Don't overrate Andre Ward; he has weaknesses that can be exploited!

Great post. But until we actually see him lacking the above qualities, we shouldn't be concerned just yet.

Once this Bika fight is out of the way, the time for Ward to truely prove himself will arrive. Froch, Abraham, Bute etc, all should provide the stiff tests to answer all of our questions.

 

Which reminds me, I'd love to see how he'd deal with Froch more than anyone else. Not because the British-brawler is talented or anything, but because his style may put forth a few hurdles for Ward to overcome. I'd like to see the bigger and more powerful Froch's reaction should Ward attempt to take it to him on the inside.

 

Good post.

I think there are little gaps in Ward's defense as well; he's not as fundamentally sound there as he is with some other things he does e.g. punching technique.

All this said though, to me he looks VERY promising and quite possibly he is the best fighter in the game today. He's the most skillful guy to come along since Mayweather and if he has the intangibles you describe he will have a wonderful career.

 

Skills will beat ward not tough guys or supposed pressure fighters, Froch and Andrade are effective vs. a certain type of boxer but they're not going to beat Ward. Ward's technical skills and smarts keep him out of those dark waters, that's the whole point.

In my opinion Bute/Direll/Ward are the 3 best SMW's in the world if Ward loses it will be to one of those guys and it will be because the better boxer won, these guys are all above the rest.

 

Your avatar is awesome.

 

His chin hasn't really been tested yet but he looks the best all round boxer at 168 by some margin. The only 2 who may test his chin is Abraham who has the power and acccuracy and Bute who has the speed and good power of his own. Still he should outbox both of them to UDs. Froch will be made to look stupid, Bika isn't a challenge either. Dirrell's speed may test him but Dirrell is terrible inside and doesn't really like to be in a fight.

 

1 thing is he got knocked down early in his career

 

Before the Super Six, posters on here were writing him off as a no-hoper and yet two fights later, only one of which was against a Super Six opponent, suddenly he's the best SM in the world!!! The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in between.

 

You don't think he's the best SM right now? Who is iyo?

 

He MIGHT turn out to be the best SM, but wins over Kessler and Green(both at home) do not qualify him for such status yet. The Super Six will determine who is the best.

Froch has the best resume.Last five fights...

Pascal home won
Taylor away won
Dirrell home won
Kessler away lost
Abraham neutral ?

 

Abraham, Froch and Kessler are the over rated ones.
Wards weaknesses will be exposed as time goes on.
But he's still a full level above anyone else in the super 6.

 

Ramon - Last I checked, unbiased and intelligent threads are prohibited on ESB. You'll have to delete this one. I agree with everything you said. Ward could go on to be the best the division has seen. He is remarkably resourceful, cagey, technically advanced beyond all SMWs of recent memory, and will get into the dirt when he has to. But what happens if Bute catches him with an uppercut, or if AA gets to him late, or if he can't track down Dirrell (has Ward ever had to deal with a slick, fast fighter with exceptional movement?). The main thing that I think could work against him is that he doesn't have the power to truly threaten his opponent. Calzaghe got away with that later in his career because he made up for it with insane punch volume. But will Ward have enough to keep powerful SMWs, and LHWs off of him late in the fight? Time will tell.