Prime Billy Conn vs Andre Ward (Boxing Evolution Theory)

Conn is the quicker and better boxer. He should be able to win a close decision.

 

Billy.

 

Ward

All day

 

Conn

 

Conn. Conn Outboxed 200lb ATG HW Joe Louis for 13 rounds. What's Ward done to suggest he beats Conn? Ward stinks..

Wards time/era is tame by comparison .. 10oz gloves, next day weigh ins, more weight divisions, more trinket belts, PEDs, better recovery methods, less fight frequency, lighter weight jumps.. & even with all that he still had to cheat to forge his way.. whereas Conn thrived & was masterful in a far grittier era..

Conn could have been even greater than he was but the war took away a lot of his prime, just like another all-time great Tony Zale.. but he still beat Bettina X2, Krieger X2, Lesnevich X2, Apostoli X2, Yarosz X2, Zale, Zivic, Savold, Risko, Dundee, Young Corbett III.. that is an ATG resume full of HOFers who beat great names.. & even when Billy fought Louis the second time hed been retired for 4 years..

I've seen nothing from Ward (who was lucky to scrape passed Kovalev) that suggests to me he beats somebody as gifted & as great as Conn. I don't think of Ward as a true ATG... he had everything stacked in his favour.. home ref, officials, home advantage, literally his back garden most of the time.. & all the shady tactics that the ref inexplicably always turned a blind eye to..

If he also had legit victories against Stevenson, Beterbiev & even relative novices at the time like Gvozdyk or Bivol maybe we could compare him to some great LHWs but we can't.. & even that short legacy he has at LHW has an asterisk attached.. he was the best SMW of his time but beating Froch doesn't mean you beat Conn.

The standard response to posts like this when they don't really have much to go with is that Conn & many other greats have losses on their record.. that is because they dared to be great and challenged themselves way more than Fighters do nowadays .. they also fought a lot more often, therefore maintaining your 0 was a lot harder to do when you are fighting at a high level so frequently.. so before anybody tries to chime in with that one don't bother.

Let's see Ward try & maintain his 0 fighting under those conditions without all his modern era benefits, golden child privilege & amateur background experience.. these fellas learnt on the job.. starting as professionals at a young age, they're bound to take losses, its called an apprenticeship.

 

With an honest referee, Conn would win - he was a much better boxer.

But with a dishonest referee, Ward wins by head butts and low blows.

 

Conn by UD, Ward had his hands full with Kovalev, Conn is far better than that