Andre Ward making a comeback at higher weight???

Right, but I struggle to respect a fighter who wins 3-4 belts in one fight vs someone who goes through 3-4 champs plus mandos in between to get to that position. So im totally against it. He got his shot at Kovalev, took the belts cuz Stevenson was too chicken to fight anybody (now Kov's on his 2nd title run, Stevenson still protecting his precious belt from unis/mandos). But don't wanna see a guy who's in a complete new division get a insta shot at the tournament champion, when it took 2 years to get that tournament going and so many fights to crown an UDC.
Imo people who do get those shots have earned it by being a top dog for a very long time. If they want to risk that by going up in weight, more power to them.

Generally they are, or are at least considered, the P4P kings. It also draws up more interest than fights within the division. Fans like to see it.
 
If he weighs 199 like he says then he should be able to make 175 and I don’t see what’s there at cruiser that anyone would consider “something special”.

At 175 Stevenson? Bivol? Beterbiev? Jack? Gvozdyk?

Cruiser is full of Eastern Europeans so he isn’t going to get a pay day there.

I mean, jump to HW and fight the GOAT seems far fetched.
Who is the GOAT?
 
If you beat a unified champion, you've earned all the belts that come with that, pure and simple. Chumps don't unify belts.

Think you answered what I would say myself.


Styles make fights, don't forget that. Beating THE GUY don't mean you could have beaten the 5 other guys HE beat. That's how I view it. Winning a tournament, and beating the winner of a tournament are 2 different things. Otherwise, everyone would be game to enter the tournament but they won't.
 
Duh, kubrat pulev.
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Haymon thought he had him signed. Shawn swooped in at the last minute and gave him that ridiculous money. I was in Vegas when that happened. @PUO3

What was the tentative plan if you guys got a hold of him. Obviously he was going to have his two fights with Kov (and there wouldn't have been so much turbulence before the second fight got signed), but did you guys have something else in mind for his first couple of fights?


edit: and what in your mind was Roc thinking paying that money? Is it a matter of them not know the business at all and not understanding they couldn't turn Ward into a cash cow? Or just trying to fill his stable with elite-level fighters for prestige?
 
You're out of your mind if you think he's in any way faster than Ward. Looking fast next to Marco Huck doesn't mean Usyk is faster than a natural Super middleweight. The only things he has over Ward are size and power, both can be negated by slick defensive boxers who are experienced and mentally tough. Experience is a huge factor here, Usyk simply hasn't been tested the way Ward has, it all boils down to his mental stability. You're mistaken if you think he'll beat Ward purely off physical attributes.
I think Usyk is faster on his feet than Ward that's for sure. Hand speed maybe not so much. Ward is mentally tough but we've now seen how mentally tough Usyk is as well. Usyk just got tested plenty by Breidis. It was a great hard fought victory. Ward's key to victory would be to work the body of Usyk hard, but I still think that Ward is going to have a tough time getting close to Usyk. And he has to overcome Usyks work rate which as we just saw is very high. I'd still favour Usyk based on what we've seen so far.
 
here is the biggie though, is Ward moving up and beating Usyk better than Jones win v Ruiz....if it happens
 
here is the biggie though, is Ward moving up and beating Usyk better than Jones win v Ruiz....if it happens
From Super to cruiser to beat the man, or middle to heavyweight to beat a belt holder. I think Roy’s is more impressive but this hasn’t happened. If Ward started to dominate cruiser it would become an extremely interesting question.
 
I still wanna see him fight Adonis.

This to me is the logical move and the “money fight”. I feel like to legitimize himself as the undisputed champ at 175 he should have beaten Stevenson after he knocked out Kovalev.

The momentum from the Kovalev knockout and then going and fighting Stevenson who is a knockout puncher with a intriguing back story would have sold some ppv’s.

I just don’t understand how him and his team dropped the ball on that one.

I am a Ward super fan to be honest and at times even I get upset with some of his decisions.
 
Does anyone actually consider Adonis a better win than going up yet another weight class?

Adonis is a joke.
 
here is the biggie though, is Ward moving up and beating Usyk better than Jones win v Ruiz....if it happens

Usyk is better than Ruiz, i personally think it'd be a more impressive win
 
I think Usyk is faster on his feet than Ward that's for sure. Hand speed maybe not so much. Ward is mentally tough but we've now seen how mentally tough Usyk is as well. Usyk just got tested plenty by Breidis. It was a great hard fought victory. Ward's key to victory would be to work the body of Usyk hard, but I still think that Ward is going to have a tough time getting close to Usyk. And he has to overcome Usyks work rate which as we just saw is very high. I'd still favour Usyk based on what we've seen so far.

We're gonna have to agree to disagree. Usyk's weakness i think is he's not the best at controlling range given his length. His best bet at beating Ward would be to play it conservatively and stick him from the outside (he could win with the right game plan), but if he takes the workrate approach you're suggesting he'll get picked apart by counters. Don't underestimate the gulf in skills and boxing IQ. Ward is on another level than Usyk, flat out. Talent beats size everytime.
 
We're gonna have to agree to disagree. Usyk's weakness i think is he's not the best at controlling range given his length. His best bet at beating Ward would be to play it conservatively and stick him from the outside (he could win with the right game plan), but if he takes the workrate approach you're suggesting he'll get picked apart by counters. Don't underestimate the gulf in skills and boxing IQ. Ward is on another level than Usyk, flat out. Talent beats size everytime.
Perhaps you're right about a high work rate leading to counters but I can't help but think Usyk's reach advantage of 7" will help him keep Ward at range. Ward is very talented but fighting against a much bigger, faster (debatable I know) man he'll have his work cut out for him. I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one.
 
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