By Abbas Dadhiwala: Andre Ward is recognized as the best boxer in the super middleweight division. He has never lost, he dominates fights, very rarely does any boxer land a clean punch on him, but every time he fights the venue is half full.
Ward is a very clever boxer, has speed, accuracy and the timing of his shots are wonderful. The best boxer in the super middleweight division is Froch, when they fought Froch could not land a single telling punch on Ward all throughout the Super Six Final.
I really think Ward is too good for the super middleweights of this world. Just looking at the Ring Magazine rankings shows Froch at number 2 followed by Arthur Abraham, Groves and Degale. Ward is too good for all these boxers and would win a match up against these boxers easily. The only boxer he should fight that would maybe have a full crowd would be Cesar Chavez Jnr who’s only defeat came at the hands of Sergio Martinez.
Amir Khan can throw wonderful combinations, Mayweather can move and shoulder roll out of tough situations, Danny Garcia can knock someone out with a big left hook. Andre Ward can do these things, just not good enough to make the public sit up and take notice.
When he won the super six tournament, the arena was half full. Nobody was interested in Ward and nobody in America knew who Froch was. Can you market yourself as a great boxer when nobody is watching. Amir Khan a Brit pulls in a bigger crowd than Ward, and Khan is nowhere near Pacquiao, Mayweather or Canelo in terms of having crowd support.
Jay – Z has recently signed Ward to be the big thing, the main boxing attraction on his roster of athletes for Roc Nation Sports. Jay –Z could have made a big error in judgment, as Ward just doesn’t have the public profile that he will be looking for.
There are a few boxers that Ward could fight to raise his profile, Pavlik, Jermaine Taylor (if he moves up), after that not many more, how do we wish for Joe Calzaghe, Eubank, Benn, James Toney, Roy Jones Jnr,.
I personally think Andre Ward’s best bet would be to move up to light heavyweight, to challenge the likes of big puncher Adonis Stevenson, Kovalev, Jean Pascal and even Bernard Hopkins. Ward will have to do something and quite soon, as he has only fought twice in the last 3 years due to injury, promoter issues and credible opponents to come forward and challenge him.
When Ward fought Chad Dawson it looked like he finally had made the American public take notice of him, when he floored Dawson on his way to a convincing victory. But Ward just doesn’t have any style about him, no charisma, no trash talk, boxing is a business now and having a character is what sells. Naseem Hamed did it brilliantly, Ward needs to do the same.
Ward is definitely number 2 on the pound for pound list behind Mayweather, but on the popularity list he is not even in the top 20. Ward needs to do something and do it fast before other boxers overtake him, Come on Andre Ward show the public that your more than just a boxer, you’re a real superstar that can dominate boxing for years to come.
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