By Scott Gilfoid: WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins was recently asked who the best boxer is in the sport and Hopkins responded on his twitter saying “Andre Ward is the best boxer.”

Ward’s incredible hand speed, jab, inside fighting ability and impregnable defense make him almost unbeatable at this point in time. The only fighters I can see giving him any problems in the super middleweight division are Andre and Anthony Dirrell. They have a lot of the same skills set as Ward does. IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute will get whipped by Ward when the time comes for them to fight in the future if Bute doesn’t get beat by Froch or Mikkel Kessler first.

Ward shares the same kind of inside/outside double threat that Hopkins has posed for his opponents his entire 23-year professional boxing career. Hopkins was at ringside recently to watch the 27-year-old Ward’s dominating performance against WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch in the Super Six tournament finals.

Ward fought with only good hand the entire fight due a broken left hand and ended up still making Froch look like a rank amateur. It was like child’s play watching Ward toy with the painfully slow and inept Froch.

It’s interesting that Hopkins picks Ward as the best fighter in boxing over other top fighters such as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, Nonito Donaire, Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Sergio Martinez. But I agree with Hopkins. Right now Ward is the best in boxing by far, even if he’s not the biggest star attraction yet.

Hopefully he’ll recognized soon as the best pound-for-pound fighter. It might take the retirement of Pacquiao, Martinez and Mayweather for that to happen but I think Ward will be there sooner or later. Right now Ward needs quality opposition under his belt, and to continue to win impressively the way he’s been doing. Once he picks up enough big wins, I think he’ll be the guy. Ward can help himself if he knocks off some of the big names at light heavyweight and middleweight if he can get the best fighters at that weight to even fight him.