With the following Froch has in the UK and the amount of fans that would travel over - would the fight not fill something like the MGM or even the Thomas & Mack center? Does Ward really have that small a following in the States?
Not sure how many Froch would get over, big difference a national fight to travelling thousands of miles. The majority there last night were not Froch or even boxing fans, so relying on Froch to fill it on his own is unlikely and Ward well we know...
The answer, sadly, is yes. It makes no logical sense that Ward, who was our only gold medalist from the 2004 Olympics (and the last U.S. Olympic gold medalist, period), is talented, has a good story, and is based on the west coast, yet has never once fought in Vegas. Not one time. It literally makes zero sense.
This is sort of messed up but it's true. The only other option is for him to throw balls to the wall and just fight everyone and anyone he can. Move weight classes maybe? Otherwise he just has to keep watching the challengers rise and beat them. He might run out of opponents in that case...
That's a valid counterpoint, although he can produce entertaining performances- Dawson, for example. I still think the pros outweighed the cons. As a prospect, there were still enough marketable aspects he brought to the table to have warranted more exposure than what he got. I thought Goosen negotiated well to get him homefield advantage in the Super Six, but failed at building up Ward's image and marketability to the extent he could have on the way up.
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Ward sell out the arena in Oakland? If so Vegas is not too far to travel from Oakland so I can see Ward's fans travelling.
+1. There are a handful of guys in boxing who've ever been surefire homeruns where absolutely all the stars aligned and an eggplant could've promoted them to be successful. Outside of that, there's always going to be some obstacle to overcome for the promoters and management to maximize a fighter's career and exposure. Sometimes, it's style. Maybe the guy's from an unfamiliar country and lacks a built-in audience. Maybe he interviews poorly. The list of potential hurdles goes on and on. In Andre's case, there were still plenty of positives to overcome the hurdle of his style not appealing to the mainstream fans. A lot of promoters would kill to have had the chance to promote the last U.S. gold medalist even if they didn't love his fights. The problem is, Goosen didn't leverage those strengths as well as he could have and Andre doesn't seem keen on doing his own part (perhaps he's jaded on the business side of the sport). It's just disappointing. For all the flak he gets, I'd still love to see Ward active, fighting twice a year, and reminding people why he's a P4P fighter.
People put too much emphasis on sell outs. From a pure business standpoint, a sell out isn't even the optimal result. It's all about the live gate. If promoted properly, a Ward vs. Froch fight could do pretty well at the gate. It wouldn't necessarily sell out though. Hell, Mayweather and Pacquiao didn't produce a sell out in their most recent fights in Vegas. They did produced pretty large live gate numbers though.
Doubt it Ward isn't a ticket seller or PPV draw which would be the whole reason for having it in Vegas. I don't think Froch could sell 16k tickets on his own in the States I am sure the Brits would bring a good crowd though. I am sure GGG or Chavez Jr would sell out the MGM.
If they make them push each other around a little at the press conference Im sure it would sell fine..... Seriously though, what makes Carl an entertaining boxer, despite his lack of actual boxing skill, would be neutralized against Ward, who himself has a very clever and efficient, but often not very entertaining, style (in the eyes of most, I personally appreciate his skill level - even though he is a dirty fighter and a nutcase). It's just a tough fight to sell, and they both kinda need an opponent who is more of a household name.
