...I knew this guy was scared when he claimed an Englishman, Carl Froch, had the advantage fighting an American in America with an american tv company putting together the bill because Carl 'knows where the best restauraunts are'.
Wouldnt be surprised if Ward wants the fight to be remade in Oakland. Ward definately wouldnt want the fight to be in Europe. American SMWs dont seem to perform well when they fight away in big fights outside their comfort zones ie - Dirrell, Brewer, Mitchell, Lacy, Sheika, Manfredo, Andrade (fights out of America), G Johnson (fights out of America), Tate, Holmes, J Taylor etc. That isnt even half of it
Kind of agree with Froch that Ward getting seven stitches from a cut in training is unprofessional. Dare I say they came by way of self inflicted headbutt! (By the way: couldn't find any headbutts among the Smilies?)
Cuts in sparring occasionally do happen. A 7-stitch cut will require some time to heal. Plus, all that time, you cannot spar, so he'll need the month and a half or so to heal, at least, then another month or so to spar to properly prepare. The longer he waits to get hit the less likely it will reopen in the fight. That is something Tyson did not do for Holyfiled II, and you all know the outcome. If I were Froch, I would take an interim tune-up match. Ward should consider the possibility that that the full face headgear actually caused the cut. He should examine it and consider replacing it. It is possible that he got hit, then the action of the headgear moving across his face caused the cut.
Are they supposed to wear headguards and wear 16 oz gloves? How in the hell did he have such a long cut?
Elbow or a forearm? A cut from a punch is still possible even with headgear, even though its not likely.
That's the only thing I can think of that would have happened. I just examined some winning headgear and there is a seam that travels across right above the eye but it is tucked in but right in the middle other seams come together which causes a little bulge but it's hard to imagine this actually causing a cut. Maybe a seam was loose or perhaps was some debris that caused it.