Why is Andre SOG Ward not a draw? Calling Ward fans

It's Kovalev's fault this PPV didn't make good numbers.
Kovalev is far less known than Ward's S6 prey, largely due to the fact that other than Pascal and BHOP, he hasn't fought anybody.

 

Yes... they do. Putting on the blinders won't change the facts.

NO you don't understand that man's game. If you did, you'd have more of a profound appreciation for his game. The fact that you don't, speaks volumes

 

Forty-nine responses before my post, it looks like all of Wards fans have come out in full force to try to defend their guy. Pretty impressive really.

 

Well if you look at the landscape of PPV superstars- the only 3 US PPV cashcows that stand out come from different generations- Tyson than DLH than Mayweather.

I remember paying to watch Tyson's PPV fight with Alex Stewart back in the day- people watched him fight because they were enamored to see how quickly he'd knock his opponents out. He also played the villain role a bit, although he was for the most part beloved by most boxing fans and was just viewed as this invincible brut pre-Douglas.

DLH was a cashcow because of his looks, his backstory and his very entertaining fighting style.

Mayweather was the best boxer of the 3 but he only became a cashcow the moment he played up the villain role.

So that's basically Ward's issue. He doesn't have a friendly enough style for the masses, and he doesn't play the villain role whatsoever. He does at times come off as stand-offish, but that comes off more annoying than entertaining.

 

Now that Ward has garnered so much hate, he may become a big draw yet. Boxing has a history of people tuning in and showing up in hopes of seeing certain fighters lose.

 

Lol. Ok, mate, I guess you're right.

I must be a moron to get caught up bickering with you on a public forum.

I apologise for being mean to you yesterday, it was unprovoked and out of order, I was over tired and irritable.

I know you're only having fun with much of what you say on ESB. Truth is we'd all miss you if you weren't around.

You're alright by me; keep up the good work.

Andre Ward is a great boxer for sure.

 

Oh please that's so lame of Ward to blame the race thing,plenty of white boxing fans and black boxing fans to go around,they mentioned Canelo but Canelo is exciting to watch,Ward doesn't even try to hurt his opponents either,how can he when all he does is jab n hold,wrestle for 12 rounds,can't he even be messed about his personality?

 

Actually Wards style is more akin to backyard brawls,he'd be an awesome street fighter

 

No way I just said the same thing almost word for word lol

 

People will say it's his style but Hopkins was a far bigger draw and had a similar technical, sometimes fan unfriendly style. Hopkins did around 400K ppv buys or more for the likes of Taylor, Tarver, Wright etc. So off his name alone and not some bigger draw he was able to draw in fans to watch his fights.

Ward has a 3 fold problem when it comes to drawing fans. Firstly boxing in the US has changed it's a sport in decline, especially among the demographic that would usually follow a black American boxer. He'd have a bigger following if he was Mexican, Puerto Rican etc. Fact is there isn't the normal market there was before, look at Wilder as well a black American heavyweight champ fighting on PBC drawing very few fans.

But Mayweather shows it's still possible to draw if you can move outside of your normal demographic and tap into the casual fans. But how does he do that? Firstly Ward needs a big star/name with a fanbase to go up against. Mayweather had Pac, De La Hoya and Hatton, he had the big names and stars to get exposure against, Ward doesn't have this. Kovalev, Stevenson, GGG simply are not on the same level and wins like this won't get him the exposure he needs to cross over like Mayweather.

The final issue is him. He can't open his mouth without turning off fans, he makes poor decision, after poor decision, not building up fights, side lining big fights like Bute when the time was right. He's like Amir Khan as well he says a lot of **** that turns fans off.

So the combination of him, lack of US interest from his demographic and the lack of a big star to make his name off of is what will prevent him from ever growing his fan base much beyond what it is now. If it was just him, or even 2 of these issues he could maybe break out but all 3 will forever see him underappreciated.