By Lance Lank: Just a couple years ago it seemed that after Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao retired from the sport of boxing that there would be no new stars. That there would be no one that the public would be interested in, let alone pay money to see fight on PPV cards.
The only rising star seemed to be Andre Ward, but having already easily beaten every top contender at 168 and the best at 175 there were no opponents left that might pose the slightest problem to the super middleweight king. That much has stayed true. Sure, Ward can move up to 175 and fight Tavoris Cloud, but that might not seem so good if Cloud gets beat by the ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins this Saturday.