Andre Ward targeting Sartison or Truax for next fight on HBO

By Boxing News - 07/27/2013 - Comments

By Scott Gilfoid: WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) has two solid choices for his potential next fight this year. Ward, 29, is looking to face former WBA super middleweight champion Dimitri Sartison (30-2, 18 KO’s) or middleweight Caleb Truax (22-1-1, 13 KO’s), according to Steve Kim. Ward just needs HBO to say yes to one of these guys, and then Ward will be locked in for his next fight.

Ward hasn’t fought since stopping Chad Dawson in the 10th round last year in September. Ward would have fought since then, but he tore his right shoulder up during training for a fight with Kelly Pavlik. The injury was bad enough to where Ward had to cancel the fight with Pavlik and have surgery to repair the problem.

Rehab has been slow and Ward is just now getting back to fighting shape, but he still needs a high quality opponent for his next fight on HBO.

Ward can’t go wrong with either Sartison or Truax. Sartison, 33, is the much more accomplished fighter compared to the 29-year-old Truax, as he previously held the WBA 168 lb. title from 2009 to 2011.

The only guys that have beaten Sartison during his 10 year pro career have been Mikkel Kessler and Karoly Balzsay. Those are two decent fighters.

Truax’s only loss came in a 10 round decision loss to Jermain Taylor last year in April. Truax knocked Taylor down in the 9th round in that fight. In Truax’s last fight, he stopped Don George in the 6th round last June in an impressive performance.

Truax might be the more interesting fight for Ward because of his power and his aggressive fighting style. Truax would be trying to take Ward’s head off all night long, whereas Sartison would spend more of the fight trying to outbox Ward and that’s not going to happen.



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