By Allan Fox: Trainer Naazim Richardson thinks Andre “SOG” Ward needs to take his recent win over Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev and move on to face Badou Jack and then Genandy “GGG” Golovkin. Richardson says Ward should Golovkin apart. That’s a strong opinion on Richardson’s part, because Ward didn’t look that great in either of his 2 fights with Kovalev. Ward lost a lot of rounds, and that was against a fighter that’s on the same level as Triple G in terms of boxing skills.
Ward can then retire from boxing following the big victory over Golovkin, says Richardson. Golovkin is unquestionably a better boxer than Kovalev. The things that Ward was able to do in 2 fights against Kovalev, he wouldn’t be able to do against Golovkin. He;s too smart, and his stamina is too good. If Ward gets close enough to throw body shots against Golovkin, then he’s going to leave his head unprotected, and that would be bad news for Ward.
A fight between Ward and Golovkin is a longshot at best. There are a number of things that stand in the way of that fight happening. The first BIG obstacle blocking a GGG-Ward fight is Saul Canelo Alvarez. Golovkin could lose that fight. There’s a very real chance that Golovkin ends up losing a decision. Ward probably won’t want to fight Golovkin if he gets beaten by Canelo.
Realistically, A fight between Canelo and Ward is not going to happen. Canelo and his promoters at Golden Boy haven’t shown interest in wanting to fight Ward. The size different between Ward and Canelo would be huge. Canelo would have an excellent chance at beating Ward if he wanted that fight. Canelo has the better offensive skills and power than Ward. It would be a winnable fight for Canelo if he wanted it.
It would be a storybook ending for Andre Ward if he could end his career with a big win over Golovkin. That would be a far better alternative for Ward to fight the smaller Golovkin than it would be if he were to face WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson and end up getting knocked out by him. That’s the fight that a lot of the fans wants to see between Ward and Stevenson. Ward has not shown the desire as of yet to meet up with Adonis.
“Ward always been a better puncher than people give him credit for,” said Richardson to Fighthype in talking about Ward’s recent 8th round knockout win over Kovalev. ”I figured there wasn’t much more that Kovalev could do. [Ward should] sit back, heal up. and maybe in a couple months, grab a Badou Jack, and then just tear Triple G’s [backside] up and walk away from the game,” said Richardson.
Ward needs to make the move to fight Golovkin as soon as possible, as he’s talking about retiring soon. Golovkin’s wife wants him to retire so that he can spend more time with her. I don’t know how serious Golovkin is in him wanting to possibly hang up his gloves. The fact that he’s bringing up the subject of retirement suggests that he won’t be fighting for too much longer. Ward can increase the chances of a fight against Golovkin if he plays it nice with him by talking up the fight, and offering to come down to 164 or 168 to make it easier for him.
It wouldn’t be wise for Ward to play the A-side game by digging his feet into the sand by telling Golovkin and the fans that the fight only can take place at 175. I don’t think Golovkin would be willing to move up that far to fight a guy that brings in fewer PPV buys than him, especially if it’s a that could involve him potentially getting hit with low blows. That’s not a great attraction. Fight a guy that is less of a star than you at his own weight at 175, and at his own venue, and then have to deal with a fight that could be a rough one with potential fouling. I see that as a nonstarter.
A fight between Ward and GGG would be a golden parachute type of affair for Ward. He’d get a big payday and he could then retire off of it. The important question would Golovkin be willing to take a fight with Ward that would make him far less than what he’s about to get for his September 16th fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. That would d be a big pay cut for Triple G to fight Ward.
Triple would have to be viewed as the A-side in a fight against Ward, especially if he beats Canelo in their fight on September 16. If Golovkin has the advantage over Ward in the negotiations, it means the fight would likely take place at 164 or 168, and it would be taking place in New York. That would put the crowd on Golovkin’s side. If the fight takes place in Vegas, it would be a Ward crowd.
Ward’s win over Kovalev in their rematch on June 17 left a bad taste in the mouth of a lot of boxing fans. Ward ended the fight with what appeared to be a low blow, and the referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight prematurely in the eyes of a lot of boxing fans. The Nevada State Athletic Commission chose not to overturn the outcome of the Ward-Kovalev 2 fight, but it doesn’t matter. The fans saw the fight, and they believe what they saw with the low blows landing by Ward.
It sounds like wishful thinking by Richardson in him assuming that Ward would beat Golovkin. I don’t think Ward could beat Golovkin. To be honest, it’s a bad match-up for Ward. Golovkin doesn’t get tired like Kovalev, and he can handle getting hit to the body. I’m not sure whether Golovkin can take body shots though. That might be the deal breaker. If Ward hits Golovkin with low blows, then he would have an advantage.
A fight between Golovkin and Ward would need to take place in a neutral venue for it to be fair for Golovkin. Having the fights in Las Vegas or Oakland, California would obviously play into Ward’s hands. I don’t think Ward is popular enough to be the A-side in a fight against Golovkin.
It might not be worth it for Golovkin to take the fight with Ward, because he’s not proven himself to be a big pay per view attraction. Ward-Kovalev 1 brought in 160,000 buys on HBO. The rematch last Saturday is said to have brought in around 130,000 buys. It might not be worth if for GGG to have to move up 2 entire divisions to fight Ward at light heavyweight. It’s doubtful that Ward would bother to come down to 168 to meet Golovkin halfway. I don’t see any upside in Golovkin moving up 2 divisions for him to face a guy that isn’t a huge PPV attraction.
Golovkin doesn’t need Ward to get a good payday. Besides the potential of 3 fights against Saul Canelo Alvarez, Golovkin has just as good fights at 168 against George Groves, Callum Smith, James DeGale and Gilberto Ramirez. Those are 4 good fights for Golovkin at super middleweight if he wants them. DeGale, Smith and Groves would be big fights in the UK for Golovkin. Golovkin vs. Ward would be a decent fight in the U.S, but I doubt that the PPV buys go much beyond 200,000 buys on HBO.
With all the concessions that Golovkin would likely need to agree on for the Ward fight to take place, I don’t think it would be worth it. The negotiations would be likely be long and hard. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Golovkin out of the ring for a good portion of 2018 if he tries to put together a fight against Ward. Golovkin already lost a lot of time in his negotiations with Danny Jacobs. Golovkin doesn’t need to devote long periods of time for negotiations with Ward if the fight isn’t going to be a big money maker.
Golovkin has a ton of options besides Ward. Here are possible fights for Golovkin after he faces Canelo in September:
– Rematch with Canelo Alvarez
– Billy Joe Saunders
– Danny Jacobs
– Jermall Charlo
– David Lemieux
– George Groves
– James DeGale
– Callum Smith
– Gilberto Ramirez
If Ward stays at 175, he’s going to have to take some tough fights that he might have the youth the offensive skills to win. Artur Beterbiev is poised to become Ward’s IBF mandatory challenger if he beats Enrico Koelling in their IBF light heavyweight eliminator match. That’s a tough fight for Ward to have to defend against Beterbiev. He’s a fighter that doesn’t tire like Kovalev, and he can take body shots. I’m not sure if Beterbiev can take low blows that Ward might dish out from time to time. I would hope that Ward would keep it clean, but you never know. Beterbiev has a very good inside game. If Ward wants to fight Beterbiev on the inside, he could be sorry for it afterwards. Beterbiev is a better inside fighter than Ward in my opinion. I don’t know that Ward will ever fight Beterbiev though, I see Ward ducking a fight against Beterbiev and retiring.
If Ward stays at light heavyweight, he would need to fight the likes of Badou Jack and/or Adonis Stevenson. Those are hard fights for Ward. He’s not going to beat Stevenson or Jack by body punching. Those guys are too good to wear down from an occasional body shot. War didn’t really throw a lot of body shots in his rematch with Kovalev. We saw that Kovalev’s ability to take body shots is so poor that he wore down from just the small number of shots to the body that he had to take against Ward.
