By Edward Chaykovsky

Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward is very motivated to face WBO/IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev in the fall.

There is a deal in place where both boxers will have up to two interim bouts because facing each other in the fall. Ward will return on March 26th against unbeaten Sullivan Barrera. Kovalev was back last month when he stopped Jean Pascal in seven rounds. He is scheduled to fight again in the summer, possibly on a June date in Russia.

Ward (28-0, 15KOs), a big favorite to beat Barrera (17-0 12KOs), is eager to face the guy who nobody wants to fight. He dominated the super middleweight for years. He beat a who's who of fighters and former champions at that weight, including Mikkel Kessler, Glen Johnson, Edwin Rodriguez, Carl Froch, Sakio Bika and Arthur Abraham,

"Me and Sergey Kovalev are on a collision course. I don't think it's a matter of 'if' - it's a matter of 'when'. I think we should meet some time by the end of the year. He's the best at that division, who's beaten everybody and is the guy that they say nobody wants to fight - so that's the guy I want to fight," Ward told Sky Sports.

"He's a smart fighter and obviously has a good punch. One thing I respect about him is that he's gone in to everyone's back yard and defeated them. That shows me he has a strong mind and is not mentally weak. That's what big challenges are all about. You don't want to pick somebody you know you're going to beat. You want people to say it's 50-50. That's what makes a great fight.

"If I approach a big fight as if I'm a victim, I shouldn't be in the ring. I believe I have the ability to beat anybody in the world. It doesn't mean it's going to be given to you - you have to go take it. I've been watching the light-heavyweight division as well as the super-middleweight division for many years so I'm well acquainted with everybody there."