GiGi vs Ward: Who is the real A-side?

Before the Lemieux fight I would have said Ward, the seeming popularity of this fight, and how well it does on PPV, could very well make Golovkin the A side in a fight with Ward.

 

And for the record, accomplishments count for very little when discussing 'sides'. The overwhelming majority of leverage comes from drawing power, period.

 

This stranger with a cheeky boyish smile from a foreign land far, far away, who only arrived on US shores three years ago and who speaks limited English is more popular in Ward's own country than he is and Ward has lived their his entire life, speaks the language fluently, been showcased on US TV far longer (his pro debut in 2004 was on HBO whereas Golovkin didn't make his first appearance on US TV until 2012 lol), and to rub salt further into the wound Ward is America's only Olympic gold medalist in just shy of 20 years. :rofl

Don't even get me started on their respective popularity worldwide either. Golovkin's fights are broadcast in over 100 countries worldwide, whereas Ward's aren't even broadcast in 100 households outside of his home country. Royalty attend Golovkin's fights over in Monaco, Prince Albert no less, whereas the only prince attending Ward's, the supposedly ''devout Christian'', fights is that stumpy little gangster dwarf, the extremely shady James Prince. :rofl

 

Maybe GiGi should come out to this as his next theme song.:deal
[YT]JMiCGOZVkgQ[/YT]

 

Ward is that ugly little runt of the litter bunny rabbit in the pet store that nobody is interested in buying :rofl

 

Hurt my feelings? Er. nope not at all. I'm just keeping it on the real. Ward even gets boos in his home state by the Californian Mexican contingent who come to watch Gennady, the same state where Kazakh born Golovkin shifts more tickets than homeboy Ward too. Ward's still dreaming of his first PPV in his homeland, meanwhile foreign boy from a far away foreign land who has only been on US soil for three years Triple Golovkin pipped him to that too. :rofl

 

It's GGG right now, and he has the potential to widen that gap if this fight does well with Lemieux. In terms of what have you done for me lately, GGG is active, and the fact GGG-Lemieux is on PPV signifies that he has received the blessing and backing of HBO.

The thing of it is, I think it will take a few years for a new PPV superstar to emerge. GGG is one of the early favorites to perhaps seize that crown, but it probably won't happen over night.

And unless Floyd should go on to lose to someone young, I don't think there will be a direct passing of the torch like what we saw from DLH to Floyd and Pac.

GGG will be a player. I think Kovalev figures into the picture at some point relatively soon. And I'm sure a few other guys (including some surprises) could enter the mix, which I believe will be a journey that lasts a number of years.

Ironically, Ward could wind up becoming the main guy if all the chips fell into place properly. He is a big name (note, I didn't say big draw) boxer who is constantly being mentioned as a potential future foe for both Golovkin and Kovalev. If circumstances played out that Ward can land the GGG fight (not likely) and he can win (very likely if it happens) he can take a pretty modest step upwards. If he then goes on to fight Kovalev (which I think is likely, especially if Ward beat GGG), and if he could beat Kovalev (not likely, but possible), Ward could wind up being a much bigger draw a couple of years or so down the road. Note, I don't think any of this is likely, because I think GGG's people will wisely side-step Ward, and I think Ward will be forced to ultimately look Kovalev's direction, which I have around 60-40 for Kovalev. But none of this is out of the realm of possibility.

On the flip side, if Golovkin can some how land a fight with the winner of Cotto-Canelo (extremely unlikely, IMHO), I think he would likely batter either one of them inside of 6. If the Lemieux fight does well, and Golovkin is able to beat a Cotto or Canelo - it's POSSIBLE that he can land the Floyd fight late next year (a very, very slim possibility, but if GGG's market value ascends, it could maybe be in the cards). But I don't think any of this is likely either, because I don't think GGG lands those fights.

Which is why I think, in the end, Kovalev is the guy that might have the best shot at this. But I think him being with Main Events will be limiting for him moving forward.

So in truth, we may never have another PPV superstar in the foreseeable future after Floyd retires. We may have stars who are decent attractions, but not superstars.

Mayweather and Pacquiao both benefitted from a variety of circumstances that all worked together and interplayed in such a way that they both reall got over in terms of crossover appeal.

No easy task for a non-heavyweight, historically speaking.

Which brings up the idea of Wilder, who COULD become a huge star if he was any good - but I think he's a brutal KO waiting to happen, unless he has amazing political clout that can string him along until Wlad calls it a day.

But back to topic, GGG would be the A-side now, because he has far more favorable pull with HBO. It's that simple to me.

 

Pretty much agree with everything you wrote :good

I think it will be an era or two before we see Mayweather and Pac type stars again, like you say, they benefitted a great deal from Hoya passing them the torch. I dont see that situation happening again...

Though I suppose, if Canelo is as good as his fans think he is (which hes not, imo) then he has a chance of becoming a legit ppv star (say if he KO's Cotto, then Top Rank wants to cash in on Pac one last time and puts him against Canelo at 154 (roach already said hes up to it) then goes on to beat Golovkin and rule middleweight) He would get to Pacs level, but to me that's pretty unrealistic (just imo)

Though maybe beating Cotto and Pac close together would do it, which isn't as unrealistic as him ruling middleweight, imo.