By Tim Fletcher: Abel Sanchez, the trainer for unbeaten Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOs), thinks Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) is going to have a very difficult fight against Barrera on March 26, and he feels this fight is going to answer a lot of questions about both fighters.
Ward just turned 32-years-old today, and he must win this fight to keep on path to fight IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev on November 19 on HBO. Ward wanted to take a difficult tune-up in his first fight at 175, and he’s got a tough one in Barrera, who is the biggest fighter and the biggest puncher that Ward has ever fought before.
Ward-Barrera will be televised on HBO from the Oracle Arena, in Oakland, California. This is a really hard fight on paper for Ward because he’s not been an active fighter since 2011. Injury, and promotional problems have limited the amount of fights that Ward has had. He’s also been hurt due to the top fighters not wanting to fight him at 168. Ward’s win over Carl Froch in the Super Six tournament in 2011 seems to have scared away the top fighters at super middleweight, and this contributed to Ward fighting rarely.
“Ward’s got to get by Sullivan first. That’s a difficult fight,” Sanchez said to Fighthype. “Hopefully the fight with Kovalev happens for him. Hopefully, he doesn’t get hurt. There are so many issues that happen with Ward. He’s a great fighter, but he’s had so many issues. I think Sully being 33-years-old, is a great fight for him [Ward]. He’s very motivated. He’s a bigger guy. Andre hasn’t been active. Andre has had some injuries. Andre is moving up from 168. So a lot of those things equal out. It’s a great fight for Andre, because it’s going to prove to us if he beats Sullivan that he can fight at 175. If he has a hard time with Sullivan, then what kind of chance does he have against Kovalev? So it answers a lot of questions for us and for Andre and for Virgil,” Sanchez said.
Happiest of birthdays to the last Male American Olympic Gold Medalist in Boxing, Mr. Andre Ward! 🎉🎉 pic.twitter.com/nAOnMOQYeG
— USA Boxing (@USABoxing) February 23, 2016
Ward should win this fight, but it’s difficult to know for sure. He’s not been fighting on a routine basis, and he’s facing one of the best fighters in the light heavyweight division in Barrera. It’s a big step up for Ward, because he’s not fighting a weight drained Chad Dawson, who didn’t have the chin, power or the strength to beat him in their fight back in 2012. Barrera is a different type of fighter. He’s made for the light heavyweight division, and he’s going to be looking to take Ward’s head off with every punch he throws.
Barrera looked really good in his last fight against Karo Murat in stopping him in five rounds last December in 2015. If you compare Barrera’s performance to that of Ward in his last fight, it overwhelmingly shows that Barrera looks like the better fighter right now for the 175lb weight class. Ward looked weak at light heavyweight, and the only reason he got the knockout was because he was facing a weak opponent in Paul Smith rather than a true light heavyweight.
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