Andre Ward signs with Roc Nation

By Jeff Sorby - 01/09/2015 - Comments

After a protracted legal battle with Goosen Promotions, WBA Super World middleweight champion Andre Ward (27-0, 14 KOs) signed with Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports on Friday, which reportedly ends his deal with Goosen Promotions. This means that the soon to be 31-year-old Ward should get a lot busier in terms of fighting on a more regular basis.

Ward’s fought only fought twice in the last three years, and he didn’t fight at all in 2014.

“It’s official!! #NextChapter Happy to be a part of the @rocnation family,” Ward said on his twitter today.

Just what Roc Nation is getting in signing Ward is really open for debate. While Ward will clearly be their best fighter in their stable, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to strike gold for them and become a huge pay-per-view star. Many of Ward’s problems that slowed him from being a big star while being promoted by Goosen Promotions will likely follow him to Roc Nation. The top fighters at 168 don’t want to fight Ward because he’s just too good.

Additionally, his lack of popularity makes it easier for them to make excuses for not wanting to fight him. Just because Ward is with Roc Nation now, it’s not likely to change any of that. Ward can probably open up his horizons if he were to show flexibility in moving up briefly to 175 to fight guys like Adonis Stevenson, Sergey Kovalev, Jean Pascal and Jurgen Braehmer, but it’s quite possible that Ward will choose not to do that. So in other words, he stays at 168 and will have to be content fighting whoever is willing to face him. We’re probably looking at Ward making simple title defenses of his WBA belt for the next three to four years without him getting any big fights unless he makes the bold decision to step up in weight to fight guys that are willing to face him.

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“We have signed Andre Ward and it’s something we’re very excited about,” David Itskowitch, chief operating officer of Roc Nation Sports’ boxing division said to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. “It’s just the beginning for us but it’s a game changer. He’s one of the best fighters in the world. Everything is coming together for us. On the same day we are having our first event, at Madison Square Garden, we are announcing our first really huge signing.”

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Ward is definitely the best fighter at 168, but what good is that if he can’t get anyone to fight him? He’s like a Ferrari vehicle in New York. He’s a great fighter but you can’t really test him against anyone because there’s no one willing to fight him.

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