By Edward Chaykovsky
Abel Sanchez, trainer for WBA/IBO/WBC-interim middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (32-0, 29KOs), is a bit surprised that Andre Ward has ceased his pursuit of facing his fighter.
Ward, inactive since a November 2013 decision win over Edwin Rodriguez, finally settled a long running legal fight with former promoter Goossen Promotions earlier this year. Shortly after that settlement, Ward signed a promotional agreement with Roc Nation Sports - which is owned by music mogul Sean "Jay-Z" Carter.
According to Sanchez, when Ward was involved in his legal dispute - the unbeaten WBA super middleweight king was constantly calling out GGG. Now with the Goossen beef behind him, and a new promotional pact with a bigger company, the veteran trainer feels Ward is no longer calling for a fight with GGG.
"I think Andre right now is trying to reassess his position and reassess his direction. When he was with Goossen and could not fight Golovkin, he kept calling Golovkin out, he kept mentioning Golovkin’s name. Now that he’s with Jay-Z and a big company, I’m surprised that they’re not targeting Golovkin like they were before," Sanchez told On The Ropes Boxing Radio . "When Ward couldn’t fight Golovkin, they were targeting him. Now they can fight Golovkin and they got the opportunity and people behind, he hasn’t mentioned him."
"Ward has mentioned that he wants a couple of tune of tune up fights and maybe next year. I’m more concerned with Golovkin’s direction and Golovkin’s activity than Andre Ward’s inactivity. He needs to fight those tune up fights that he’s talking about and then by the end of the year or next year, maybe that’s a name that gets mentioned again."
