Not fan friendly but an excellent boxer, who I personally liked to watch. You can't argue with what he done at smw or the men he beat there. A great run. Didn't like his inactivity later in his career or the fact he hardly travelled but was pleased he got in with Kovalev and once again proved his mettle. HOF'er definitely. Just to add. Virgil Hunter deserves some credit here too. Two honest, grounded individuals who had a real bond with each other and obviously worked well together. Andre's Dad would be proud.
Great skills to me Floyd and him smart move leaving the game with your brain intact enjoy your money champ looking forward to his input as a boxing analyst.
He lacks something in the amount of superfights and great fights he was in. A supersix tournament winner and beating Kovalev makes him that great? Not really. Tyson won his tournament in 1987 and was undisputed and had many more big fights and still isn't seen that great. Ward had too short a career to be really ATG. Beating a guy like Kovalev will not give him that much. I want to see Stevenson vs. Kovalev. Find out how good Kovalev really is.
What about JM Marquez, Shane Mosley, and James Toney? They also retired this year and so will compete with Ward for the 3 first-ballot places.
Yes, SOB's legacy is one of cheating.......................he will be known for losing his last two fights to Kovalev. The first by decision and the rematch by disqualification....................SOB is as low as they come, flush that piece of fecal matter down the toilet and back into the sewer from which he came!
JMM and Mosley had their last fights in previous years so they can be inducted earlier than 2023. Same with B-Hop who had last fight in 2016. That's like Holy who officially retired in 2012 but had his last fight in 2011 and was voted for IBHOF in 2016. So we have Floyd, Wlad, Ward and Toney. Most likely one of them comes back, and I think it can be Toney who is nearing his 50.
no he beat Kovalev and there was no reason for another fight ever again. Kovalev turned out to be softer fighter than we ever thought. If Kovalev was better than Ward those fights would have turned out differently. He had two fights to prove something and came out with two losses. If this is about Kovalev, sorry but he is not a great fighter and lost and should fight Stevenson if he really has guts.
So, you agree with Byrd's decision 10 rounds for Alvarez and only 2 rounds for Golovkin? If you worship Floyd Mayweather, well you should know that Mayweather had Kovalev beating SOB, knocked him down, staggered him with the jab, landed more punches, no, the vast majority of fight fans, boxers and boxing writers had Kovalev winning that fight. Corrupt judges do not interest me and I do not worship Byrd, over 90% had Golovkin beating Alvarez, but if you think Byrd is the best boxing judge in the world today as Bob Bennett said, then you will be seeing a lot of fights differently than the vast majority. Byrd is a corrupt judge. A judge does not score a fight for the better fighter, they score the fight for the promoter who pays them................Also, I should remind you that low blows to the testicles are illegal in boxing and they always have been. I had the most expensive cup I could buy, but when a fighter hits you low in an upward motion to the cup, it makes the cup move up and it hurts like hell. If one fighter is allowed to hit low, but the other fighter has to obey the rules, it is not fair, the fighter who keeps breaking the rules should have points taken away from him and in the case of three low blows in a row, SOB should have been disqualified. Those rules have always been in boxing since I can remember, if you think that blows to the testicles are legal for SOB, that's your problem, but Kovalev fought fair and did not cheat, headbutts, elbows, holding, holding Kovalev's leg, all should be illegal. I have seen boxer's lose points with low blows, but I assume that you gave Golota the knockout over Bowe if you go by those rules. Golovkin beat Alvarez, the draw was insane. Again, corrupt judges, over 90% had Golovkin winning that fight...........If Kovalev would have hit SOB back low, Kovalev would have been disqualifield. Let's see rematch in neutral territory or in Russia and see what happens to SOB and If SOB is invincible, then why did he get knocked down, staggered with a jab and busted up so badly? Why didn't SOB fight Joshua like he said? He said he would easily out box Joshua. A few years ago, SOB said he was going to fight both Vitali and Vladimir Klitschko and knock them both out, he never signed a contract. Joshua , The Klitschkos would have stepped on SOB and squashed him like a grape! I hate to disappoint you. SOB was also going to fight a cruiserweight, Usyk would have knocked him out......................but in neutral territory with neutral officials, Kovalev would have knocked SOB out which he almost did the first time. No way did SOB win that fight, but Roc Nation's judges gave him a gift................that SOB did not earn. Kovalev had to fight for his titles, SOB does not.
Very true. How many fighters can enter the hall per year? If the number is low their are going to be some great fighters who don't get in on the first try.
Only 3!!! So a huge name is missing out on first ballot as well as a couple of HoF-quality fighters. However, apparently it goes by the date of the last fight, which means the Hopkins and Mosley will be up the year before as Big Ukrainian pointed out.
Ward's a great fighter, there's no doubt about that but he's also - like anyone undefeated - had a fair amount of luck too. I scored Kov 1 for Kovalev and I really don't like Kovalev as a person. The second fight also ended controversially. People who hate Golovkin continually bang on about Sanchez saying he beats up heavyweights and use that as evidence he should move up and fight much larger men but allow Ward to talk **** about Joshua without any similar expectation. Like always people's biases are always on show here.
