Last Week in Boxing: Andre Ward Hasn't Done The Work to be Great
Last Week in Boxing: Andre Ward Hasn't Done The Work to be Great
Is Andre Ward one of boxing's true greats? Historian Jonathan Snowden argues he has the tools but not the resume to make that claim.
Watching Andre Ward work on HBO Saturday underscores just how difficult creating stars in boxing really is. It requires a fighter with rare raw talent and carefully crafted skill--and that's an absolute baseline, the bare minimum required to start the process. Then comes hard work of a type almost unimaginable to the lay person who has never seen the process up close. Blood, sweat, tears and abuse become a boxer's new normal, as only pain can mold a purveyor of violence.
Only then, after much of the work is done and dues are paid in full, will a boxer first step into a ring as a professional.
Here matchmaking becomes key. To create truly massive stars, superlative prospects must be moved ahead at just the right pace against just the right opposition. Too much time spent inthe shallow end may leave a boxer to drown later when waters get deeper and no life boat appears. Going into deep waters too soon, likewise, will lead to certain doom.
Luck, too, plays a big part. In this sport momentary inattention can change your life. Some fighters survive their mistakes. Others are punished. Every great fighter has a close call that might have gone the other way. Boxing, at times, is a roll of the dice.
Once this extraordinary, disciplined and lucky talent climbs the top of the mountain, the job isn't over--it's just begun. Activity is key to staying on top. Opponents must be carefully managed. Go in too hard, too often, and losses will tarnish even the brightest star. Go in too soft, and fans will turn fickle. Between fights a budding star must be willing to feed the public's demand for personality and intrigue. Social media can undue years of hard work or make bronze look temporarily like gold.
Things have gone well when a fighter can simply reach the mountain's base. Here a fighter can headline on HBO or Showtime, make a great living and dream of immortality. The climb to the top is something few manage. This is rarefied air, the world of private jets, hangers on and high stakes.
This is where Ward believes he belongs. He's wrong.
No matter what HBO, BET or his media proxies tell him, Ward is closer to the beginning of the journey than the end. At this point of his career, that's a minor tragedy.
There is little doubt that Ward is an exceptional talent. His career record suggests rather plainly that he is the best super middleweight in history. He's undefeated at 168, the only man to truly clean house and beat all other significant opposition at the weight. The Showtime Super 6 tournament made him an ascending star, providing the path he'd need to walk right into the boxing pantheon.
Instead, management issues and injuries stopped Ward just as the summit came into view. In time, they caused him to lose ground, his long disappearances becoming another of boxing's running
jokes. As he entered the ring against the nondescript Alexander Brand, Ward's star had never been lower. He was an 85-1 favorite and slated to earn $850,000 in a fight that no one demanded-- except him.
Ward, a potential superstar who never materialized, wanted to be treated like he had already ascended. Amazingly, HBO continues to pamper him like that's actually true.
The half full Oracle Arena, and the diehards preferring lackluster boxing to the Olympic Games, saw a glorified sparring session between Brand and Ward culminating in unanimous 120-108 scorecards. The shutout was as dull as feared. Ward's post fight interview was as milquetoast as the competition he engaged in moments prior--broad allusions to his future, complements of past and future foes and thank yous to luminaries such as Yahweh and James Prince.
Ward claims in interviews that he wants to be a star like Roy Jones Jr. , yet he offers none of the flash or pizzazz Roy managed as a matter of course. Even now, the washed up Russian Roy Jones manages to be more captivating than a man who purports to be one of the best of his era.
HBO, via its mouthpieces like Max Kellerman, was forced to go on the offensive and tell fans that they were seeing greatness instead of a great disappointment. Someone, somewhere, might have actually bought it.
Hope remains in the form of Sergei Kovalev. The two are set to fight in November, a pay-per-view that will allow Ward the opportunity to prove he's what he claims to be. Is Andre Ward as good as
we think he is? As good as he thinks he is? Like every other boxer in the sport's glorious history, only he can truly answer that question--and he can only do it in the ring.
Other Notes
-Juan Diaz earned another title shot with a dismantling of Cesar Vazquez on Unimas' Solo Boxeo. The former undisputed lightweight champion trounced the overmatched Vazquez for an 8th round corner stoppage. The lighweight division already features several reclamation projects--Jorge Linares, Petr Petrov, Mickey Bey, and Anthony Crolla just to name a few. Diaz, even past his prime, is a legitimate threat to any of them.
Only then, after much of the work is done and dues are paid in full, will a boxer first step into a ring as a professional.
Here matchmaking becomes key. To create truly massive stars, superlative prospects must be moved ahead at just the right pace against just the right opposition. Too much time spent inthe shallow end may leave a boxer to drown later when waters get deeper and no life boat appears. Going into deep waters too soon, likewise, will lead to certain doom.
Luck, too, plays a big part. In this sport momentary inattention can change your life. Some fighters survive their mistakes. Others are punished. Every great fighter has a close call that might have gone the other way. Boxing, at times, is a roll of the dice.
Once this extraordinary, disciplined and lucky talent climbs the top of the mountain, the job isn't over--it's just begun. Activity is key to staying on top. Opponents must be carefully managed. Go in too hard, too often, and losses will tarnish even the brightest star. Go in too soft, and fans will turn fickle. Between fights a budding star must be willing to feed the public's demand for personality and intrigue. Social media can undue years of hard work or make bronze look temporarily like gold.
Things have gone well when a fighter can simply reach the mountain's base. Here a fighter can headline on HBO or Showtime, make a great living and dream of immortality. The climb to the top is something few manage. This is rarefied air, the world of private jets, hangers on and high stakes.
This is where Ward believes he belongs. He's wrong.
No matter what HBO, BET or his media proxies tell him, Ward is closer to the beginning of the journey than the end. At this point of his career, that's a minor tragedy.
There is little doubt that Ward is an exceptional talent. His career record suggests rather plainly that he is the best super middleweight in history. He's undefeated at 168, the only man to truly clean house and beat all other significant opposition at the weight. The Showtime Super 6 tournament made him an ascending star, providing the path he'd need to walk right into the boxing pantheon.
Instead, management issues and injuries stopped Ward just as the summit came into view. In time, they caused him to lose ground, his long disappearances becoming another of boxing's running
jokes. As he entered the ring against the nondescript Alexander Brand, Ward's star had never been lower. He was an 85-1 favorite and slated to earn $850,000 in a fight that no one demanded-- except him.
Ward, a potential superstar who never materialized, wanted to be treated like he had already ascended. Amazingly, HBO continues to pamper him like that's actually true.
The half full Oracle Arena, and the diehards preferring lackluster boxing to the Olympic Games, saw a glorified sparring session between Brand and Ward culminating in unanimous 120-108 scorecards. The shutout was as dull as feared. Ward's post fight interview was as milquetoast as the competition he engaged in moments prior--broad allusions to his future, complements of past and future foes and thank yous to luminaries such as Yahweh and James Prince.
Ward claims in interviews that he wants to be a star like Roy Jones Jr. , yet he offers none of the flash or pizzazz Roy managed as a matter of course. Even now, the washed up Russian Roy Jones manages to be more captivating than a man who purports to be one of the best of his era.
HBO, via its mouthpieces like Max Kellerman, was forced to go on the offensive and tell fans that they were seeing greatness instead of a great disappointment. Someone, somewhere, might have actually bought it.
Hope remains in the form of Sergei Kovalev. The two are set to fight in November, a pay-per-view that will allow Ward the opportunity to prove he's what he claims to be. Is Andre Ward as good as
we think he is? As good as he thinks he is? Like every other boxer in the sport's glorious history, only he can truly answer that question--and he can only do it in the ring.
Other Notes
-Juan Diaz earned another title shot with a dismantling of Cesar Vazquez on Unimas' Solo Boxeo. The former undisputed lightweight champion trounced the overmatched Vazquez for an 8th round corner stoppage. The lighweight division already features several reclamation projects--Jorge Linares, Petr Petrov, Mickey Bey, and Anthony Crolla just to name a few. Diaz, even past his prime, is a legitimate threat to any of them.