Andre Ward: "If this is the end of my career, there's life after boxing!"

[FlatLine]

i dont get why he wanted out of the goosen contract early.. if it wasnt for goosen then ward probably wouldnt have been able to get his way with all his super 6 fights at home, and its possible he would have been dq'd against kessler if that fight was in denmark because the number of headbutts landed was pretty crazy..

who knows what would have happened, would he have even won the super 6 if he didn't have all his fights at home with a partisan crowd, no effects of long distance travelling, adjusting to a different time zone, jet lag etc..? no matter which way you look at it the traveling fighter is always at a disadvantage.. all the other super 6 fighters had to deal with that disadvantage except Ward..

[Rip Chudd]

i dont get why he wanted out of the goosen contract early.. if it wasnt for goosen then ward probably wouldnt have been able to get his way with all his super 6 fights at home, and its possible he would have been dq'd against kessler if that fight was in denmark because the number of headbutts landed was pretty crazy..

who knows what would have happened, would he have even won the super 6 if he didn't have all his fights at home with a partisan crowd, no effects of long distance travelling, adjusting to a different time zone, jet lag etc..? no matter which way you look at it the traveling fighter is always at a disadvantage.. all the other super 6 fighters had to deal with that disadvantage except Ward..

That's not his fault, the other promoters are at fault for that. Let's not act like Ward was as well known as he is today and thought of as highly as he is. He was the baby coming into the tournament thought to have been too green for the caliber of other fighters they had. The other promoters thought it would be an easy win to come into this kid's hometown and beat him. Saying that, props to Goosen, he's done wonders for Ward's career. I have no idea why he wants to break from him so much.

[-MAKAVELLI-]

damn...that's it? later Andre

[FlatLine]

That's not his fault, the other promoters are at fault for that. Let's not act like Ward was as well known as he is today and thought of as highly as he is. He was the baby coming into the tournament thought to have been too green for the caliber of other fighters they had. The other promoters thought it would be an easy win to come into this kid's hometown and beat him. Saying that, props to Goosen, he's done wonders for Ward's career. I have no idea why he wants to break from him so much.

Dirrell wasn't well known either but he had to travel so I doubt it was the other promoters assuming Ward was easy pickings.. I remember at the time it was heavily debated by all the joint promoters but eventually Goosen managed to get his way somehow, maybe through taking a cut in the purse or something, or promising the other promoters options if Ward was successful.. damn, maybe that's it? Ward got his fights at home but the other promoters have options on him.. that might explain why he wants to get away from Goosen? he might have to split a percentage of his purse with other promoters?

[BattlingNelson]

That's not his fault, the other promoters are at fault for that.

That's correct. That doesn't make it invalid to speculate what would have happened had he NOT had homefield throughout which is exactly that speculation Flatline did.

Let's not act like Ward was as well known as he is today and thought of as highly as he is. He was the baby coming into the tournament thought to have been too green for the caliber of other fighters they had. The other promoters thought it would be an easy win to come into this kid's hometown and beat him. Saying that, props to Goosen, he's done wonders for Ward's career. I have no idea why he wants to break from him so much.

The other promotors likely underestimated him yes. They where also very high on the groundbreaking concept of the supersix and wanted it to succeed. Goosen played hardball and insisted that Ward should have homefield or else he wouldn't participate. He gave an ultimatum and Shaw, Hennesy, DiBella and Sauerland caved in.

Masterstroke by Goosen. Then again I wonder what would have happened if the others didn't want to comply? Would there have an s6 at all? Or would Ward have travelled?

[Rip Chudd]

Dirrell wasn't well known either but he had to travel so I doubt it was the other promoters assuming Ward was easy pickings.. I remember at the time it was heavily debated by all the joint promoters but eventually Goosen managed to get his way somehow, maybe through taking a cut in the purse or something, or promising the other promoters options if Ward was successful.. damn, maybe that's it? Ward got his fights at home but the other promoters have options on him.. that might explain why he wants to get away from Goosen? he might have to split a percentage of his purse with other promoters?

You maybe right about the purse splits. If so then i'm sure it had to be explained to Ward beforehand that it would happen or Ward would of been awarded his split from Goosen. A lot of people place the fact that he didn't travel on Ward but that was all Goosen. The fact now though is that the Super 6 is over and Ward is not a big draw. He should have no problem traveling in order to get the money he covets. I mean something has got to be better then just sitting on the shelf. He's had a good career but if he thinks he's getting to the HOF then he's got another thing coming.

[RightJabLikeZab]

That's cool. But just move up and fight Kovalev or Stevenson before you retire.

[richardt]

Clearly Ward's heart is not in Boxing anymore. Those words do not come from a guy who still has the fire unless he is really sending that message to his manager as a hint.

[-PBP-]

Clearly Ward's heart is not in Boxing anymore. Those words do not come from a guy who still has the fire unless he is really sending that message to his manager as a hint.

His contract would have expired this year. A guy that still wants to box would have just taken two more fights, took the million dollar paydays and finished out his contract.

Ward's heart isn't in the sport anymore. This is like the 3rd interview where he's hinted at being tired of boxing and/or retirement.

Of course he'll fight again if its a big time PPV fight against a Chavez Jr. or somebody but now that that's unlikely we may not see him in the ring for a long time.

[FlatLine]

You maybe right about the purse splits. If so then i'm sure it had to be explained to Ward beforehand that it would happen or Ward would of been awarded his split from Goosen. A lot of people place the fact that he didn't travel on Ward but that was all Goosen. The fact now though is that the Super 6 is over and Ward is not a big draw. He should have no problem traveling in order to get the money he covets. I mean something has got to be better then just sitting on the shelf. He's had a good career but if he thinks he's getting to the HOF then he's got another thing coming.

im beginning to think it's ongoing options since the Super 6, as in Ward still has to pay those promoters a percentage for fights. that would explain why ward is so adamant about leaving goosen..

Ward has only had 2 fights since 2011 super 6 final! the more i think about it, the more it makes sense - he must have agreed to some sort of deal where he would pay a percentage for X amount of fights after the Super 6 was over and that's why he got home advantage.. options can work like that.. the Klitschkos do that to their opponents all the time and Arum, King, De La Hoya have done it too..

At the time i'm sure Ward must have thought it was worth agreeing to that to get home advantage, or maybe Goosen convinced him? but going back to what you said earlier, although Ward wasn't well known, a lot of boxing insiders picked him to win the super 6 and even the sky sports presenters said he was a favorite at the start of tournament so the promoters must have known he was the real deal and could win it.. they wanted a piece of the action in his career if he did, in exchange for agreeing to home advantage..

that would explain all the problems he's having with Goosen now