Ward in ?Same Boat? as Mayweather 14 Years Ago
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 30 Dec 2016
On April 20, 2002 Future Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather Jr. moved up from a division he dominated, junior lightweight, to challenge, WBC lightweight King, Jose Luis Castillo.
It was supposed to be another day at the office for Mayweather. Why? His boxing resume clearly showed he was a special fighter already on the mythical top 10 ?Pound for Pound? list. He beat the best the division had to offer by beating the late Genaro Hernandez to win his first World title. The only other fighter who media and fans thought could defeat or present a serious challenge to Mayweather at the time was the late Diego ?Chico? Corrales who was also an undefeated champion in the junior lightweight division.
Mayweather so dominated and outclassed Corrales scoring a total of 5 knockdowns that his trainer and stepfather (Ray) conceded the fight to Mayweather in the 10th round waving the white towel. So it was a surprise to fight fans when Mayweather struggled with Castillo who at the time was 45-4-1, 41KOs from the beginning of the opening round to the sound of the final bell.
There appeared to be a look of uncertainty on Mayweather?s face as the Ring announcer read the scorecards before announcing the winner was Mayweather, much to the dismay of Castillo, those working the fight telecast, and the fans. This is all ?water under the bridge?, because eight months later Mayweather granted Castillo a rematch and won a convincing unanimous decision and has never looked back silencing his critics back in 2002.
In the same manner that Mayweather appeared uncertain of the Judges decision after the first Castillo fight, so too did Andre Ward (31-0, 15KOs) appear uncertain he was the victor as the ring announcer read the score cards after his fight with Kovalev on November 19, 2016, last month. Not only did he look uncertain, but his face was bruised and swollen unlike Kovalev?s face.
Kovalev?s Promoter, Kathy Duva, informed the Fans and Press that a rematch had already been negotiated when this initial match was signed and all that was needed was for her to exercise that option, which she has.
Surprisingly, many media and fans are not clamoring for a rematch citing that they don?t believe the outcome will be any different other than another dominant performance by Kovalev.
A rematch may not happen because Ward is holding out for more money and has threatened to retire if not compensated to his satisfaction. Does Ward want more money because he believes the next time around the Judges may not be as generous as they were last month if he performs the same way he did the first time? Or is it because Ward believes even if he makes adjustments, Kovalev is also capable of making adjustments which will not increase his chances of victory in a rematch? Or is it because if he loses to Kovalev in a rematch his negotiating power is severely diminished for potential super fights against Gennady Golovkin and Adonis Stevenson?
Only Ward and his inner circle know the answers to those questions. If Ward accepts the rematch with Sergey Kovalev (32-1-1, 26KOs), which this writer believes he will, he has a very difficult assignment in front of him in the same manner Mayweather had when he rematched with Castillo.
In the rematch, Mayweather fought a much disciplined near perfect fight. Ward will have to do the same. He will have to use good boxing skill and ring movement to outbox Kovalev. The problem is Kovelev is not just a banger (hard hitting), but he has hand speed, and good foot work to cut off the ring if Ward takes that approach in the rematch. If Ward tries to go ?toe to toe? with Kovalev, he risks getting knockdown as he did in the first fight and possibly getting knocked out. Ward has to hope Kovalev gets overconfident and makes mistakes that Ward can capitalize on to victory. Kovalev would have to also have a so called ?bad night? for all this to happen.
In boxing anything is possible. If Ward were to outhustle Kovalev for the majority of the 12 rounds in a rematch, the outcome of the first fight will be moot. Boxing historians will simply say: Because the first fight was so close and there was controversy, Ward wanted to silence his critics so he gave Kovalev a rematch.
Is there an asterisk beside Floyd Mayweather?s ?49-0, 26KO? record like MLB star players homerun records who have admitted to using PEDs because of the controversy of the first Castillo fight? No, there is nothing of the sort with Mayweather?s record. The first Castillo fight is just chalked up as a close decision victory for Mayweather. So just the same, if Ward can convincingly defeat Kovalev in a rematch, the controversy of the first fight will be a very distant memory. Ward is indeed in the ?same boat? as Mayweather was 14 years ago.
The question remains: Does Ward ride out this wave like Mayweather into greatness by granting his last opponent a rematch to silence his critics or does he let his boat sink with controversy by retiring? Only time will tell.
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
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