By Dan Ambrose: Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) will be getting his first taste of light heavyweight punching power this Saturday night against undefeated #1 IBF Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOs) on March 26 on HBO Championship Boxing. This is going to be a real interesting fight because the ring rusty Ward is going to be taking on one of the best fighters in the 175lb division.
There are arguably two or three better fighters in the light heavyweight division than Barrera, but he’s definitely one of the best and one of the strongest guys in the division.
Ward is taking on a dangerous guy in Barrera, and he’ll be getting hit harder than he’s been in quite a while. Ward has taken on some big punchers in the past like Carl Froch, but that was nearly five years ago when he took that fight in 2011. That was not an easy fight for Ward, and he had to resort to smothering Froch on the inside because he was getting worked over by him each time there was distance between them. Froch kept looking at the referee for help to keep Ward off him with his smothering tactics, but he received no help.
How Ward fights against Barrera will give the boxing world a good indication of how Ward’s fight against Sergey Kovalev will go later this year. HBO will very likely have that fight take place no matter what the outcome is for Ward’s fight against Barrera. They’ve got Ward signed to a 3-fight contract, and this will be his first fight of the contract.
They’re probably not going to want to see Ward use up all three fights against less popular fighters. Barrera is a good fighter, but he’s not widely known in the United States, and HBO isn’t getting a great deal with this fight. They would get a better deal if Ward was facing someone like Adonis Stevenson or Artur Beterbiev. However, it’s not likely that Ward or his promoters at Roc Nation Sports would want to take on either of those dangerous guys in his three-fight contract.
Beterbiev is especially difficult for someone like Ward because he is very good at the smothering and wrestling type fighting on the inside like Ward. Beterbiev might even be better at it than Ward due to his upper body strength, and his good punching power in close. Look at how Beterbiev was able to hammer Tavoris Cloud out on the inside while using the same wrestling moves that Ward uses. Beterbiev looked devastating against Cloud.
It won’t be surprising if Barrera gives Ward all he can handle in their fight at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Barrera is obviously getting many pointers from Gennady Golovkin in how to deal with Ward’s fighting style, as they both share the same gym and trainer in Abel Sanchez.
Whatever Barrera tries against Ward on Saturday, you can bet that it’s something that Golovkin has talked about. Putting pressure on Ward would seem to be the best tactic that Barrera can use because if you let Ward stay on the outside, he’ll jab and pot shot all night long with his quick hands.
The only time Ward has problems is when he’s pressured. When that happens, he reverts to grappling in close. If Barrera is the better grappler inside, we could see Ward really labor in this fight, because he’ll be forced to move to try and win. It could be very difficult fight for Ward if Barrera is able to stay close to Ward and not give him room to roam around the ring.
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