Andre Ward: record, next fight and profile →
OMAHA, Neb.—It wasn’t a blockbuster ring campaign Sergey Kovalev and his team sought when 2015 began, but the year will at least close with promise of a much brighter future. Progress continues to be made in a planned three-fight deal that Kovalev and his team hope will culminate in a coveted showdown with undefeated super middleweight king Andre Ward by this time next year.
During his career, Bernard Hopkins had a historic reign in the middleweight division and one that is unmatched as he still stands as the only fighter to unify the WBO/WBA/WBC/IBF world titles. Last weekend at New York's Madison Square Garden, Hopkins played the role of promoter in a unification fight between Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux; a fight which saw Golovkin unify the WBA, IBO and IBF world middleweight titles with an eight round stoppage of Lemieux, who Hopkins promotes as a partner in Golden Boy Promotions.
As we head into 2016, there is the possibility that the focus for WBA/WBO/IBF light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25KOs) could be a showdown with Andre Ward (28-0, 15KOs), who plans to make 175 his new home. If that becomes the case, WBC beltholder Adonis Stevenson - the recognized light heavyweight champion - would most likely be put on the backburner. The Stevenson-Kovalev fight, which was such a priority in 2014 and 2015, might become an afterthought by next year.
Abel Sanchez, the trainer of IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, is picking IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) to beat Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) in 2016. Ward, who for a long time was pushing to face Golovkin, is moving up to light heavyweight for an inevitable fight with Kovalev at the end of next year. Ward recently signed a three fight deal with HBO that includes a showdown with Kovalev on pay-per-view.
NEW YORK – As dominant as Gennady Golovkin was Saturday night, Bernard Hopkins didn’t see invincibility from his ringside seat at Madison Square Garden. In fact, Hopkins suspects that fighters in multiple weight classes came away from Golovkin’s ninth-round technical knockout victory over David Lemieux more confident about their ability to knock off the Kazakh knockout artist.
NEW YORK, NY - In the highly anticipated main event on Saturday night, WBA/IBO and WBC "Interim" World Champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) added the IBF Middleweight Title to his collection with an exhilarating performance against former IBF Middleweight World Champion, David Lemieux (34-3, 31 KOs), culminating in an eighth round technical knockout victory on Saturday, October 17, at Madison Square Garden with a sold out crowed of 20, 548 fight fans.
Main Events CEO Kath Duva, who promotes IBF/WBO/WBA light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25KOs), has a very good feeling that a showdown will come off with Andre Ward (28-0, 15KOs) in late 2016. Duva says Ward and his team are in the process of finalizing an multi-fight agreement with HBO, and that deal includes a fight with Kovalev.
WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley was always a big admirer of the fighting style of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather (49-0, 26KOs) retired last month after dominating Andre Berto over twelve rounds. He was recognized as the pound-for-pound king of boxing and conquered world titles in five weight divisions.
Things are certainly heating up between the respective teams of WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin (33-0, 30KOs) and WBA super middleweight king Andre Ward (28-0, 15KOs). In a Friday night article on BoxingScene.com, Roc Nation executive Michael Yormark, who promotes Ward, lashed out at Golovkin's promoter, Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions - regarding Team GGG's statements regarding a potential fight with Ward.
Gennady Golovkin’s trainer doesn’t think a much-discussed bout between Golovkin and Andre Ward warrants serious consideration, assuming the heavily favored Golovkin overcomes David Lemieux on Oct. 17 at Madison Square Garden. Even if the two sides could come to an agreement on the weight at which Golovkin-Ward would be contested, Abel Sanchez said Ward’s inactivity has hurt his status in the sport and makes it less likely that the unbeaten boxers will fight anytime soon.