Showtime's gamble with Andre Ward is like playing poker in a homeless shelter

To some degree I understand the way HBO and Showtime stand behind the fighters they plan to build their future on, this is what every other network does on the planet, they just don’t recognize themselves as the Mecca of boxing which would require objectivity and an even playing field. But the state boxing is in in the US, they reached a point where they MUST come up with star quality, recognizable names and solid ratings performers, or the network bosses will soon realize the invested money could be used a lot better and prizefighting isn’t 21th century compatible. Networks are struggling with the competition mass mobile communication is putting on anyway, and if they can’t produce superstars it might not worth the heavy investment. Therefore commentary and the local playing field is becoming more and more biased toward the market fighters, as the pressure of the networks, promoters and writers grow ever stronger to come up with names that will STAY for a long time, even if it’s blindly against reality like Alexander vs. Kotelnik, one of the worst robberies I’ve seen, totally covered up on all channels. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a Devontard, and Alexander is skilled, unbeaten, charismatic and popular, but the US boxing scene cannot allow to lose even a bit of his growing stock and that resulted in a robbery neither the commentators nor the local media wanted to recognize.

Andre Ward is one of the most skilled fighters on the planet, and once the Super Six is over, he’ll likely be ranked one of the best fighters in the sport, because he knows his sweet science, even if he’s bending it’s rules somewhat. He is a very highly skilled, top notch, old school and dedicated operator who’s ready to do anything for the win, puts a lot of local asses in the seats and keeps winning. But Showtime is taking a mighty gamble in their quest to make this generation’s Bernard Hopkins the network’s own Roy Jones or De La Hoya, an exciting, fan-favorite superstar. I’m not even touching on the horrible things going on in Oakland, the network bias and the uneven playing field, something HBO and for example the German market have too, I’m talking about style of fighting and making your money’s worth. The way this outstanding athlete lacks the quality to ENTERTAIN the masses is hard to express. It’s nice that he sells good locally, but other than for the few thousand trained eyes, who recognize sweet science in these matches, Ward is literally painful to watch.

The cold and unfortunate truth is that the average fan who’s subscription and PPV money keeps the US boxing scene alive, wants Corrales-Castillo only and says no thanks to effective fighting on the inside and elite defensive skills. Maybe the hype will put them in front of the screen but will eventually turn their back on the Wards or Rigondeaux’ of the sport. Just look at the success HBO had with Chad Dawson, his draw power went nowhere despite the millions of hard dollars the network invested in him, and he’s far more eye-friendly for the average than Ward. You cannot produce a Roy Jones or Mike Tyson out of a Bernard Hopkins who doesn’t have - and doesn’t give a **** about - the excitement factor to make people go crazy to see him back in the ring.

Showtime’s hands are tied, because their budget is a lot smaller than HBO’s and can only build on the lot they can pay for, but they are running at a dead end with Ward, and have as much chance of pulling his megastar status off as running a successful whorehouse in Vatican City or getting rich playing poker in a homeless shelter. I’m gonna follow Andre Ward’s career till the end, but don’t expect the vast majority to jump on a roller-coaster that goes 1mph per hour, because they don’t recognize it’s actually an art-tour coaster.

 

This last fight with Bika was very dirty and I doubt any non-regular follower enjoyed it one bit. They are the ones to win to put boxing back on the big map. If Ward does have good skills fighting on the distance - and I believe he does - he better start using them. I enjoy an inside fight as long as it's more-or-less clean (usually isn't), but it'll hardly make the public go 'wow'. With that said, Andre is a good, dedicated kid who does the job right, so he's playing his part, so you gotta give credit to him.