By Cliff Rold
It took long enough to get settled but Tuesday night the announcement was made. The road to Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward is officially underway.
The long expected but well delayed Ward bout with Sullivan Barrera was given a date and site. For Ward (28-0, 15 KO), the former WBA, WBC, and lineal world super middleweight champion, this is the beginning of his real comeback. If successful, it will culminate in acquiring the three light heavyweight title belts currently held by Kovalev (29-01, 26 KO).
Can we call it a comeback? Ward never retired. Officially, he’s been back since last June when he defeated former super middleweight title challenger Paul Smith via stoppage. The last man to win an Olympic Gold Medal for the US, as a light heavyweight in 2004, Ward’s win over Smith didn’t amount to much.
When Smith showed up well over an intended catchweight of 172 lbs., the rather transparent exercise in shaking off rust was left looking like little more than public sparring. In the ring, that’s about how it played out. When the final bell rang, it felt like more lost time for one of the most talented fighters of this generation.
Lost time has been the theme of Ward’s career since his defining moment, a unanimous decision win over likely future Hall of Famer Carl Froch in 2011. It capped Ward’s undefeated run through the “Super Six” tournament at 168 lbs. He exited regarded as the heir apparent to the pound-for-pound throne having defeated Froch as well as veterans Mikkel Kessler, Sakio Bika, and Arthur Abraham.
Ward’s hold on super middleweight was as strong as one could have. At one point after the tournament, someone he’d already defeated held every belt in the division not held by Ward. Only recently has that division taken to new faces.
What has Ward done since Froch in December 2011?
He’s fought three times.
He was out of the ring nine months after the Froch win, returning to defeat then-light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson in a super middleweight defense. Another layoff, fourteen months, followed before a title defense against fringe contender Edwin Rodriguez. Seventeen months would follow before the Smith fight.
When he enters the Barrera fight, he will again have been off for approximately nine months. All of this hasn’t been Ward’s fault. He’s dealt with injuries that are out of an athlete’s control. He had a nasty promotional dispute that dragged through multiple years and he had a heavy hand there.
That’s what makes this feel like a comeback. Ward isn’t just passing time talking about guys he’s ready to fight if (insert situation needing resolution). This time, unlike the aftermath of the Rodriguez and Smith wins, there is a destination. Ward’s career has a focus point again it hasn’t had since Dawson.
This time, he and we can see Kovalev in the distance.
Barrera should be something different than Smith and that’s a start. Barrera (17-0, 12 KO) probably won’t win. No one will expect him to. Don’t tell Barrera. Already engaged in social media banter with Ward, the Cuban is going to try and that means live fire.
For Barrera, Ward is a big step up but also a natural evolution. The 33-year old has beaten some of the usual suspects (former titlist Jeff Lacy, former title challenger Karo Murat). He’s going to be hungry to take Ward’s spot and find out what, if any, rust Ward brings to the ring. Ward doesn’t do classic fights but we might get a competitive one. It’s not a fight where there is no chance of an upset, no air of danger.
That makes it perfect for the job of building to a showdown.
If Ward is still the fighter who he was against Froch and Dawson, this is where we start to find that out. He’s only 31 years old. There isn’t a ton of professional wear on him considering how seldom he’s fought as a pro. He should be able to find his best self still. This is still his prime.
A prime Ward against a prime Kovalev is as good a fight as boxing could ask for. Both men have tremendous skill in their own way. Ward is better at pure boxing, with a hint of the rough stuff inside. He’s better defensively. Kovalev has a phone pole jab, good footwork, and thunderous power. Both would be, with a Ward win over Barrera, still undefeated.
Ward couldn’t get much interest in moving up from middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin. Instead, he is rising on the scale and we get an equally compelling match. If he can win, if Ward can add Kovalev to a list of scalps that includes Kessler, Froch, and Dawson, he can make up for all his lost time.
He can make the last four years irrelevant.
Ward has become an object of ridicule in some quarters but a win over Kovalev would silence it all. What would be left to say? ‘We just don’t like him?’ Victory trumps likability. Instead of jokes about what milk cartons Ward’s missing persons ads are on, a win over Barrera and a win over Kovalev would have people asking the only question any fan should have about a fighter.
What’s next?
Ward has to win those fights first, one at a time (and maybe one more in between). The real comeback of Andre Ward begins March 26th. It should be fine theatre to see if Barrera or Kovalev can sour the Oakland native’s aspirations.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
