By Allan Fox: Andre ‘SOG’ Ward says he’d rather face heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua than Canelo Alvarez if he were to make a comeback to boxing.
The 36-year-old former two-division world champion Ward (32-0, 16 KOs) is still young and capable of returning to the ring and fighting at a high level.
Ward, 6’0″, would be giving away a lot of size and power against the 6’6″ IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs).
The ring IQ and the outstanding conditioning that Ward was known for could even things up and give him a shot at inning.
If Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn were to make Ward an offer, it would be interesting to hear what the answer would be by the 2004 Olympic gold medalist.
The money that Ward could make fighting Joshua would be considerable.
Ward leaning towards Fury over Joshua
“I’m going Anthony Joshua,” said Andre Ward to the AK & Barak Show when asked if he’d be interested in facing Joshua or Canelo Alvarez if he were to make a comeback.
“All or nothing. Not the Tyson Fury I’ve been looking at the last two years,” Ward said when asked if Joshua defeats Tyson Fury. “Anything can happen, it’s heavyweight boxing, but right now, it’s Tyson Fury,” said Ward.
A lot of boxing fans would like to see Ward take on Joshua. This is a big year for Joshua, with him planning on facing Fury twice in lucrative matches.
Assuming Joshua wins both of those fights, he’ll require a good opponent in 2022. Ward would be an ideal opponent for Joshua.
Getting ard to take a time out from his commenter job with ESPN could prove difficult. He seems to like what he’s doing, and he might not want to return to the ring for a dangerous fight against Joshua.
Kovalev’s positive test doesn’t surprise Ward
“I can’t say I was surprised,” said Ward about him hearing the news of Sergey Kovalev testing positive for a banned substance. “That’s no indictment on Kovalev.
I’m not saying I felt like he was using something but I’ve been in the game for a long time. There have been way bigger names than Kovalev that tested positive.
“I just now that’s an option for guys. You can do the math really quick and realize he’s getting older, he’s slipping, and guys tend to do things like that when they’re trying to hold onto a career when they realize physically they can’t match up with the young guys that they’re facing.
“I wasn’t surprised. It was unfortunate. A lot of people on social [media] want to pile on. I’m not that kind of guy.
“I’m not going to kick a guy while he’s down. I just really hope that Kovalev assesses his career and his life and gets everything together.
“This thing is going to end. I’m talking about the sport. He’s going to walk away one day, and you just hope that he builds something he’s happy with, and he’s a whole enough man to live a productive life as a man with a family,” Ward said about Kovalev.
The positive test for former IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Kovalev wiped out his fight on DAZN against Bektemir Melikuziev. Kovalev was reportedly going to get $2.5 million for that fight.
Canelo’s fight Yildirim doesn’t bother Ward
“I don’t think anybody should be upset,” Ward said about Canelo fighting Avni Yildirim as part of three fights in a year.
“I don’t care what your resume is. It’s not healthy to face a top guy fight in and fight out. A, you won’t last long, and if you do, you’re going to have some issues after your career is over.
“It is a chess game. You got to take a hard fight. Maybe a decent name. He [Canelo] just fought Callum Smith, and then you got to take a mandatory. A mandatory is out of his hands.
“He’s got to satisfy that with the WBC, and then take another good name in the sport like Billy Joe Saunders. So I don’t have a problem with that at all,” said Ward.
It’s a mandatory defense for Canelo Alvarez against Avni Yildirim, so he had to take this fight. Canelo wants to fight three times in 2021 against these three fighters:
- Avni Yildirim – February 27th
- Billy Joe Saunders – May
- Caleb Plant – September