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两周前，32岁的IBF\WBA\WBO轻重量级冠军安德烈.沃德(32 - 0,16科)，宣布退出这项运动时，震惊了所有人。
根据沃德的首席教练维吉尔·亨特的说法，在与史蒂文森的战斗中根本没有大钱可赚。沃德在科瓦莱夫的比赛中获得了7位数的收入，在面对史蒂文森或其他任何人的时候，他不愿意退让一步。
亨特说；“和史蒂文森打只能在加拿大，真的赚不到什么钱，没有人为这场战斗投资。一旦你赚到了一定数量的钱，你就会继续保持这个水平。史蒂文森拿不出这笔钱来，因为他只在加拿大打比赛。
至于和贝柳的比赛，一个是需要时间和谈判，再有也不知道它最终能否会实现。但我们对外是开放的，或者增加重量，或者能拿到更多的钱。现在是我们考虑退休的好时机，因为这些还只存在于书面上，这就是我们所做的”。
Andre Ward's Coach: There Was No Money in Facing Stevenson
Two weeks ago, IBF, WBA, WBO light heavyweight champion Andre Ward (32-0, 16 KOs), 32 years old, caught everyone by surprise when he announced his retirement from the sport.
Ward, a unified champion at super middleweight, officially made his move to the light heavyweight division in early 2016. He only had four bouts at the weight, but in those four he dominated highly regarded contender Sullivan Barrera and picked up back to back wins over former division ruler Sergey Kovalev.
But there were still plenty of big fights on the table for Ward, including a full division unification with WBC champion Adonis Stevenson.
ward-stevenson
According to Ward's head trainer, Virgil Hunter, there was simply no money in a fight with Stevenson. Ward had made high seven figure paydays for both Kovalev bouts and wasn't willing to take a step back in the pay department when it came to Stevenson or anyone else.
"Well, Stevenson can only fight in Canada and there was really no money in that fight. Nobody put up the money for that fight, and once you make a certain amount of money, it’s only right that you continue to stay on that pay scale. Stevenson was not going to bring in that kind of money to the table because he only fights in Canada," Hunter told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
There was also the possibility of heading up to cruiserweight for a fight with Tony Bellew. Hunter says the contest with Bellew, and moving up to cruiserweight in general, brought more risk than it did reward.
"Moving up to cruiserweight and things, that was a negotiation situation that takes time and you don’t even know if it’s going to materialize. That’s what was open to us, either the move up in weight and fight somebody that could bring money to the table, or fight for less money. It was a good time to consider retirement since it was on the books anyways, so that’s what we did," Hunter said. |
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2023-10-19 16:09:45
