Who does Ward fight?

[crusader]

He recently said that 175 isn't right for him at this point, which suggests that Kovalev and Stevenson are out of the picture; his ties with Roc Nation suggests that Haymon fighters such as Chavez and the Dirrells are unfeasible options; and he's already beaten Froch, Kessler, Abraham, and Bika. Moreover, Degale and Groves seem likely to fight each other next and even if they don't I think Degale being the IBF #1 makes it more likely that he'd box current champion Froch or someone other than Ward for a vacant title if Froch vacates.

So who are realistic opponents for Ward? One that stands out to me is Gilberto Ramirez, and should he beat Vlasov I can see Ward-Ramirez happening this year.

[victor-romeo]

I read your nuanced intelligent post. But I will respond from what I want to see regardless of the logic of your post. Maybe Ward will make these fights in the interest of money.

1-Ward vs Kovalev @ 175 This is a fight I would love to see.
2-Ward vs GGG @ 168
3-Ward vs Anthony Dirrell @ 168 not that interested but could be competitive.

[ikorolev]

Anthony is Haymon's fighter as was already mentioned by crusader, fergusg and probably others, so Ward ca't fight him.
Froch, Kessler and Abraham will not want to fight him. Not sure if Gilberto Ramirez is Haymon's fighter or not.

His options at SMW are limited to mainly Europeans like Groves, DeGale, Stieglitz, Fedor Chudinov.

At LHW, he could fight Pascal, Kovalev, Beterbiev, Mekhontsev.

[ReggieDiggs]

There's nothing interesting.

Carl Froch. He's the clear #2 guy in my eyes, but does anyone feel like anything is different a second time around? I don't. And if I was Carl I probably like my chances & the money better for this discussed Julio Jr fight.

Julio Junior. See above. Julio increases his 168 presence more by beating a older shop worn Carl than losing 11-1 to Andre.

Arthur Abraham rematch. I got no excitement level for this fight although I suppose it could be reasonably suggested it is the highest level best option for him.

James DeGale. He gots a respectable string of W's since the Groves L, but he's not on par with Andre when he's dreaming in his sleep.

Anthony & Andre Dirrell. Anthony gots a belt so we could unify, but Anthony is kinda like a lower level resume version of DeGale. Andre is still an unknown presence in boxing so til he notches a notable W vs a top ten caliber guy his name shouldn't be in any realistic mentions of opportunities vs Andre Ward.

Idk what else is interesting past the Dirrell brothers.

I'd say the top 3 legit makeable options would be:

1 Arthur Abraham
2 Anthony Dirrell
3 James DeGale

That is a less than all inspiring to do list for Andre.

If he can somehow get a Carl rematch or Julio Jr (Julio more so than Carl imho) fight he should jump at it, but I doubt those are makeable fights right now.

[Andrew]

Anthony is Haymon's fighter as was already mentioned by crusader, fergusg and probably others, so Ward ca't fight him.
Froch, Kessler and Abraham will not want to fight him. Not sure if Gilberto Ramirez is Haymon's fighter or not.

His options at SMW are limited to mainly Europeans like Groves, DeGale, Stieglitz, Fedor Chudinov.

At LHW, he could fight Pascal, Kovalev, Beterbiev, Mekhontsev.

He's been fighting on Top Rank shows and main support to Rios Alvarado 3 next week so doubt he has anything to do with Haymon.

[Chepppaaa]

i cant understand why peopel wanna see boring fight.....were the boxer is always hesitates to punch and butts and holds allt eh time......

[zorndeslammes]

The obvious thing IMO is to get Froch or Kessler since they have some name value, can sell tickets somewhere, and would be approved by HBO for a Ward return bout. If the argument is that we've seen that already, well, would you really rather see Ward fight a non-entity in his comeback fight, or a guy who is or has been around the top of the division for years? Who really wants to see Andre Ward fight Rogelio Medina?

[ElJefe]

Ward cleaned out 168 between '09 and '11. No point fighting Froch, Kessler or Abraham again. If the Dirrell's and Chavez aren't options because they're with Haymon then the only real option is a comeback fight before GGG in the summer or to move up to 175. Ward vs GGG, Kovalev or Stevenson is more interesting than anything at SMW.

[Badhusker]

I think he should fight one of the Dirrell brothers.

[ikorolev]

I think he would handle Anthony easilly. I would like to see him against Andre, but it is not gonna happen, as Dirrells are Haymon fighters.

[zorndeslammes]

Andre's his buddy. I think they came to the conclusion that they wouldn't fight one another.

In a perfect world, Ward moves up in weight. He has openly stated that he will not. Under those conditions, I would prefer he fight a name again, even if it is one he has defeated already. He hasn't fought in over a year. He's had one fight in something like 2 years. It seems mindblowing that people would complain that Ward would fight Froch, but I guess boxing fans love to hear themselves complain.

[ikorolev]

Froch will not fight Ward.

[hurricanemitch14]

andre dirrell has refused to fight ward due to friendship even tho i just think he's scared shitless. Anthony seems willing but i dont think he's as good as big bro

[Freedom2013]

Ward will likely fight one of the following:

George Groves
Robert Stieglitz
Yusef Mack
Blake Caparello
Brandon Gonzales
Rogelio Medina
Callum Smith
Andy Lee or some other middleweight at 168

It would be better if he fought:

James DeGale
Anthony Dirrell
Winner of Kovalev-Pascal at 175
Adonis Stevenson at 175

Ward's next fight will be in California with a home referee like Jack Reiss who permits him to use illegal tactics (hitting while holding, head butts, hitting off the break, etc).

[black panther]

Most boxers will avoid Ward like the plague until he becomes mandatory or picks up a belt. However, credit must go to Degale who has openly said he wants to fight Ward. Probably the only fighter I've heard say that at 168lbs.

[Tarkus]

I'd like to see Ward against Chavez in the come back fight. With Roc Nation money he could in fact outbid Froch, who should either fight DeGale or retire IMO.

In the meantime Andre Dirrell is likely to fight DeGale (upon Froch's impending retirement). And that would set up a massive showdowns of the winner hopefully DeGale with Ward.

[IKSRTFO]

Anthony is Haymon's fighter as was already mentioned by crusader, fergusg and probably others, so Ward ca't fight him.
Froch, Kessler and Abraham will not want to fight him. Not sure if Gilberto Ramirez is Haymon's fighter or not.

His options at SMW are limited to mainly Europeans like Groves, DeGale, Stieglitz, Fedor Chudinov.

At LHW, he could fight Pascal, Kovalev, Beterbiev, Mekhontsev.

But why? It's not like Ward signed with Arum. If that's the case then Haymon is worse than boxing than people think.

[IKSRTFO]

Anthony is Haymon's fighter as was already mentioned by crusader, fergusg and probably others, so Ward ca't fight him.
Froch, Kessler and Abraham will not want to fight him. Not sure if Gilberto Ramirez is Haymon's fighter or not.

His options at SMW are limited to mainly Europeans like Groves, DeGale, Stieglitz, Fedor Chudinov.

At LHW, he could fight Pascal, Kovalev, Beterbiev, Mekhontsev.

But why? It's not like Ward signed with Arum. If that's the case then Haymon is worse than boxing than people think.

You need to read about Beyoncé and Live Nation's lawsuit against Al Haymon.

So Haymon pretty much doesn't get along with any promoter.....yet Arum is the worse for boxing. Haymon should take lessons from Vince Mcmahon when dealing with his money maker wrestlers: It's ok to forgive when there's more money to be made than you lose in lawsuits.