Why are they waiting till the end of next year to make the Ward-Kovalev fight?

[UNBIASED BOXING]

Smfh ain't that some ****. Dude hasn't fought anyone meaningful in yrs. can't even get him in the ring with Gonzalez.

to be fair, Gonzalez should be getting in the ring with Kovalev.

Ward can take Pascal and the winner of the above scenario.

[codey]

because absences makes the heart grow fonder!

[The Ninth Layer]

Is this really a question? Outside of hard core boxing fans, who knows Andre Ward especially in the LHW division? He was hot for a minute but his inactivity fizzled him out just like its doing Mikey Garcia. They need to build up Ward as the big threat in LHW and Krusher needs more American exposure in order to make it a big PPV.

Glad someone is talking sense.

The whole point of getting these guys a few fights first is to get people talking about them & preparing for their returns. Every time they fight they're exposed to bigger audiences and word-of-mouth buzz. People on this forum don't represent the vast majority of ticket-buying boxing fans out there, to reach those people it takes a fight or two or three. Joe Public isn't buying tickets to a guy he's only seen once on TV, and he's certainly not buying PPVs for it. Give these guys a few fights to build some hype.

[Bigg Rigg]

to be fair, Gonzalez should be getting in the ring with Kovalev.

Ward can take Pascal and the winner of the above scenario.

Im OK with both guys as the first opponent for Ward at 175. Gonzalez won in most ppls eyes but Pascal was ****ing with the dude. Could have gone either way imo.

[firstborn]

Nobody cares about promoters. Boxers are the ones with the fans that ppl pay money to see. Not promoters. And you're basically ok with Ward just fighting bums for 1-2 million dollars while guys like Kovalev, pascal and even Gonzalez can't get him yet.

You act like Ward has made a career of fighting lower class opponents. Ward had a decent opponent in his return from shoulder surgery. Ward fought a lower teir opponent in his recent return but people forget that he's literally had two fights in almost three years!

Before anyone says it, I know the contract issues were mostly Ward's fault. Still doesn't change the fact that Ward hasn't been in the ring on a consistent basis for a while.

And yes, I'd like to see him face a B+ 175lbs fighter before he faces Kovalev. But I was at his last fight and believe Ward has more ring rust than people realize so his desire for another tune-up is warranted in my opinion.

As far as Ward's salary, they wouldn't pay him the money if it wasn't there. I think every fighter should get as much as they can each time they fight. In this game tomorrow isn't promised.

My comment about promoters was in reference to the selective outrage that people have when it comes to certain areas or people in boxing. My stance is still the same......

[i'm a fun haver]

Glad someone is talking sense.

The whole point of getting these guys a few fights first is to get people talking about them & preparing for their returns. Every time they fight they're exposed to bigger audiences and word-of-mouth buzz. People on this forum don't represent the vast majority of ticket-buying boxing fans out there, to reach those people it takes a fight or two or three. Joe Public isn't buying tickets to a guy he's only seen once on TV, and he's certainly not buying PPVs for it. Give these guys a few fights to build some hype.

Yeah, let Ward fight tune ups while Kovalev fights higher profile fighters and builds the PPV. Then Ward can get the handout he's been begging for.
Wonder if he expects Kovalev to go ahead and sign the deal for 50/50 split now for their fight next year...when Kovalev will be worth more money lol

[Vasyl’s dad]

They need enough time so ward has an excuse why he can't fight. It's not about ring rust. He's supposedly the best fighter in the world who just fought. Now he needs another tune up?? Lol. What a joke.

[bojangles1987]

So Ward can adjust to the weight and build the hype.

[j0zef]

Because Ward is broke and needs to get used to the weight. Anyone who thinks that fighting an unknown, inexperienced 23 year old on an undercard will build 'hype' is delusional. Especially since Ward uses a very boring style for most casual fans.

If he beats Kov, his popularity will come back.

[Hougigo]

Because they're gonna make it a PPV and if they did it now they'd lose a lot of money.

A whole year to build up with shit sandwhich matchups in between to raise visibility and hype up the fight between the two