By Carlos Boogs
IBF, WBC, WBA light heavyweight champion Andre Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) has hit back at retired former five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., who recently had some choice words about the Olympic gold medal winner and his trainer Virgil Hunter.
Mayweather touched on a number of topics when he sat down with reporter Brian Campbell of ESPN for a live chat on Facebook.
One of the discussions was pertaining to the rightful pound-for-pound king in boxing. In the opinion of Mayweather, the best fighter in the world is WBC super flyweight champion Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez - because he felt Ward should have lost his November fight with Sergey Kovalev.
Ward, who got off the floor in the second round, secured what some felt was a controversial twelve round unanimous decision over Kovalev. All three judges scored the fight 114-113. There is a rematch clause and Kovalev has exercised his right for a second fight.
“I like Andre Ward but one thing about me - call a spade a spade. [Ward] didn’t win,” Mayweather said. “Chocolatito has to be number one. He haven’t lost yet and he’s a helluva fighter.”
“Do I like Andre Ward? Yes, I do like Andre Ward. But Andre Ward got to make some major changes if you going to fight Kovalev again. You got to make some major changes. You got to go get you a trainer that’s been in the crunch before.”
Mayweather then went after Hunter, who also works with such boxers as Andre Berto, Amir Khan and several others. If Ward intends to fight Kovalev for a second time, Mayweather is advising him to get rid of Hunter.
“Virgil Hunter’s not a good trainer at all. That’s just my honest opinion. Virgil Hunter is a cool guy. He’s a nice guy but a guy who’s never fought before, that’s never been in a crunch moment. How can he tell you about a crunch moment if he’s never been in a crunch moment?," Mayweather said.
"I need a trainer that’s in my corner that’s been in there before and felt contact and know how it is to be in a fight. I don’t care if it’s an amateur fight. You have to have some type of experience at boxing. So can Virgil Hunter be in my corner? Absolutely not. But do I think he’s a cool guy? Absolutely."
Ward responded and says he won't be baited into a war of words.
"Floyd - I'm not taking the bait, but I will say this. When is it going to stop? How many more people are you going to lash out at? You’re in a position to build up the sport of boxing and the people in it and not tear it down. Especially the younger generation. Be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem," Ward stated.
"Don't become another 'critic' the very ones you've been fighting your whole career. Especially toward the ones who go through the same things you do. All the lashing out may make headlines, but it's not a good look bro. We need to choose our words wisely, the people are listening."
