Undefeated former lineal champion Andre Ward scrutinized for his opinion.
Former undefeated two division champion Andre Ward has come under fire recently. He has received a lot of criticism on social media due to a response he gave to a fan. The now retired fighter has endured some backlash for sharing the opinion that he believes that Wilder shouldn’t immediately rematch Tyson Fury.
On the surface, this sounds controversial. However, it is logical to wait due to the difficulty of the match-up and the available fights both men can choose from.
Fans with strong social media profiles are not in support of this and have made their feelings clear. From a business perspective, Ward is correct. Fury essentially won even though he earned a draw.
He has now solidified his status as the the lineal heavyweight champion. As for Wilder, it is better to avoid a fight that difficult with the possibility of facing undefeated unified champion Anthony Joshua.
Even so, Ward has been the target of tremendous criticism for this opinion. None of these scenarios eliminate the possibility that Wilder could face Fury sooner than later.
Fury also benefits from waiting on a Wilder repeat. He also could be an option for Anthony Joshua and a loss or subpar performance would be a setback. Ward simply explained this position, but it hasn’t been well received.
By: Corey Cunningham
There is more to this than Ward simply saying DW should delay the rematch for business dreasons. He has been critcised not for simply stating that opinion but he was criltical of Wilder in a way that implied Wilder had some fear of rematching Tyson Fury because of the difficulty of the first fight.