Ward should have moved up to LHW sooner.

Ha ha ha.
Ward as pro had competed only in US and for me does not matters business side of US boxing or US boxing fans with their chips on shoulders.

Ward was not unbeatable, ate this and therefore he retired.

Ward retired instead of having Beterbiev not enough old version in the ring.

Ward was in Ottke level, just with US fanbase, pro boxing is money game.

 

No Ward retired because he had injuries and his body had broken down. We should remember Krueger Kovalev was the man when Ward fought him and Ward in his career consistently fought and beat the best. Now I know you may not like him for your own reasons but what we cannot doubt is his resume and record. Bebertiev may well become an all time great but time will tell. Ward certainly avoided nobody.

 

Interestingly if I can accept mileage and age, injuries effect on all boxers, regardless of their origin, majority of posters are more biased depending from boxers origin.

By US boxing fans who are posting criteria in forums most likely never. He is old now.
1 really good top elite boxer who did had stepped vs prime or just a bit post prime Beterbiev version in the ring was Gvozdyk, who according to bunch with his haters in forums " fought nobody ".
I do not buy anything posted about claims, just facts. No one had power to force them to fight cos they had different orgs belts and looks that were not ranked by org where opponent had belt.
Beterbiev vs Gvozdyk was elite level fight we never ever had saw if they had only business approach to boxing.


Ward btw was boxer who always had liked me more than Kovalev and still, I attempt to be objective.

 

Yeah, it would have been great if he moved up to challenge Dawson for his title instead of the other way around. There wasn't really anything left at SMW, so I think an earlier move would have been preferable.

This is not critique of Ward, who had an outstanding career, just my ideal scenario. No fighter's career really lives up to that, though.

 

Dawson was the one who offered to come down in weight so that deals with that and Ward kicked his ass. Lesson is watch what you ask for as you just may get it.

 

Sure, I'm not blaming Ward for this. It was, as you say, Dawson't choice and at the time it seemed an interesting match-up.

Just saying that it would have been more interesting if Ward went up instead and stayed there. There was clearly nothing left for him at SMW.

 

Agreed. Poor taste by Ward.

 

Andre Ward fought guys in the 178 pound division because Andre Ward weighed in the 170s on fight day, too.

Do you honestly believe Ward moved up a whole division that he didn't belong in as a "favor" to Andre Dirrell? (LOL) Are you out of your mind?

Andre Dirrell fought at 165. Anthony Dirrell fought at 178. Did Ward decide to do Andre Dirrell a favor and screw over his brother Anthony Dirrell? (LOL) You left that part out. Because Ward moved up to Anthony's division and would've faced him in the Trials if Anthony hadn't lost to Marcus Johnson the day before.

Sorry, that nonsensical response, which I heard also, never washed.

Ward fought 170 pounders in the amateurs because he was one, too, on fight day.

Andre Ward never did anyone FAVORS, especially fighters in his division who he was competing for medals against.

He certainly didn't move up in the amateurs to do Andre Dirrell a freaking favor. And he certainly didn't move up to light heavyweight when they both signed up for the Super Six.

As a pro, he fought at middleweight as many times as he fought at light heavyweight.

But when he started to get knocked down at middleweight, he knew he'd cut too much weight, he couldn't rehydrate fast enough, and it was making him weak.

 

How Ward never even called Dawson out. It was all instigated by Dawson.

 

Yes , thats what Ward said and ill believe him over some clown who thinks Ward should have been angling for a fight with Vitali Klitschko back in 2009.

Yes , Andre Ward did many favours.. He gave Paul Smith back all the money he was fined by the commission for coming in overweight. He put his career on hold to help his co-promoter during those legal battles with Goosen. But these matters are irrelevant.

What you need to understand is amateur weight classes are not the same as professional weight classes.

Amateur light heavy > Pro super middle / light heavy
Amateur Heavyweight > Pro Cruiserweight
Amateur Superheavyweight > Pro Heavyweight.

Arthur Beterbiev beat Micheal Hunter at Heavyweight.. Is Arthur a weight bully? Is Arthur a natural HW?
Usyk fought at HW and Super HW in the ams.. Is he a weight bully for turning pro at Cruiser?
Is Povetkin the same size as Joshua and Klitschko because he won a Super HW gold medal just like they did

Ward fought at a weight that has 13lbs of wiggle room. How do you know he wasn't 165 for all his fights? Give me proof?

If Ward was HW he wouldn't have been able to compete at 168 for as long as he did.. But this debate is rubbish. You are a troll or a hater. Thats all there is to it

 

I know what the amateur weight classes are. I watched Andre Ward as an amateur before the Olympics and during.

I've been watching amateur boxing since the 1970s.

Andre Ward was an Olympic Gold medal winning light heavyweight, who turned pro not at Light heavy (like Tarver and Holyfield), not at cruiserweight (like Jirov), not at heavyweight (like Ali and Leon Spinks) ... the year after winning the light heavyweight gold, he was fighting at middleweight as a pro.

HE IS A WEIGHT BULLY.

In the amateurs, he couldn't dry out and then spend the next 30 hours rehydrating, like he can as a pro. In the amateurs, they weighed you every day before your match.

As a pro, he dried out two divisions below 178 where he competed since 2002.

That's the definition of a weight bully. You can paint it however you like, that's what he was.

And, I HAVE POSTED many times that Artur Beterbiev is a weight bully, too.

Beterbiev fought in the same division as Usyk and Wilder at 201 pounds, and went down to light heavy as a pro.

Some guys have mastered the art of drying out for weigh-ins and rehydrating. Ward and Beterbiev were both that as pros.

 

Beterbiev is 36 and can still make 175 comfortably. He would be undersized at cruiserweight. He is not a weight bully. He fought bigger men in the amateurs , he is not a weight bully.

I asked you a question about Usyk , is he another weight bully?

 

I'm neither a troll nor a hater of Andre Ward. This thread is asking the question why he didn't move up to light heavyweight sooner, and the answer is because he was a WEIGHT BULLY.

That's the answer.

He was beating the best light heavyweights in the world in the amateurs as far back as 2002. He spent the first 10 years of his pro career fighting much lighter men.

I'm just pointing out what he did. Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just answering the question posed.

You know he beat light heavys and heavys in the amateurs. You brought them up. (LOL)

He could've turned pro at light heavyweight. Hell, he was calling out Joshua last fall.

He was a light heavyweight as far back as 2002 (nearly 20 years ago).

 

No, he can still manage to dry out. He was comfortably fighting at 200 pounds more than a dozen years ago.

 

Because there was a division not in the amateurs called super middle weight. The weight limit in that division is the same weight he was fighting in during the amateurs. Ward fought middleweight before light heavy as an amaetur.
Your biased examples of Holyfield , Tarver , Ali etc were too big for MW when they were young , hence why they went onto HW when they were older.