutts, holding, holding and hitting, using forearms and gets the benefit of a ref that lets him get away with these things, What do you think
I haven't seen the Bika fight yet but I was at the oakland arena for the Green fight and Ward is deff a hometown commodity so I wouldnt be suprised really. The undercard was absolutely awful and the announcer just kept using Wards name to try and hype the crowd.
I totally agree bailey, and you didn't even get into the scoring part of the joke... 120-108 (!), 118-110, 118-110... Why didn't they shoot that first judge on the spot?! :admin
i think he will be just as goo if he fights elsewhere. he is just that good. but only time will tell.
He can fight at home I don't care. This "grow some balls and fight outside" **** is stupid , from my point of view he can fight at home as long as he has fair judging and fair play in the ring. Maybe i didn't saw enough boxing matches but do the referee's normally let 2 fighter when they are in clinch having 1 or 2 hand looked to keep hitting with the free hand or time to free 1 hand and start hitting with it? Is that normal? I thought in close range fights you still need to have both hands free... and once a hand is held by the opponent you "as a referee" say stop and break.
the scoring for this fight is possibly the worst i have ever witnessed. there was **** all in this fight for 8 rounds, the only possible way the judges didn't cheat in this fight is that they may have got suckered into just listenning to the crowd everytime ward threw anything :-( i stopped up for the fight but fell asleep after 8 rounds (4.30am) and when i saw the shutout 120-108 scoring the next day, i was completely gobsmacked :shock: for the good of boxing, andre ward should be forced to fight outside of joakland in some neutral setting, with neutral judges and a neutral referee that applies the letter of the law instead of 'oakland rules' :deal
I thought Ward won the fight 9-3 in a competitive fight with a tough fighter. The 120-108 card was awful though. I think Ward is a top 10 pfp fighter right now and I'm a fan of his but I would like to see him fight on the road in atleast one of his next 2 fights.
I think you will be very hard pressed to find a Ward fan who wouldn't want Ward to fight outside his back yard.. otherwise they know he will get written off as a homer.
lots of referees with what I consider to have a ruby goldstein, or steve smoger, hands off refereeing style, allow this to happen. In my opinion, there's no coincidence that these sorts of refs are often involved in the most physical fights. as for ward fighting in oakland, whether it helps him or not (it definitely does, in terms of the motivation he gets from having his entire hometown cheering him on and shouting his nickname in unison) will always be taken as a knock on him until he can beat a big time super middleweight in either a neutral venue, or that fighter's hometown.
The Bika fight was outside the tournament, and Ward's the champ, so it was his call as to venue. But the Super Six fights need to stop being held in Oakland. Ward has had an advantage that none of the other Super Six particpants has enjoyed. His fight with AA, and especially his fight with Froch or Johnson, needs to take place on neutral ground.
I had that fight 7 rounds to 5 for Ward but it seemed like the score cards were already written prior to the fight being staged. Does anyone know if there's plans of staging the semis and final in Vegas or somewhere like that ?
One thing that made me laugh was Ward complaining to the ref that Bika is too rough. I would like to see Froch punch the back of his head a few times when they fight.