By Luis Sandoval
With Kelly Pavlik announcing his retirement from boxing, current WBC Super Middleweight champion Andre Ward will be in need of a new opponent once he recovers and returns to the ring from a shoulder injury. A possible fight for Ward could be against the winner of the Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler fight which is slated to take place in the coming months.
Ward holds wins over both men as he defeated them during Showtime’s Super Six Tournament which pitted the best Super Middleweights against each other. Both Froch and Kessler have gone on to become champions once again and have been mentioning Ward quite a bit.
BoxingScene caught up with Ward and asked him if he would be interested in facing the winner of the Froch-Kessler fight despite already having beaten them both before.
“I would definitely consider it. I mean I wouldn't even be talking about either one of those guys if they weren't bringing my name up. I said this on a Danish network: I had a lot of respect for Kessler before and even after our fight. I gave his belt right back to him, I didn't gloat over him. Same thing with Carl Froch. But for some reason both of these guys, they keep brining my name up in a disrespectful manner” said the Oakland native.
“And because they can't accept the defeat the right way, I've lost all respect for Kessler. I've lost all respect for Carl Froch. I can't respect the way they're going about their business when it pertains to me. Neither one of those guys want a fight. They're basically using my name to keep their name out there. If I fight either one of those guys I don't care what country it’s in, it’s not going the distance. Neither one of those fights”.
Ward says he would definitely consider going overseas for a big fight but he also reminds that both Froch and Kessler are the ones who need to beat him in order to be considered the best. At the moment Ward does not have any particular opponent in mind and says the landscape of the division might change by the time he’s ready to enter the ring which could include guys from 160 moving up.
You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter @Truewest007. You can also tune in to The Boxing Lab, Boxingscene’s official audio show every Tuesday from 6-8PM PST with hosts Ernest Gabion, Luis Sandoval, and Ryan Burton.