Goosen hoping Ward can take Mayweather and Pacquiao’s place at the top of boxing
June 19th, 2010
Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime – By Matt Stein: With both Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao already fabulously wealthy and likely nearing the end of their careers very soon, promoter Dan Goosen is hoping that his young fighter World Boxing Association (WBA) super middleweight champion Andre Ward (21-0, 13 KO’s) can move in and take over to fill the void left when Mayweather and Pacquiao hand up the gloves some day soon. For that to happen, Ward, 26, will have to beat his opponent Allan Green (29-1, 20 KO’s) in their Super Six bout in Oakland, California.
Ward isn’t nearly the puncher that Green is, so he has to land a lot more of his shots to equal one of Green’s. At the same time, Green brings a danger to the fight because he can end matters at a moment’s notice if he can land something big. There’s a very small margin of error when fighting Green, in particular early on in the fight when he’s fresh and at his best.
Ward has to stay out of the way of Green’s big swings, try to tire him out, and make it into the later rounds with a lead. If Ward can still be ahead of the fight late, he’ll have a great chance of beating Green by a decision. However, to get the level of Mayweather and Pacquiao, Ward not only needs to win, he needs to win impressively. He can’t just beat him by a close decision if he wants to get the attention of the boxing public. Ward is missing a couple of things that Mayweather and Pacquiao has going for them.
Pacquiao has great power, blinding hand speed and tons of aggression. He’s not afraid to get hit and is willing to make sacrifices to get his own shots in. This is what makes him so exciting to watch, and what wins him so many fans from all countries around the world. Mayweather not only has incredibly fast hands, but he’s also quite good at making his opponents miss and look bad.
He has great footwork, or at least he used to until recently. And perhaps best of all, Mayweather has a lot of charisma and is quite good at selling his fights with his gift of gab. He’s a good talk and seems to be a polarizing figure. There are those that love him and there’s an equal amount that seem to hate him. However, the ones that hate him still tune into his fights just to see if he’ll lose.
So far, Mayweather hasn’t and has frustrated the fans that want to see him lose. Ward is more quiet, and lacks the charisma that Mayweather has going for him. Perhaps it’s something that Ward, who comes from Oakland, California, can learn to do by being more vocal about what he intends to do in the ring instead of being so respectful of his opponents all the time.
Tags: 24 Responses to “Goosen hoping Ward can take Mayweather and Pacquiao’s place at the top of boxing”
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“Mark my words” – LMFAO……You sound like the idiot Chris Williams. Wouldn’t doubt if you are him. How did that Yuri Foreman prediction work out of you Chris? LMFAO!!!! “Mark my words”…..LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
Go watch pro wrestling if you find it so boring. Who in your little mind do you think is gonna KO Ward in this tournament?
Ward already faced tougher competition that Jr & Pac combined. Unlike those two knuckleheads he wins his fight IN THE RING rather than the negotiating table.
Do you see Floyd or Pac taking on the very best in their respective divisions without “catch-weight” clauses & so on? Don’t think so. They’re instead fighting shot fighters or guys WAY past their primes like Oscar who was nothing more than a popular name.
Ward & the fighters at the Super Six are facing other fighters still in their PRIME.
Big difference.
But the ignorant “fans” rather see Pac destroy guys who never had a fair shake before they even entered the ring. Or Floyd sell another one of his boring fights with his mouth. Neither one of them will ever fight dangerous guys like Paul Williams, Devon Alexander, or Sergio Martinez but I can almost guarantee you Ward eventually would.
Ward’s got a long way to go
I think Goosen already laid a golden egg.
reply to NO FIGHT; i’m from england and a fan of pacman and mayweather, to say mayweather is only known in usa is way of the mark. floyd is very well known name over here. also look at floyds ppv figures that will tell you he is just as popular as manny. what i would say is floyd does divide opinion more!
Unfortunately, I don’t Ward will ever reach the heights Mayweather or Pacquiao have.
As talented as Ward is, he has a very similar style to that of Joe Calzaghe. Ward may not be as much a braggart as Calzaghe but I can’t fathom Ward being the face of Boxing with his style. He’s not the type to sit down on his punches and deliver a KO but nor is he the scientist that is able to break down opponents and precise.
He’s in and out, throws punches in punches, and likes to hold while simultaneously getting a few punches off on the inside.
He’s a great fighter, but he’s just not going to land the numbers, sadly.
ward is boring.
Pacquiao should get the bigger share of the purse because he is more popular than Manyweather. Pacquiao is well known all over the world while Mayweather is known only in the USA. Even in the USA Pacquiao is more popular and admired by most Americans. The only reason why they want to watch Mayweather fight is they want see Pacquiao KO Mayweather. But those things will never happen because Mayweather will never agree to fight Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather keeps on fakeing that he wants to fight Manny and it’s Manny who is ducking him. LOL. Mayweather is a coward who will never, never fight Manny. Mayweather will be known as the greatest coward boxer of all time. You can bet on that!
Come down to welterweight, if you are that great. Otherwise, dream on…
dream on goosen!
We will see what Abraham can do against ward.This will be a battle worthy to watch.boxing skills against true power.Froch would do very good against Ward,I believe,His toughness and strength, will make it hard for Ward.
I will never happen Andre fight boring and tactical and does not have the personality of a Floyd.
One more thing, does Andre has a weak punch and his chin hasn’t been tested.
Ward won’t get another gift in the tournament, won’t get past Dirrell. Maybe he beats most others, but he isn’t as amazing as Goosen hopes he is. And that grab n hold and heat butting biz has gotta go. No sense in that. Either you have the talent to do the job right without those crutches, or you’re not great. Simple as that.
don’t count khan out! at 23 he still got plenty of time to build fights with the others. khan 23,alexander 24, bradley 26 can all afford to lose, especially to each other and still be superstars and rebuild themselves a few times yet. simalar to how leonard, hearns, duran did(hagler did’nt have too) and just like mma fighters do! youth and skills are on they sides, it is a mouthwatering prospect these three, and maidana and ortiz too all facing each other and in rematches throughout next decade. but has i said more likely khan and alexander will be the ppv stars, and p4p ers!!
Ward continues to dominate the Super Six!
Ward Dirrell Alexander Bradley…all have the potenial…Khan won’t once he faces a real threat.
only 2 fighters out there that will move into that class: khan and alexander and maybe bradley! megafights and superstars waiting to happen, just let them stew!!
were all hoping we hit the lottery–FAT CHANCH.
Ward does not have to be boisterous and loud-moth like Floyda Mae Weeder. He can still be great by staying as humble and respectable as he is – like Pacman. We need boxers like these two guys that are worth-emulating by our younger fans.
Andre just have to punch a little bit more with combinations and speed, like Sugar Ray Leonard – not jab,move,hold, jab, move, hold, doing the same thing over and aver again like little boy floyd who makes the fight boring. Andre just have to slug a little bit more. This way, he can be more exciting which is one of the ingredients of becoming great fighter.
Ward is a BEAST can’t wait to see it tonight!
Its the way Ward fights that makes it sorry fight he runs and holds 2 much no one wants to see that $hit
This is boxing pal, not mma. Points are part of the sport. With Greens power though we may never even see the score.
laughable, cant even find the fight anywhere on tv. have terrestrial and cable tv in uk and no ones interested. not top draw. not top flight. not that bothered either. gonna watch moto gp instead. get some real fighters who can ko with one shot and stop promoting tippy tappy points stealers . !!!