Andre Ward Anyone?

[Richard]

Agreed. good post.

Yes as a genuine lover of the sport of boxing its always nice when other fans make the effort to write something which is thought provoking and a differing take on what others have said.

From knowing other people who have made it professional in other sports it goes without saying that if you have been there and done it you do have a edge over the understanding and complexities of what it takes to be successful at a given sport.To often you get armchair critics that think there experts in a given sport but have never played the game.Hence there's one thing being in a comfy chair at home all warm,eating etc but another thing getting up at 5am in the cold of winter to go on a arduous run for training for a fight or being in the thick of the action and feeling the pain from someone else's punches and every part of your body and mind wants to quit but you keep battling on .

[QueensburyRules]

Why Andre Ward Is Sports Illustrated's Fighter of the Decade

Ward was never boxing’s biggest star, but in the 2010s, he was its best fighter.

CHRIS MANNIX

Any list of candidates for Fighter of the Decade—the Boxing Writers Association’s annual award—is usually whittled down to four names: Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez and Andre Ward.

And believe me: There is a*heateddebate out there among boxing scribes as to who is the most deserving one.

Let’s start with Mayweather, the clear cut*star*of the decade. Mayweather was already a main****** megastar in 2010, still riding high off his career-turning win over Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. He signed a lucrative deal with Showtime in 2013, broke pay per view records against Manny Pacquiao in ‘15 and made nine figures fighting an MMA fighter with no chance to beat him in ‘17.

MORE:*SI's 2019 Boxing Awards*|*SI's Fighter of the Year

The resume, though … it’s just missing something, isn’t it? Mayweather fought Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto, but both were on the back end of stellar Hall of Fame careers. He fought Canelo Alvarez*before*Canelo started on a path that will eventually end in Canastota. He beat Pacquiao when Pacquiao was well past his prime.

And let’s not forget: Mayweather’s boxing career effectively ended in 2015.

The Conor McGregor (mis)match … that really doesn’t count.

And how about Pacquiao? He, too, has a resume that lacks a certain sizzle. The 2000’s Fighter of the Decade—and can we pause here to acknowledge that the fighter of the*last*decade is not only a candidate in the next one, but in 2020 is still going strong?—picked up two losses early (a debatable decision defeat to Tim Bradley and a knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez) and another late, to Jeff Horn. He experienced a remarkable revival in 2019, knocking off Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman, but it just doesn’t feel like enough.

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Alvarez could easily be the fighter of the*half*decade. He defeated Erislandy Lara in 2014, outpointed Cotto in ’15 and dethroned Gennadiy Golovkin in 2018. He padded his resume nicely last year, with wins over Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev, but his run began a little too late.

Which brings us to Ward. Ward’s resume isn’t ***y. Nobody searches for highlights of Ward’s win over Sakio Bika … or remembers the decision defeat of Arthur Abraham … or tells tales of how he beat Carl Froch. But those were three high-level super middleweights, along with Allan Green, who Ward knocked off to win the Super Six tournament, which established Ward as the top 168-pound fighter in the world.

Ward’s next fight was against Chad Dawson, and for the purposes of this discussion try to think beyond the shell of a fighter Dawson has become. In 2012, Dawson was arguably the top light heavyweight in the world, fresh off a win over Bernard Hopkins. For 10 rounds Ward battered Dawson—who came down to super middleweight for the fight—forcing Dawson to a knee in the closing seconds of the 10th, making him quit.

If the Super Six defined Ward as a top super middleweight, beating Dawson established him as a legitimate pound-for-pound star.

AP/Shutterstock

There was a lull in Ward’s career mid-decade—we’ll address that in a moment—but Ward closed it in spectacular style. When Ward stepped in the ring against Kovalev, in 2016, Kovalev was the unquestioned king of the light heavyweight division, an undefeated knockout artist.

Ward, in just his third fight as a full-fledged light heavyweight, scored a narrow decision win.

A year later, Ward knocked Kovalev out.

The argument against Ward is his inactivity in the middle part of the decade, when he fought just once in 2 ½ years, wasting years of his prime in a promotional dispute. He never fought Lucian Bute, the only champion who didn’t participate in the Super Six. He let the Kovalev negotiations drag on a*little*longer than most liked. And he never shared the ring with Golovkin, though the reasons why are hotly contested.

Still: Ward fought significant, meaningful fights early in the decade, and won them all. He fought one of the biggest punchers in boxing, a top-10 pound-for-pound talent and beat him, twice. He showed skill in outclassing opponents and surprising power against the better ones.

For that, Ward is*Sports Illustrated’s*Fighter of the Decade.

The results of the BWAA voting will be interesting. Expect a lot of support for Mayweather for his string of high profile fights. Canelo, too, will get consideration, fresh of a consensus Fighter of the Year campaign and his status as boxing’s biggest star.

Ward was never boxing’s biggest star, and only after Mayweather retired did Ward find himself atop the pound-for-pound lists. But this award is for best fighter, not best known, for a 10-year stretch of accomplishments, not little more than half that. Ward’s decade wasn’t perfect, but it says here it was better than anyone else.*

BY

*CHRIS MANNIX

- -When Sissyboy opening up his shoe museum?

[djtmal]

Yeah I think it was clear Mannix was told Floyd can't be chosen given his out of ring history. Once that decision is made, you can't pick Manny or Canelo and look credible.

Ward was undefeated, and picking him neutralizes any criticism of not picking Floyd be racial in any way. He also didn't get into any trouble (like Canelo with PED's) and didn't have any problematic political positions (like Manny with gays).

Here you go.

Mannix was told not to pick Floyd eh? Really.
You have proof of that?

Couldn't possibly be for the legit reason he gave; that Ward, however ugly, beat the best guys in their prime, and Floyd got knocked down for beating a lot of past prime name guys. Nooo. Certainly there's gotta be foul play going on here.

[MulaKO]

B-hop was good but and maintained a high level for many years after being forty but no way.. even Crawford or Lomachenko deserves it more than B-hop I think.

Toney was a fat guy that was catched on steroids so no...

I was asking about how you felt about these guys with their rough house tactics
Not for fighter of decade or wtv

[_Maxi]

I was asking about how you felt about these guys with their rough house tactics
Not for fighter of decade or wtv

I never rooted for a dirty fighter. I only support clean fighters.

[_Maxi]

Here you go.

Mannix was told not to pick Floyd eh? Really.
You have proof of that?

Couldn't possibly be for the legit reason he gave; that Ward, however ugly, beat the best guys in their prime, and Floyd got knocked down for beating a lot of past prime name guys. Nooo. Certainly there's gotta be foul play going on here.

Who believes Ward beat Kovalev in the first fight?

Who believes Ward didn't deserve to be DQ the night he headbutted Kessler until he broke his face?

[MulaKO]

I never rooted for a dirty fighter. I only support clean fighters.

Toney was only popped later on in his career
He was already done by that time
Sorry to say but there all juiced , just some have been luckier than others , whether it be cause of money or stopping their cycles early

[_Maxi]

Toney was only popped later on in his career
He was already done by that time
Sorry to say but there all juiced , just some have been luckier than others , whether it be cause of money or stopping their cycles early

I didn't follow boxing in the days that Toney was an active fighter. I started watching boxing since 2013, and I've read and seen many fights of the past, but never cared too much about Toney. I did read about his HW fights though and controversy about PEDs.

[SUBZER0ED]

Ward winning the Super Six tournament in 2011, was his greatest accomplishment. His gift decision vs Kovalev in their first fight and KOing Sergey's groin in the rematch do nothing towards making him FOTD.

[MEXICAN STYLE]

Cong**** SOG