Did u see the lack of hugging & zero low blows.. it was glorious.. proper LHW boxing.. not some illegal blow hugfest.. Ward gets his arse kicked even by a 40 year old Beterbiev.. no one likes ward he was awful
Spot on. Was so refreshing to see. Beterbiev would knock Ward out late in the fight but I could see Ward winning a couple rounds at least. My only reservation towards Beterbiev is that he can be a really slow starter at times, but man he really makes up for it.
No low blows! No shady fist bumping with the ref beforehand! No hugging after getting brains rattled! Hell no takedown attempts even!! Just boxing as it SHOULD LOOK LIKE. Just CLASSY all the way
This place is very anti-Ward lol. But are we talking about Andre Ward today at 40 years old coming out of retirement and fighting 39 yeard old AB? Funny how they're both about the same age and Ward's been retired for 7 years lol. Or are we talking the Andre Ward that beat and stopped Prime Kovalev? Now, we know, those wins are controverisal. But he still beat a fierce and dangerous competitor in Kovalev. I gotta keep it real. However we feel about Andre Ward, he was a great highly skilled fighter. If we're talking about Ward from 7-8 years ago, he would be a handful for AB. Those giving that Ward no chance are kidding themselves. Ward has all the tools to outbox AB if he doesn't get caught and hurt. Then again, so does Bivol and look what happened tonight. But still, Ward was a great Champion and deserves more respect around here.
Prime Ward has no chance against Beterbiev. He was a completely overly boxer who was allowed to break the rules in the ring with impunity and then receive robberies from the judges.
My knee jerk response is to say a prime Artur KO10. But, wouldnt a prime Ward would have a chance against the Beterviev that fought today? Bivol is maybe a bit quicker than Ward? A bit longer maybe... does he fight on the backfoot that much better than Ward? Theres a case to be made that Bivol beat Artur, is what he did completely unachievable by Ward? Again, my initial thought is AB wins, but maybe Ward has a better shot than I give him credit for.
You think have gloves won't travel 'road' warrior Ward who had home advantage against every world class fighter he fought and US refs for every single one of his fights, 23 of them Cali refs, and whose filthy dirty cheating style and success was entirely dependant on that so he could fight to set of rules he penned with his own hand, would fight Beterbiev, let alone in Saudi? History says otherwise and resoundingly so You take away all that holding, headbutting, elbows, low blows, ducking below waist level etc and he wouldn't have been half as successful as he was. Bivol is a pure skill fighter, actual legit and legal beautiful skills, not 20-30% legit skills and 70-80% fouling and cheating like crazy like Ward. Beterbiev would pound Ward into a quivering heap and obviously you don't pit this a few months away from turning 40 version of Beterbiev against prime versions of other fighters in fantasy match ups but even if you did Beterbiev would still pound his ass into the canvas.
Honestly - I don’t rate Ward. Horrible style which would’ve been punished had he fought away from Oakland, which would’ve given us a better idea of his overall level. Had things too much his own way, and Kovalev 1 was a clear as day robbery. Just feel if he wasn’t American and hadn’t always had his way, he wouldn’t have been rated how he is. that being said - Beterbiev roughs him up and stops him by the 8th. Not physically strong enough, nor sharp enough a puncher to hang with someone like Beterbiev. The rough stuff would get him nowhere.
Can't see how Ward get's much out of Beterbiev tbh, as nearly all his strengths, Beterbiev is stronger in Physical strength, wrestling, clinching etc - Beterbiev Inside game - ward doesn't want to be at close range with Arturs short hammer blows Bully the bully - Ward was able to bully Kovalev, but that will not work with Artur Ward's only chance IMO would be to keep it long and potshot his way to a decision, but we saw last night just how hard that is - Beterbiev is just too great at cutting off the ring and getting into range
