By Victor Salazar

Andre Ward versus Gennady Golovkin has been a topic of conversation for the past year in the boxing world. While Golovkin’s star has grown from coast to coast, Ward was in a dispute with his former promoter Goossen Tutor that has left him idle since November of 2013. Ward has since signed a deal with Roc Nation Sports and is scheduled to return on June 20th at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. He is set to meet England’s Paul Smith.

While Ward has spent most of his professional career at super middleweight, his next fight with Smith is at a catch weight of 172 pounds as reported by BoxingScene.com

Fighting 4 pounds north of the super middleweight division threw the trainer of Golovkin, Abel Sanchez, off a bit - especially because Ward has been very vocal about winning the fight.

“It kind of threw us off,” Sanchez told BoxingScene.com. “When they ask us about fighting Ward, we always say it’s a possibility and when he’s ask about fighting Golovkin, they always say they want it. I don’t know if he’s trying to position himself maybe for a Sergey Kovalev fight, but it’s just odd because his trainer is always saying that his fighter is always in shape. They’ve spent most of their career there. I don’t know if he’s testing the waters there but it’s odd.”


Whether Ward is testing the waters or slowly moving back to 168 remains to be seen. But Sanchez is glad he’s back in the ring and hope Ward can grow into a more marketable fighter to make the fight with Golovkin.

“I’m glad he’s back,” Sanchez stated. “If we were to make this fight, he has to be as active to get his name back out there. The more he fights, the more he gets recognition. He’s a great champion so hopefully his activity could help make this fight more viable.”