By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA 168lb champion Andre Ward (28-0, 17 KOs) could be taking a risky fight in March against unbeaten light heavyweight Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOs) as a warm-up fight to get ready for a big match-up against Sergey Kovalev in 2016. According to Dan Rafael, the Ward-Barrera fight is being talked about for March 2016, but far from being done.
Barrera, 33, is a big puncher from Cuba and he would give Ward an excellent sample of what he’ll be facing if/when he fights Kovalev. If Ward cannot pass the test against Barrera, then it’s good for him to know so he doesn’t waste his or the boxing public’s time trying to face an even bigger puncher like Kovalev.
Barrera would be a good for fight the 31-year-old Ward, but I think someone like unbeaten light heavyweight contender Artur Beterbiev would be an even better test for Ward.
Like Kovalev, Beterbiev is from Russia, has huge punching power, and an unbeaten record. It would be a really difficult fight for Ward, because Beterbiev is really strong on the inside and not someone that Ward could simply maul and shove up against the ropes to smother for 12 rounds.
Beterbiev would get one of his arms free and pound Ward repeatedly to force him to stop with the smothering attempts. I think Beterbiev would be a tougher fight for Ward than Kovalev, because he’s so good at smothering his opponents himself with his strong upper body.
Barrera recently beat Karo Murat by a 5th round knockout on December 12th in an IBF 175lb eliminator. Barrera had too much punching power for Murat, and it was clear from the opening round that the fight was going to end in a knockout.
Ward’s promoters at Roc Nation Sports will need to make it worthwhile for Barrera to want to take the fight with Ward, because he’s assured of a nice payday against Kovalev at some point. I think Ward would be a better match-up for Barrera than Kovalev, because Barrera wouldn’t have to worry about the punching power from Ward like he would with Kovalev. Ward is a decent puncher, but he doesn’t have light heavyweight power.
We saw that in his last fight against Paul Smith last June. Smith is a fighter that was knocked out quickly by stronger super middleweight George Groves and James DeGale. It took Ward 9 rounds to stop Smith.
Barrera is short on pro experience to be taking on a tough lion like Ward. Barrera’s toughest fights thus far has come against Murat, Hakim Zoulikha, Jeff Lacy, Rowland Bryant, and Epifanio Mendoza. Barrera has been matched like a prospect rather than a contender during his short six-year pro career. As an amateur, Barrera defeated Chad Dawson and Beibut Shumenov many years ago, but he wasn’t a great amateur like other Cuban stars like Guillermo Rigondeaux. He was just a decent fighter.
Ward needs experience at 175 before he faces Kovalev, and you cannot count a limited fighter like the flabby Paul Smith as experience at 175. Smith came up in weight from super middleweight to face Ward last June, and that more of a case of Ward fighting an out of shape super middleweight than him fighting a legitimate light heavyweight.
I have doubts that the Ward-Barrera fight will get made. It’s too much of a step up for Ward, given in his activity in the last two years. Ward has fought only once since 2013, and that was his win over Paul Smith last June. That’s like not fighting at all.
You can call the Smith fight as more of an exhibition or a glorified sparring match than an actual fight, because the things that Ward will be seeing against top light heavyweights in the division will be completely different than what he saw in the Smith fight.
Ward was briefly hurt by the only hard right hand that Smith threw in the fight in the 7th round. Guys like Barrera and Artur Beterbiev punch with even more power than that with ever punch they throw. Ward will be dodging punches all night long if he faces Barrera, and I can’t see him being able to get untracked in a fight like that to get his own offense in gear.
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