Loeffler: GGG would fight Ward on a 50-50 basis at 164

By Boxing News - 07/08/2015 - Comments

Golovkin1FBy Dan Ambrose: If WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) wants a big money fight against WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs), Ward will need to agree to a catch-weight of 164 pounds, and a purse split of 50-50, says Tom Loeffler, the promoter for Golovkin in an interview with ESPN’s Dan Rafael. Loeffler, however, thinks Ward, 31, still wants tune-up fights, as he’s only had one fight in a little over a year and a half.

Loeffler feels that Golovkin is the A-side in any negotiations with Ward, which means they would expect to get a good deal from the negotiations. However, it’s a doable fight as long as Ward is A. willing to accept a 50-50 deal. B Agreeable to a 164lb catch-weight. C. is ready to fight.

“GGG is now clearly the ‘A’ side yet Ward still would want to dictate terms, which makes no sense,” Loeffler said. “GGG would fight Ward on a 50-50 basis, the best 160-pounder versus the best 168-pounder (at) 164 (and) a 50-50 split on all proceeds. But it seems like Ward needs more tune-up fights.”

The big question is would Ward be willing to fight at a catch-weight of 164? Ward’s last fight was at 172 pounds, and there are some boxing fans who wonder whether he can still make 168 pounds. Asking Ward to go down to 164 might be too much for him. Ward might wonder why Golovkin’s asking for a catch-weight against him but not against Carl Froch, who Golovkin is willing to fight at the full weight of 168 pounds for the super middleweight division. The likely answer is the money for a Golovkin-Froch fight would be so good that it would be worth it for Golovkin to go all the way up to 168 for a fight against Froch. I doubt that the money for a Golovkin vs. Ward fight would be nearly as good.

It’s doubtful that a fight between Golovkin and Ward can happen any time soon though, because Golovkin is waiting to get the winner of the November fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Miguel Cotto. Golovkin also is interested in fighting former IBF/WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch, IBF champion David Lemieux and WBO champ Andy Lee. Those are all arguably bigger fights than Golovkin vs. Ward. Lemieux has a huge following in Canada, and Lee is really popular in Ireland. Ward isn’t a huge star in the United States. He’s got a fan base, but he’s not at the level of a Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Canelo, even though he’s unbeaten and is a pound-for-pound top ranked fighter.

Ward would gain a lot from a fight against Golovkin right now because Ward missed a lot of time from 2013 to 2015. He came back to beat Paul Smith last June by a 9th round knockout in a fight that was televised by BET. It wasn’t a big enough fight to get the attention of the casual boxing fans in the United States. But if Ward could get a fight against Golovkin, it would really give Ward’s career a shot in the arm if he were able to win.



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