David Coldwell, trainer for former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew (29-2-1, 19 KOs), is confident that his boxer will defeat Andre Ward (32-0, 16 KOs).
Last month, Ward returned to the ring and stopped Sergey Kovalev in the eight round of their rematch at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. With the victory Ward retained the WBA, WBO, IBF light heavyweight titles.
After the fight, Ward touched on the possibility of chasing bigger opportunities at cruiserweight and even the heavyweight division.
Bellew, who once fought at light heavyweight and then moved up to cruiserweight to reach great heights for his career, moved all the way to heavyweight in March when he pulled off a shocker by stopping former two division champion David Haye in eleven rounds.
Bellew's promoter, Eddie Hearn ,spoke to Ward's management team of James Prince and Josh Dubin, and they advised him that there is serious interest in doing a fight against Bellew.
"I spoke to Andre Ward's team last night - James Prince and Josh Dubin - just talking about various things in boxing.," Hearn exclusively told Sky Sports.
"Andre Ward has got a big interest in fighting Tony Bellew. That was the first phone call I got after the Ward-Kovalev fight was Tony Bellew saying 'let me fight him. I'll bash him up.' We'll look at that fight."
Coldwell noticed that Kovalev was able to touch Ward with hard punches in both of their meets. He feels confident the heavier handed Bellew can do the same with much harsher reactions.
But that fight depends on the rematch negotiations with Haye - which is likely the most lucrative option for Bellew.
"Ward has piped up out of nowhere after the Sergey Kovalev win, saying he would come up to cruiser for a fight with Tony and, if the money is right and it makes sense, then we take it - but is it bigger than the Haye fight? If we can get that same money that Tony can get in his other options, then we fight Ward," Coldwell said to Sky Sports.
"Say what you want, Ward is getting hit these days and Kovalev was hurting him in there. People will say that Kovalev hits harder, but Tony has grown into cruiserweight and is a big, strong puncher at the weight - there is a big size difference there. Ward is fantastic, no doubt, but Bellew can beat him. We know it is a tough fight against one of the most skilful boxers, but we believe he is beatable."