brooklynbrawler Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 While, EVERYONE else has had one home fight and one away fight, he's had 2 fights in the Oakland Arena, and is away to have a third in quick succession, against Bika, in a fight which does not even count towards the Super 6 points system. Given the victories so far have all gone with the home fighter, it's a huge boost for him. Also, unlike all the other replacement participants, Bika doesn't pick up the guy they're replacing's points, and Ward has already been assured #1 spot going into the semi finals, despite the fact a couple of KO victories could easily put him down to 4th spot! I know the tournament has become a bit of a joke with all the other comings and goings, but does anyone else feel that Ward is being granted too much favouritism in the tournament? I personally, feel that Ward has been identified as a marketable American TV asset, and is being given a bit of a foot-up to make sure he gets there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelchair Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Apart from the fight between Froch and Abraham, I couldn't care less about the rest of them. yawn// Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donlevy Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 You're not the only one who feels this way.Ever since the Kessler fights others have commented that he's being protected in his own backyard. I've personally never understood why they couldn't just place place an entire card,featuring all six fighters at one single venue.Like having the first round card in England,the second in Germany,and the third in America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshDevilRob Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 He came into the tournament as a prospect. He had no titles and wasn't even the No.1 ranked contender when the tournament was announced. Champions such as Kessler and Froch have had to travel but this guy doesn't. Seems very wrong. Will he get home advantage even in the semis and Final? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAZZ-MCFC Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 He came into the tournament as a prospect. He had no titles and wasn't even the No.1 ranked contender when the tournament was announced. Champions such as Kessler and Froch have had to travel but this guy doesn't. Seems very wrong. Will he get home advantage even in the semis and Final? i hope Froch beats Abraham and Ward has to come to England for the final Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemurphy Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I didn't like that from the Start and the way Dan Goosen was upset that Ward mentioned it to the Press before they shot the first Fight Camp 360 was very telling, as if he was trying to cover up some kind of deal that he'd set it up. Of course, at that time it was just set up so that Ward wouldn't have to leave the USA, but now it's worked out that hasn't even had to LEAVE HIS HOME TOWN!!!!! Why don't they just make it a complete joke and announce the Semis and Final fight for the Oracle Arena in Oakland, it's the only place Andre Ward can sell a ticket apparently, like Rob says. You tell proven vets like Kessler, Abraham, and Froch to travel overseas, but not Ward? It sucks. I would've prefered Don Levy's idea MUCH Better, but then I understand Television and the need for Showtime to want to break it up into seperate broadcasts, but maybe they could've done them right in a row. For example........ Germany on Three straight Saturdays, the UK on three staight Saturdays, the USA on Three straight Saturdays. The only guy that would've been getting screwed would be Kessler......and they talked that guy into Defending his World Title ON THE ROAD against a much lesser Name in the First Round of the thing, so how smart is he? grin// Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemurphy Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 He came into the tournament as a prospect. He had no titles and wasn't even the No.1 ranked contender when the tournament was announced. Champions such as Kessler and Froch have had to travel but this guy doesn't. Seems very wrong. Will he get home advantage even in the semis and Final? i hope Froch beats Abraham and Ward has to come to England for the final Razz- Unfortunately, due to this Total BS with giving Ward two pts for nothing in the 3rd Stage other than fighting Bika OUTSIDE the Tournament, Froch can't finish ahead of Ward now. Ward is now guaranteed finishing no worse than 2nd, and the only way he can't finish 1st is if Abraham KO's Froch (as I understand it, the screwy tiebreaker would give the 2-1 guy with 2 KO's the nod over the 2-0 guy with no Ko's). If they base the standings on 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 and the higher rated guy travels, then it's back to the States for Ward.......but I'm hoping they used a neutral site or sometihing. If Andre Ward doesn't have to go any farther than his hometown, or Las Vegas for that matter, then I'll consider his win to be Illegitimate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapevine241 Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 obviously there is favoritism, and its disgusting. but for the bika fight, where are they gonna hold it? cameroon lol. so i understand why ward-bika (which is not part of the tournament) is in oakland. but NONE of the remaining fights should be held even close to oakland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAZZ-MCFC Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 He came into the tournament as a prospect. He had no titles and wasn't even the No.1 ranked contender when the tournament was announced. Champions such as Kessler and Froch have had to travel but this guy doesn't. Seems very wrong. Will he get home advantage even in the semis and Final? i hope Froch beats Abraham and Ward has to come to England for the final Razz- Unfortunately, due to this Total BS with giving Ward two pts for nothing in the 3rd Stage other than fighting Bika OUTSIDE the Tournament, Froch can't finish ahead of Ward now. Ward is now guaranteed finishing no worse than 2nd, and the only way he can't finish 1st is if Abraham KO's Froch (as I understand it, the screwy tiebreaker would give the 2-1 guy with 2 KO's the nod over the 2-0 guy with no Ko's). If they base the standings on 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 and the higher rated guy travels, then it's back to the States for Ward.......but I'm hoping they used a neutral site or sometihing. If Andre Ward doesn't have to go any farther than his hometown, or Las Vegas for that matter, then I'll consider his win to be Illegitimate. he shouldn't be allowed to fight in Oakland for the semis or the final Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brooklynbrawler Posted October 27, 2010 Author Share Posted October 27, 2010 You're not the only one who feels this way.Ever since the Kessler fights others have commented that he's being protected in his own backyard. I've personally never understood why they couldn't just place place an entire card,featuring all six fighters at one single venue.Like having the first round card in England,the second in Germany,and the third in America. Don, that's spot on imo. I always pictured it when it was announced at first, as being one "super card" featuring all 6 fighters fighting on the same card on the same night. I think, other than the obvious gate receipts and TV money thing, it would have made far more sense on all counts, and it has been ultimately their efforts to milk it out for so long that is leaving it with less credibility, less fighters (a "Super 3" now ffs) and less patience from the fans to see it through to the end. I think if there was a prospect of all the exposure and action happening in one night at a time, it would have forced all of the fighters to do everything possible to make the original dates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAZZ-MCFC Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 You're not the only one who feels this way.Ever since the Kessler fights others have commented that he's being protected in his own backyard. I've personally never understood why they couldn't just place place an entire card,featuring all six fighters at one single venue.Like having the first round card in England,the second in Germany,and the third in America. Don, that's spot on imo. I always pictured it when it was announced at first, as being one "super card" featuring all 6 fighters fighting on the same card on the same night. I think, other than the obvious gate receipts and TV money thing, it would have made far more sense on all counts, and it has been ultimately their efforts to milk it out for so long that is leaving it with less credibility, less fighters (a "Super 3" now ffs) and less patience from the fans to see it through to the end. I think if there was a prospect of all the exposure and action happening in one night at a time, it would have forced all of the fighters to do everything possible to make the original dates. 1 reason and 1 reason only financial sense they'll make a hell of a lot more staging each fight on seperate nights rather than each round all on the same night they want to milk it for all it's worth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheExecutioner Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 this has been Wards tournament for the start. Short of making his opponent do 12 rounds with Jean Pascal the day before, they couldnt have given Ward any more advantages. Its his tournament to lose and always has been. And to be perfectly honest, i dont think Froch or Abraham would beat him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavpowell Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 I agree - Dirrell was starting to interwest me as it seemed he could change his game according to his opponent's strengths, but now we may never know how good he is. I had Kessler and Abraham from the start of the tournament, though had never even heard of Dirrell and didn't think Ward had enough pro experience since his excellent amateur days. Seems I was wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemurphy Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 You're not the only one who feels this way.Ever since the Kessler fights others have commented that he's being protected in his own backyard. I've personally never understood why they couldn't just place place an entire card,featuring all six fighters at one single venue.Like having the first round card in England,the second in Germany,and the third in America. Don, that's spot on imo. I always pictured it when it was announced at first, as being one "super card" featuring all 6 fighters fighting on the same card on the same night. I think, other than the obvious gate receipts and TV money thing, it would have made far more sense on all counts, and it has been ultimately their efforts to milk it out for so long that is leaving it with less credibility, less fighters (a "Super 3" now ffs) and less patience from the fans to see it through to the end. I think if there was a prospect of all the exposure and action happening in one night at a time, it would have forced all of the fighters to do everything possible to make the original dates. 1 reason and 1 reason only financial sense they'll make a hell of a lot more staging each fight on seperate nights rather than each round all on the same night they want to milk it for all it's worth Yeah, it was NEVER going to be Three fights on a single card, Showtime doesn't want to only get three dates out of the three stages. Didn't anyone like my idea of using the same Country as host but doing it on three successive weekends? Three Saturdays from Germany, Three Saturdays from the UK, and then Three Saturdays from the USA. It's kind of Don Levy's idea, only splitting up the fights for Showtimes purposes. I started out the Tournament as a big Andre Ward Fan, and also thinking that he was kind of the darkhorse in this thing, behind Kessler and Abraham, but to be honest I've lost some enthusiasm for him simply based on the favoritism being shown smell// Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapevine241 Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 wards personality is turn off for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Ko Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 wards personality is turn off for me Yer he's not that interesting just a normal guy with wife and kids and thinks god guided him. He hasnt got favoritism, he just has a great promoter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemurphy Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 wards personality is turn off for me What personality? grin// I don't really mind it Grapevine, he lives a rather quiet life and while it's kind of boring, it's also nice that he's never going to be on anything but the Sports Pages and that's kind of refreshing. As Joe Ko says, my dislike is more for Dan Goosen, but when you think about it, he protected his fighter and it's SHOWTIME that should've insisted that he Travel and not just sit his Ass in Oakland. The truth is, he's just not that popular and HOME is the only place he can draw a crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapevine241 Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 wards personality is turn off for me What personality? grin// I don't really mind it Grapevine, he lives a rather quiet life and while it's kind of boring, it's also nice that he's never going to be on anything but the Sports Pages and that's kind of refreshing. As Joe Ko says, my dislike is more for Dan Goosen, but when you think about it, he protected his fighter and it's SHOWTIME that should've insisted that he Travel and not just sit his Ass in Oakland. The truth is, he's just not that popular and HOME is the only place he can draw a crowd. i know what you mean mlol/ it is refreshing, which is one of the reasons i used to like chad dawson but by personality what i was really referring to (and i mean no offense to anyone here) is that ward is a religious nut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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