This past wednesday, pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather took shots at Andre Ward for his inability to sell tickets, his nickname and even his religion.
In an interview with FIghthype.com, Mayweather first spoke out against Ward’s alias S.O.G that stands for Son of God. Mayweather said, “Last time I checked, we’re all God’s children. When one fighter is facing another fighter, God don’t choose sides.
He went on to say, “If you’re going to a pastor, go to church. If you’re going to be a reverend, go to church. If you’re going to be a boxer, be a boxer. One minute they want to say all this S.O.G stuff and the next minute they want to go put tattoos on their body. I have never seen a pastor boxing.
In the past both fighters have shown respect towards each other and pictures of the two fighters hanging out at boxing gyms can be seen around the Internet. But a reason for Mayweather’s outspoken comments towards Ward are very clear.
Mayweather is set to face Robert Guerrero on May 4th in Las Vegas on Showtime. Ward and Guerrero have been close long time friends and when asked who he was backing up on May 4th, Ward choose Guerrero, which might have sparked something in Mayweather.
Mayweather, being the highest grossing boxer in the sport today, had a lot to say about Ward’s inability to sell out arenas or sell PPV’s. “Andre Ward can’t sell tickets nowhere. He can’t sell tickets in Las Vegas. This is the only guy I know that’s a gold medalist but don’t nobody know he’s a gold medalist. He’s a gold medalist but he’s making money like he doesn’t even have a medal.", said Mayweather.
He added, “He’s a good fighter, but who knows him? If you’re in Oakland you don’t even know who he is. He’s getting older and time is ticking, so I mean, when is he going to ever leave Oakland and put asses in seats somewhere else?
Many fans where anxious to see how Andre Ward would respond, or if he even would. In the past, Ward has never been the trash talking type. Instead, he has always shown respect to the majority of the boxing community and because of that he has never been in the position or need to defend him self against negative comments.
But ward did respond, saying. “Lil Floyd says he spars middleweight. He is the only man I will sacrifice coming to 160 for. He won’t take that bait.”
A short, simple and to the point answer from Ward said more than many expected. Ward clearly believes in doing to talking in the ring, and a 160lbs challenge is the option he put on the board for Floyd.
But lets be honest, this back and forward between both fighters is nothing more than a little bit of trash talking to keep us boxing fans excited and in the process keep themselves the fighters constantly relevant. Mayweather has seemed to master that process beautifully in the past few years.
Its not very likely that a fight between Andre Ward vs Floyd Mayweather will actually happen. Mayweather has never fought higher than 154lbs and the idea him going up to 160 is not something that would be in his best interest. So that match up can be put aside for now, or maybe for good.
But in this sport of boxing wish we love, nothing is impossible and that’s probably why we love it. In some sense, this trash talking could well be a ploy by Mayweather to get fans excited for possible match up in the near future. Although I highly doubt it, like I said before, you never know.
It will be interesting to see how Mayweather retaliates after he reads Ward's challenge. But for him, his only focus at the moment is Robert Guerrero, the non stop, hard knock and dedicated fighter whom he’s facing on May 4th from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas live on Showtime PPV.
If you are looking to catch the action live in Las Vegas, most of the tickets have been sold, but remaining tickets priced at $1,500, $1,250, $800 and $600 can be purchased at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com
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