By Carlos Boogs

Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward (30-0, 15KOs) believes there is too much talking going on in the sport - and not enough action.

Ward will put his money where his mouth is next Saturday night, when he challenges IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (30-0, 26KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight will headline an HBO Pay-Per-View event.

When Ward made his decision to move up to 175-pounds earlier this year, he promised to face Kovalev within three fights. He dominated Sullivan Barrera in March, and then grabbed a lopsided win over Alexander Brand in August.

Ward is hoping that more fighters get on the bandwagon by cutting out the talk.

In his opinion, too many fighters are attempting to emulate the trash talking tactics of five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., who retired the last year. Unfortunately, a lot of those same fighters are unable to back up their boasts in the ring like Mayweather did, says Ward.

"I've been in this game a long time. I can talk smack with the best of them. It's not that I don't got anything to say. I come from an old school mentality. It's more about action with me," Ward said.

"In boxing right now, there's a lot of talk. A lot of people are trying to be Floyd. I get it, he's a big inspiration for a lot of young guys coming up. There is too much talk. It's what I call bumping guns where I come from. There's a lot of talk and not too much action. And when someone doesn't perform and doesn't do what he said he was gonna to do - nobody calls him out on it. So then he makes an excuse for it and starts talking again. I just try to keep it simple, I'm all about action."