Ward vs. Canelo

[TheSickness316]

And if you bothered to pay attention to what I said at the very beginning... I said Ward doesn't bring in the numbers and that's why I feel he doesn't deserve it. Numbers!!! More people tune in to watch Kovalev than they do Ward.

Just like your Trout example, the more popular person, the more rating does not always turn into more revenue. I heard what you said in the beginning, but dismissed it as the market sets the market. Popularity and viewer numbers are just one part of the negotiations. The cold hard facts aka Cash is that Ward was always paid more his entire career than Kov and most probably would agree that if Ward fought Canelo next, Ward would end up with a higher purse than what Kov had.

I was never arguing who was more viewership numbers etc etc. Those numbers does not always go lock step with market value aka earnings. That was MY argument.

Ward had better people around him that got him that awful contract and played Roc Nation for fools, I'll give him that. And if he gets more fighting Canelo than Kovalev did more power to him.

[TheSickness316]

Ward to come out of retirement would require a huge purse. Kovalev made at least 6 million to fight canelo I'm guessing ward would command twice that

Didn't Kovalev make 12 million?

[Danielk015]

Ward to come out of retirement would require a huge purse. Kovalev made at least 6 million to fight canelo I'm guessing ward would command twice that

Didn't Kovalev make 12 million?

Reports are that he made at least 12 mil. So whatever the final number is, Kov came out good. I think Ward would need something like $15mil+ to come out and fight.

If this fight was PPV, Both Canelo and Ward would probably make more money as it probably would be massive.

[TheSickness316]

Ward to come out of retirement would require a huge purse. Kovalev made at least 6 million to fight canelo I'm guessing ward would command twice that

Didn't Kovalev make 12 million?

Reports are that he made at least 12 mil. So whatever the final number is, Kov came out good. I think Ward would need something like $15mil+ to come out and fight.

If this fight was PPV, Both Canelo and Ward would probably make more money as it probably would be massive.

If he can get that type of money, I'm all for it. If they're willing to give him that type of money he should take them for all their worth.

[jeff_lacy_ko]

Ward to come out of retirement would require a huge purse. Kovalev made at least 6 million to fight canelo I'm guessing ward would command twice that

Didn't Kovalev make 12 million?

Wow I was way off. Good for him

[Hillsinitialrebirth]

Kovalev got paid 12 million dollars to push out his jab the entire fight. Ward will command more than Kovalev got paid, and Canelo might even command more incentives, because it will be a real fight. Hell...if I was Bivol, Beterbiev, Smith, Andrade, or anybody with a legit chance to beat Canelo, and will ACTUALLY fight him...I'd be asking for more than Kovalev got as well.

[Danielk015]

Kovalev got paid 12 million dollars to push out his jab the entire fight.

That jab wouldnt have been able to push over a sack of potatoes

[Hillsinitialrebirth]

That jab wouldnt have been able to push over a sack of potatoes

"PUSH", was probably too strong of a word...my bad.

[NoPropaganda 253]

That jab wouldnt have been able to push over a sack of potatoes

"PUSH", was probably too strong of a word...my bad.

Made GRJ's air jabs vs. Lomachenk look Tyson-esque. It was a big night for GRJ.

Russian Air Jabs < American Air Jabs

[jeff_lacy_ko]

I mean his strategy was dumb but in a non fixed judging fight he was ahead on the cards

[stunna 2.0]

After that much time away Ward would be wise to have a tune up first. Then again, he may just not be interested at all.

Ward beats canelo easy work.

[5_burowz]

Ward won't take a payoff like Kovalev did.

[straycat]

Ward has a bit more leverage to work with. A fight with him would make more money. Canelo will get his piece anway you slice it up. If Andre can cool his jets and not rush into anything he could make a decent check.

[TheSickness316]

If this is actually serious, I think Ward should have 1 fight before he fights Canelo. I just feel him getting a fight under his belt and winning that fight will only help hype up the fight.

[TopNotch86]

If you're possibly worried about inactivity, would you want Ward to take a tune up fight?

i mean probably, i would want best vs best in terms of the version of the fighters. ward has had layoffs before and looked fine, but i think a tune up where he shines definitely boosts the fights profile.

Yup, personally for me, if Ward steps in the ring with Canelo and Canelo legitimately wins, then I don't want there to be excuses of a layoff being the main reason for a loss. If Ward wants that fight, he should sign a 2 fight contract to get a tune up in and then go in for the main event. Having that said, even if Ward does fight Canelo without a tuneup, I think a strong camp will get the rust off of him and he will come in as ready as he would ever be.

probably but from an optics standpoint it definitely helps with promotion for people to be able to see "hes still got it"

[J.J.Dillon]

What the fuck ever...sheesh.

[Slippery Pete II]

I think that what Canela should do is fight a top 10, prime, late 20's - early 30's fighter.

You know, something befitting the "apparently" LB for LB fighter of today.

Even his fishnet, pantyhose wearing boss did that once in awhile in his heyday.

Just saying.

[yoloswaggy911]

ladies, ladies, please

anyways, I''d tune in.

[yoloswaggy911]

Ward won't take a payoff like Kovalev did.

This

[NoPropaganda 253]

Andre Ward says he won't end his retirement to fight Canelo Alvarez

Dan Rafael
ESPN Senior Writer

As far as Andre Ward is concerned, it's thanks, but no thanks.

Ward, the former unified super middleweight and light heavyweight world titleholder, said Friday that he is not interested in coming out of retirement to fight newly crowned light heavyweight titlist Canelo Alvarez.

Since Alvarez, boxing's biggest star, climbed two weight divisions and scored a sensational 11th-round knockout of Kovalev on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to win a title in a fourth weight division, there has been rampant speculation that perhaps Ward would exit retirement to take on Alvarez in a megafight.

However, Ward, who twice defeated Kovalev, shot down the speculation during an interview on ESPN's SportsCenter on Friday afternoon.

"I'm not coming out of retirement to fight Canelo Alvarez," Ward said. "There's been a lot of talk -- when that fight was signed and, obviously, since Canelo got the victory over Sergey Kovalev. My phone's been blowing up nonstop. There's been a lot of pressure from individuals in the business, entertainers, you name it, trying to pull me out and it's just not something that I'm interested in doing.

"But don't get me wrong. I'm a fighter at heart. It's not hard to talk me into a fight. It's actually harder to talk me off the ledge and I have great team members [and] we sit down and talk about these things and I have to keep my word. And I have to stick to my conviction that I made Sept. 21, 2017. I feel like I'm gonna be a better asset to the sport of boxing, my family, my church -- all the things that I'm doing as a retired fighter than I would be if I came back."

Ward (32-0, 16 KOs), 35, of Oakland, California, had a brilliant career but it ended far sooner than many expected when he stunningly announced his retirement on Sept. 21, 2017 despite being viewed by many as the No. 1 boxer in the world pound for pound at the time.

Ward's retirement announcement came just three months after he stopped Kovalev in the eighth round of their rematch in June 2017 to retain the three light heavyweight world title belts he had taken from Kovalev by controversial decision in their first fight in November 2016.

Ward won an Olympic gold medal in 2004, and cleaned out the super middleweight division as he unified two belts by decision against Carl Froch to win the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament in 2011. Injuries and a dispute over his promotional contract kept him out of the ring for long stretches following the Super Six, but he eventually moved up to light heavyweight for the final five bouts of his career, culminating with the two wins over Kovalev, who went on to regain 175-pound belts twice before losing to Alvarez.

Ward has remained involved in boxing since retiring. He is part of the management team that represents newly crowned featherweight world titlist Shakur Stevenson and he also works as a broadcaster. First he was with HBO, but since the network ended its boxing coverage last December, he has worked as a ringside analyst on the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN cards.

https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/ ... lo-alvarez

[TheSickness316]

Andre Ward says he won't end his retirement to fight Canelo Alvarez

Dan Rafael
ESPN Senior Writer

As far as Andre Ward is concerned, it's thanks, but no thanks.

Ward, the former unified super middleweight and light heavyweight world titleholder, said Friday that he is not interested in coming out of retirement to fight newly crowned light heavyweight titlist Canelo Alvarez.

Since Alvarez, boxing's biggest star, climbed two weight divisions and scored a sensational 11th-round knockout of Kovalev on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to win a title in a fourth weight division, there has been rampant speculation that perhaps Ward would exit retirement to take on Alvarez in a megafight.

However, Ward, who twice defeated Kovalev, shot down the speculation during an interview on ESPN's SportsCenter on Friday afternoon.

"I'm not coming out of retirement to fight Canelo Alvarez," Ward said. "There's been a lot of talk -- when that fight was signed and, obviously, since Canelo got the victory over Sergey Kovalev. My phone's been blowing up nonstop. There's been a lot of pressure from individuals in the business, entertainers, you name it, trying to pull me out and it's just not something that I'm interested in doing.

"But don't get me wrong. I'm a fighter at heart. It's not hard to talk me into a fight. It's actually harder to talk me off the ledge and I have great team members [and] we sit down and talk about these things and I have to keep my word. And I have to stick to my conviction that I made Sept. 21, 2017. I feel like I'm gonna be a better asset to the sport of boxing, my family, my church -- all the things that I'm doing as a retired fighter than I would be if I came back."

Ward (32-0, 16 KOs), 35, of Oakland, California, had a brilliant career but it ended far sooner than many expected when he stunningly announced his retirement on Sept. 21, 2017 despite being viewed by many as the No. 1 boxer in the world pound for pound at the time.

Ward's retirement announcement came just three months after he stopped Kovalev in the eighth round of their rematch in June 2017 to retain the three light heavyweight world title belts he had taken from Kovalev by controversial decision in their first fight in November 2016.

Ward won an Olympic gold medal in 2004, and cleaned out the super middleweight division as he unified two belts by decision against Carl Froch to win the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament in 2011. Injuries and a dispute over his promotional contract kept him out of the ring for long stretches following the Super Six, but he eventually moved up to light heavyweight for the final five bouts of his career, culminating with the two wins over Kovalev, who went on to regain 175-pound belts twice before losing to Alvarez.

Ward has remained involved in boxing since retiring. He is part of the management team that represents newly crowned featherweight world titlist Shakur Stevenson and he also works as a broadcaster. First he was with HBO, but since the network ended its boxing coverage last December, he has worked as a ringside analyst on the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN cards.

https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/ ... lo-alvarez

That ends that.

[gilgamesh]

[stunna 2.0]

Andre Ward says he won't end his retirement to fight Canelo Alvarez

Dan Rafael
ESPN Senior Writer

As far as Andre Ward is concerned, it's thanks, but no thanks.

Ward, the former unified super middleweight and light heavyweight world titleholder, said Friday that he is not interested in coming out of retirement to fight newly crowned light heavyweight titlist Canelo Alvarez.

Since Alvarez, boxing's biggest star, climbed two weight divisions and scored a sensational 11th-round knockout of Kovalev on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to win a title in a fourth weight division, there has been rampant speculation that perhaps Ward would exit retirement to take on Alvarez in a megafight.

However, Ward, who twice defeated Kovalev, shot down the speculation during an interview on ESPN's SportsCenter on Friday afternoon.

"I'm not coming out of retirement to fight Canelo Alvarez," Ward said. "There's been a lot of talk -- when that fight was signed and, obviously, since Canelo got the victory over Sergey Kovalev. My phone's been blowing up nonstop. There's been a lot of pressure from individuals in the business, entertainers, you name it, trying to pull me out and it's just not something that I'm interested in doing.

"But don't get me wrong. I'm a fighter at heart. It's not hard to talk me into a fight. It's actually harder to talk me off the ledge and I have great team members [and] we sit down and talk about these things and I have to keep my word. And I have to stick to my conviction that I made Sept. 21, 2017. I feel like I'm gonna be a better asset to the sport of boxing, my family, my church -- all the things that I'm doing as a retired fighter than I would be if I came back."

Ward (32-0, 16 KOs), 35, of Oakland, California, had a brilliant career but it ended far sooner than many expected when he stunningly announced his retirement on Sept. 21, 2017 despite being viewed by many as the No. 1 boxer in the world pound for pound at the time.

Ward's retirement announcement came just three months after he stopped Kovalev in the eighth round of their rematch in June 2017 to retain the three light heavyweight world title belts he had taken from Kovalev by controversial decision in their first fight in November 2016.

Ward won an Olympic gold medal in 2004, and cleaned out the super middleweight division as he unified two belts by decision against Carl Froch to win the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament in 2011. Injuries and a dispute over his promotional contract kept him out of the ring for long stretches following the Super Six, but he eventually moved up to light heavyweight for the final five bouts of his career, culminating with the two wins over Kovalev, who went on to regain 175-pound belts twice before losing to Alvarez.

Ward has remained involved in boxing since retiring. He is part of the management team that represents newly crowned featherweight world titlist Shakur Stevenson and he also works as a broadcaster. First he was with HBO, but since the network ended its boxing coverage last December, he has worked as a ringside analyst on the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN cards.

https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/ ... lo-alvarez

Money talks

[straycat]

Ya he could be staging that to up the ante. If not its OK if thats what he decides.

[TopNotch86]

I think that what Canela should do is fight a top 10, prime, late 20's - early 30's fighter.

You know, something befitting the "apparently" LB for LB fighter of today.

Even his fishnet, pantyhose wearing boss did that once in awhile in his heyday.

Just saying.

the problem with canelo is that because his guarantees are so high now, he needs moneymaking opponents. unfortunately that doesnt always coincide with the top fighters of today...