Ward must be kicking himself right now

He has been healing an injury, he could not fight.

He's lost nothing, his supremacy will continue like always, the fact that Bute got toppled does not really hurt his bank all that much.

Ward is the next P4P.

 

yeah i think he's kicking himself like calzaghe did when everyone said he was scared of pavlik and hopkins ended up putting on a clinic.

 

That's not the reason why he turned down the fight otherwise he wouldn't have talked about Bute needing to prove himself. He clearly wanted to let the fight build up, let Bute raise his profile by beating worldclass guys and then finally fight Bute and make a lot of $$$ down the road. Froch didn't get the memo.

 

Actually a very good point. It would be more a boxing match than a fight.

 

There’s no doubt he is the man right now, but come on, there’s nothing wrong with reminding us of it and further solidifying your number one position; ultimately improving your legacy. It’s quite simple:

• Fighting and beating Bute yourself
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  Letting someone else fight and beat Bute.

And no, I’m not criticizing him for fighting a better fighter. I’m saying it’s a shame he couldn’t have beaten up Bute first, and then move on to beat Dawson. Reason being, Bute was the opponent who the world was hoping to see him in with next. He was the one in demand. Not Dawson. No one even gave a toss about Dawson. So again, it’s simple, when it comes to doing something the fans want you to do and getting hype/praise for it:

• Outclassing Bute in the division you both operate in
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  Beating Dawson by bring him down to your division.

And also, it was never a case of ‘choose one or the other’. Like I said, the Dawson fight wasn’t going anywhere. Dawson never said to him “Hey, Andre, you either fight me now, or it’s never!”. It was nothing like that. So stop making out as though Ward was given the ultimatum of two challenges, and chose to go for the harder one. So again:

• Beating both Bute and Dawson back-to-back
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  Bypassing Bute and beating Dawson only in a fight you bring him down a division.

That hand injury wasn’t what prevented him to fight Bute, by the way. That was 6 months ago. I’m pretty sure the hand, from 10th December 2011 to 26th May 2012, would have healed in time. Instead, it was his desire to take a break. He felt because he was the one who had competed in a two-year tournament, he wanted a rest and Bute didn’t deserve to walk into a fight with him straight away. The complete opposite mentality to Froch; who saw an opportunity – a big name receiving big hype (warranted or not) – and grabbed it in emphatic fashion. That’s why Ward should be kicking himself. That should have been him. Easy fight for easy money. Regardless of whether Bute turned out to be **** or not, the hype surrounding him was there and the fight with him was in high demand. If Ward took him on, none of us would have been the wiser. Our demands would have been satisfied, we would have been under the impression that Ward was taking on his nearest challenger, and we would have again ended up being in awe of him making easy work out of someone who was supposed to push him. It’s also worth noting that, because Ward is more systematic in the way he breaks people down, he wouldn’t have blown Bute away early like Froch did, and it’s possible that Bute wouldn’t have been tagged as the unproven, overhyped, brittle glass-jaw disgrace like he is being right now. So a Ward win over Bute wouldn’t have been dismissed the way you think it would. It’s possible that he, Bute, would still have been regarded as a decent fighter that Ward made ordinary.

Oh, and that Mayweather vs Martinez/Alvarez example is ****-poor. Unlike Dawson, Martinez is actually an opponent who’s in demand. So of course no one would be getting at Mayweather for choosing him.

 

100% on the money here. Bute lost to Froch because he wasn't able to deal with his unorthodox punching style and then the subsequent rush that Froch put on him. Ward wouldn't fight anything like Froch. I would go onto say that Bute would give Ward his hardest test outside of Dawson. Ward simply does not have the punching power or style to do what Froch did.

Ward outclassing Froch has NOTHING to do with a Ward v Bute fight.

I'm just shocked that people on this forum still don't understand the simple premise "styles makes fights".

 

People that think Bute wiyld trouble Ward are morons lol. Watch Butes fights and its clear he lacks defense, was being touched easy with Glen Johnsons jab. Not to mention his punch resistance and inability to fight on the inside.

Listen Brits, let me break it down for you. Froch got his ass beat by a one handed Ward. Froch took care of Wards light work. Froch works for Ward lol.

Oh and nobody in America cared about Bute. Theres a reason this fight wasnt on tv. Ward meanwhile might get HBO pay per view against Dawson. A guy who is ranked the number one light heavy in the world.

Stop with the nonsense Brits. Ward is the man. He proved it when he beat Froch with one hand tied behind his back.

 

Ward still swerved Bute. . . Hindsight is 20/20. . .

I still want to see Ward/Bute. . . I still think Bute can prevail against guys who don't have heavy hands, and aren't aggressive. . . Still (always did) favor Ward, of course.


But Ward DOES NOT get a "hypothetical" win over Bute... TRIANGLE. . . THEORIES. . . FAIL. . . .

 

excellent OP, wards cowardly ducking has backfired in his face.

once again we see the huge advantage of fighting on home soil, but you've got to give the likes of bute, froch, kessler, and abraham a huge amount of credit for having the balls to defend their titles away on foreign soil.

 

<<< This sums it up perfectly.

 

Ward took Froch to school :deal

 

Ward hits like a girl. Stylistically Bute is a tougher fight for him than Froch.

Ok, we all knew about Bute's chin, FFs Andrade caught up with him, who without disrespect to a great warrior, is not a skilled boxer and basically uses his chin to get off enough shots to accumulate damage.

Ward beats Bute but nothing is easy at this level. They make it look easy to the viewing public.

 

Ward schools Bute, Ive always said this.

Andre has bigger fights ahead, he aint kicking himself.

 

Ward doesn't have Froch's power, he is more of a technician than Froch, I would still like to see Bute vs Ward. If Bute can keep his legs it should be interesting. I'm not saying he will win in fact I think Ward will manhandle and destroy him on the inside just like he did Froch but I don't think Ward can knock him out.

It's all for moot now though, I think Froch just destroyed Bute's confidence and is going to need a few fights to get back in it.