Andre Ward Retires

[Bargey]

Got out early and unblemished. God Bless him. You might call the first Kovalev fight a blemish, but, early stoppage or not he was on the way to destroying him the second fight.

The challenge will be staying retired.

 

[opie]

The only things that really bothered me about Ward was that he fought dirty when he didn't need to and he overvalued his worth for a big chunk of his prime. Other than that, I respect Ward.

agreed. his contract dispute period was annoying as fuck.

 

[Eric Nordvargr]

The only things that really bothered me about Ward was that he fought dirty when he didn't need to and he overvalued his worth for a big chunk of his prime. Other than that, I respect Ward.

Agreed. Fighters like Hopkins in his later years kind of got away with fighting dirty because if he didn't, he'd lose. Ward - Kessler is a good example of a fight where Ward didn't need to fight dirty but he did and he had Kessler semi-retired due to injuries from headbutts. For what? Kessler, much as I love him, never had the style that Ward wouldn't figure out in a round.

For me, Ward is one of the worst truly great fighters of his generation. Greatness procured in the super six and cemented with his wins over Kovalev. Worst fighter because he bent the rules whenever he could, always got away with it and other than maybe in his last fights against Kovalev, it wasn't something he needed. I think it obscured his acutal skillset to some degrees.

Can't take away that resume from him though, even if it should have been even greater. I won't miss him, I didn't like him but he certainly was one of the best fighters of his era.

 

[Inverse]

Only watched his fights with Sergey Kovalev tbh and he win via repeated low blows in the rematch after winning a controversial first fight. Not fussed with him regardless of any accomplishments.

Sure he's talented but that stoppage and the way the production team tried to brush it off like it was legal, that left a bad taste.

 

[Shoemaker]

Only watched his fights with Sergey Kovalev tbh and he win via repeated low blows in the rematch after winning a controversial first fight. Not fussed with him regardless of any accomplishments.

His run through super middleweight is particularly impressive, as was his dismantling of Dawson. Controversy free, too.

The Kovalev fights were good for his career but they don’t define it.

 

[PUO3]

Kova got destroyed. Move on lol.

 

[stuff jones]

Kova got destroyed. Move on lol.

To the balls, lol. If Ward wanted the respect he and his fans were always whining about, he shouldn't constantly make room for detractors to discredit him by fighting dirty. He brought it on himself.

 

[Alanf7]

To the balls, lol. If Ward wanted the respect he and his fans were always whining about, he shouldn't constantly make room for detractors to discredit him by fighting dirty. He brought it on himself.

He destroyed KovaWhine. It was glorious to see.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Kova got destroyed. Move on lol.

This

 

[PUO3]

To the balls, lol. If Ward wanted the respect he and his fans were always whining about, he shouldn't constantly make room for detractors to discredit him by fighting dirty. He brought it on himself.

Sure man.

 

[Jhonni5]

Like can someone get in me if you agree because i feel like an arsehole saying this but i respect a mans decision hes rich wants to chill with his family
BUT andre ward is no where near done he still has alot to prove legacy wise and i dont see anybody close to his weight beating him there was even talk of man doing a roy jones an hitting heavyweight i think andre beats parker bellew haye world title just keep him away from aj wilder there just too big

Fuck legacy, nothing but a glorified word for public opinion and that shit ain't worth fucking up your brainsauce over

 

[Inverse]

Sure man.

Yeah, I remember him getting tagged with a great right for sure he was a bit rocked but he was stopped with low blows mate. It was pretty clear, at least to me.

 

[DoctorTaco]

Ward and has trainer both talked about getting in, making money and then retiring young in their chapter of Sam Sheridans excellent book, "a fighters heart". Glad he stuck to the game plan

 

[Shael]

Sure man.

This is awesome.

 

[CodCommando]

He was good, his elbows were better xD

 

[PUO3]

Yeah, I remember him getting tagged with a great right for sure he was a bit rocked but he was stopped with low blows mate. It was pretty clear, at least to me.

Do you agree or disagree that Kovalev was done with or without a controversial blow?

 

[Inverse]

Do you agree or disagree that Kovalev was done with or without a controversial blow?

He very well could have been but I've just watched it again. He gets low blowed before the right hand, avoids a fair amount of punches after it and goes down to the low blows at the end. All together it happens quite a few times, maybe 5 or 6 low blows all together in one round.

He could have continued but would he have won? Idk, but that fight was equal on the cards at the time of the stoppage with 2 judges having Ward ahead by a point and 1 judge having Kov ahead by 3 points. Ward should have lost a point, not won by TKO at that moment he was landing low. It's not out the realms of possibility that he could have been DQ'd for consistent fouls.

In the long run, Ward probably wins that specific fight though but you never know since it was taken from us via illegal shots that were deemed legal.


I completely disagree that Ward destroyed Kovalev, I think that is very ignorant considering the actual scoring of the fight, the events of the fight and the ending.

 

[Hagler]

He very well could have been but I've just watched it again. He gets low blowed before the right hand, avoids a fair amount of punches after it and goes down to the low blows at the end. All together it happens quite a few times, maybe 5 or 6 low blows all together in one round.

He could have continued but would he have won? Idk, still a shitty way to end such an important fight. Ward should have lost a point, not won by TKO at that moment. It's not out the realms of possibility that he could have been DQ'd for consistent fouls.

In the long run, Ward probably wins that specific fight though but you never know since it was taken from us via illegal shots that were deemed legal.

Ward could certainly have been issued a warning or a point deduction. Getting straight up DQed wouldn't have happened.

But even in this situation Kovalev was disappointing and just looking for a way out. If the ref doesn't react when you get rouged up, you can either take a knee to recover and stop your opponent's momentum, or give him a taste of his fucking own medecine. Kovalev just stayed there doing nothing. This guy basically begged to be stopped.

 

[BluntTrauma21]

Sure man.

Kov doing a bit of the stanky leg for a sec there. A throwback!

 

[Inverse]

Ward could certainly have been issued a warning or a point deduction. Getting straight up DQed wouldn't have happened.

But even in this situation Kovalev was disappointing and just looking for a way out. If the ref doesn't react when you get rouged up, you can either take a knee to recover and stop your opponent's momentum, or give him a taste of his fucking own medecine. Kovalev just stayed there doing nothing. This guy basically begged to be stopped.

I was meaning like if it kept happening a DQ wasn't out the realm of possibility. You're right though but I guess he was hoping the ref was gonna get involved at somepoint.