how do you know...Ward stayed in some third world town and refused to get his glass passport out. How come Sugar Ray Leonard beat Duran twice in the USA but couldnt beat him outside USA, losing that fight when he had to travel? Shall I get some more examples for you? Americans winning in america but losing to the same fighter outside the USA? Its happened time and time again....but to Ward...impossible. Duran whooped Leonard....and still gave him a rematch in his home country! Duran should have been a ***** like Ward and just said no...I aint traveling to the USA and kept his 1-0 over Leonard for life.
Really strange fans on this forum. ****ing weirdos. In an era where we rarely see the best fight the best we have the opportunity to see the 168lb champ and p4p rated fighter take on the number 2 or 3 guys in his division and all you sad ****s do is moan about it? I want to see Ward go abroad and defend his title in a hostile environment against one of these guys - we'll either see a huge stadium fight with a shock upset or where a top talent shuts up his last remaining critics by going away and beating a top contender. What is there to dislike about that? Everyone is a winner. The only people who moan about this are fan boys who think their idols should have everything their own way, and that having a fight in front of less 10k people is better than a 40k plus stadium super fight. If you lose to the champion, go away and rack some solid wins and get yourself back to the top of the pile the you deserve a rematch, that's how boxing works and that's how it's always worked. Ward is a great fighter, but he's beaten the best in his division and the division above. His critics don't accuse him of ducking this guy and that guy, they accuse him of being a stay home fighter who won't travel. Well, why not shut those last few people up against the top contender in the division and cement your place as a truly elite fighter who can't be criticised? As a boxing fan this is what I want to see and there are no genuine excuses not to. Kessler went to The states with his title, Froch has gone abroad numerous times with a title - it's another dimension of being a champion. The outcomes of the fights would most likely be no different, but they'd shut up a lot of critics.
I agree, and I think it'll happen. He did tweet over the weekend that he fancied a trip to the UK. Eddie Hearn also thinks Ward will travel to the UK. Large stadium fight is definitely possible. I expect Kessler to stop Magee and himself and Froch to fight early next year, while Ward takes on probably Pavlik and then the winner of Froch/Kessler later in the year in England or Denmark. Fancy Froch to beat Kessler, so they can get Ward over to England and stand him in front of the baying, booing crowd on his own for 5 minutes as they did with Bute and Mack, trying to psyche him out, and I doubt it'll make the slightest bit of difference to the outcome. I think the only problem many Ward fans have is that, from a lot of people, he's getting zero respect for what he's already done. He dominated against both Kessler and Froch, at home or not (although he fought Froch 2,500 miles from Oakland), and deserves the credit for it. I know there's people like yourself who still give the credit despite wanting him to do it away from home too, but there is a lot of bitterness and jealousy towards him, that's clear. It's baffling to me, as Ward has done and proven more at 28 years of age than say, Calzaghe, had at the same age. However it's many of the same people that trump Calazghe who are giving Ward ****. Hate, bitterness, jealousy, double standards. It's genuinely sad. People should be enjoying Ward for the talent that he is. Those fights will come.
I agree - I just think the way to deal with those idiots is to take away their ammo. Go abroad, beat the guy up and then see what they have to say. I mean really, what have they got then?
Arran, Did you watch those fights? It didn't matter who won the first fight. There was always going to be a rematch, because they were two of the biggest stars in boxing. Kessler is not a big star in the boxing world. Ray lost the first fight, because he used the wrong tactics. In the rematch, he changed his tactics and made Duran quit. The 3rd fight didn't mean anything to anyone. That fight was also neutral to both fighters, with it being in Canada. I'm sure it's happened at some point, so what? Having a hometown advantage, gives fighters a little lift. I agree. But Carl has just been outclassed. He's not going to turn into Roy Jones in Nottingham. Again, a rematch was ordered, because they were two superstars of boxing. The whole boxing world wanted to see a rematch, just like they did with Hearns and Leonard. Who on a global scale wants to see Andre Ward fight Kessler in Denmark? Outside of Europe, Kessler isn't a big name. No American fans would be desperate to see that fight. You've used a bad example with Duran. Roberto Duran fought in America for 90% of his career between 1975-1995. America is the home of boxing. Duran fighting in America, would not be the same as Ward fighting in Copenhagen and Nottingham. Regards, Loudon.
But he's also the best stay at home SMW of his era who would have his ass handed to him by Calzaghe :yep
These dudes only want to see Ward fight abroad because the odds of the fight going the distance are great and the odds of Ward getting shafted are greater. It's simply sour grapes. How dare an American Gold medalist thrash 3 Euro's on the way to becoming the best 168 lb fighter in the world. Like I said, I never saw anyone demand that Floyd come to UK to fight Hatton a second time. When you are at the top, people will criticize, that's just the way it goes. If the worst criticism of Ward is that he doesn't travel, then I think Andre is doing just fine.
Ward beat Froch easily and Destroyed Kessler . I dont think Kessler deserves a rematch to be honest , But Froch should be considered for a rematch due to his level of opposition ,Im not a fan of Froch but he earn my respect because the man has show me he doesnt fear or duck anyone . Kessler on the other hand is fighting someone name "Brian Magee"
I disagree, for the reasons given in my previous post. I don't want to see him lose, in fact I'd quite want to see him travel abroad and win and then shut up his remaining critics. As I said, Froch or Kessler would have worked their way back into number one challenger spot by the time a rematch takes place. Both guys have taken their title abroad and defended it (Kessler went right to Ward's hometown) - I'd like to see Andre do the same. Especially as it will most likely be the choice between fighting in front of <10K people in the US or a huge stadium super fight in Europe. It's a no brainer. He'd most likely win any rematch comfortably, but he's certainly prove an extra something about himself in the process.
Put it this way, When Stieglitz and Kessler were slated to fight - for Stieglitz's WBO title which was considered a paper title as Ward was champ, Stieglitz's purse was $3m as Champion, Kessler's was $1.3m - in Europe. Imagine how much Kessler would have earned if he was champ When Ward and Dawson fought - for Ward's Ring Magazine, WBC and WBA SMW titles, which was held in America, with HBO - in the mecca of boxing and so on and so on - Ward's purse was $1.3m as Champion, Dawson's was $600k as challenger. But yeah, all the money's in America, Kessler and Froch should come and fight in Village halls, with no atmosphere, in front of 8000 people, for 600k when they earn millions fighting in Europe - because it's the mecca of boxing, and there's HBO and Larry Merchant and all the trimmings........
In that case he has to say that he will go to 175 before pursebids or else he is exposed as Ottke's daddy. Probably correct. Cutting through the chase here: Money is what matters. Are you aware that Kessler made more fighting Green than Ward made fighting Dawson? We know fairly well what was said. It was shown on fightcamp 360 or a special feature of that show. There was some delusionals. Mostly Ward-stans. Anyone with half a brain knew that it would be a very Real problem for a guy who weighs 190 lbs on fightnight to come down to 168. He'd have to lose 7 pounds of sheer muscle. At 175 it would have been interesting. No need to comment there.