who has the best chance of beating ward at or around his weight?

I will still pick one of the Dirrell Brothers...Anthony has the MENTAL toughness BUT has had some unfortunate setbacks outside of the ring during his career, I have my doubts he will ever reach the level many thought he could reach before Cancer then recently the Accident Andre has the PHYSICAL TOOLS but like Dawson I don't think he has it MENTALLY and I think Dirrell like Dawson would CHECK OUT after a few rounds and start looking for the Ref to save him I like GGG but I need to see more of him against TOP FIGHTERS...just a win over Super G is NOT ENOUGH! Plus I think he will be Busy in his Division for awhile Sergio Martinez NOT going up to 168 especially this late in his career and I don't blame him Chavez Jr is a HUGE Middleweight I certainly can see that fight happening even if Chavez Jr does lose to Martinez next week but I give him NO CHANCE against Ward

dirrel fights scared. Ward Probably needs to go to 175 for a challenge but I don't know who beats him right now. He beat almost everyone. Someone will come along.

Lucian Bute

Agree Iron and in Froch's defense he has far improved since then as well, that would be a good rematch down the line.

Dirrell I guess, I'd still favour Ward. Right now Ward is arguably the best fighter pound for pound I think it is a shame that he and Mayweather are not the same size as it would be a very competitive fight.

Meh he won that fight imo. Deep down Froch knew it. It was on his face. I wouldnt say hes mentally weak justs because Abe was closing the distance. Dirrell was cracking his ass with power shots all throughout the fight. I was there live. They sounded like shotguns going off. People just say that because of what happened after Abe hit him late and its ridiculous imo. This dude went toe to toe with the hardest puncher at the time. Mentally weak I dont see it. Mentally weak: Judah, Dawson, Mosley,etc. I never thought that with Dirrell. He makes mistakes in the ring but I wouldnt call him mentally weak. He won the fight but the point is he made it a lot harder than it should have been and it wasn't physically. He looked so fragile at times in the Froch fight. He really could have beat the sh*t out of Froch. People don't just say it about Abraham because off the punch he hit him with when he was down. People say it because he was clearly switching off in the last few rounds. That's where people question his mental toughness, he let Abraham back into the fight and mentally it looked like he was struggling. I'm not going to brand him mentally weak at this point because he still has a lot of his career to go. But he has to prove it to me because at this point he's certainly showing me signs.

You also have to consider that he was thrown into the deep end with no big fight experience at all, lots of people either ignore or forget that. I just want to see him get in there and active, before I start rating him at this point, he's definitely a good fighter. I'm in that same place. But I think there's legitimate reason to question his mental toughness at this point considering the two big fights he's had. Again, I'm not saying he's mentally weak but like you put it, I want to see how he deals with similar situations before I start rating him. Like I said, I liked how he learnt and built from his mistakes from the Froch fight.

Best chance is Dirrell. Dirrell would be a heavy underdog but yes he has the best shot due to all his natural ability, speed, reflexes and boxing skills. I ask people to pay very close attention to Ward. It's not often that you get to watch greatness in it's prime. Ward is special, cherish that while he still fights.

Yes to some extent it did, though I had him clearly winning that fight. Dirrell, based on what I saw against AA has fully matured since then. He applies his game far better now. At this point I still have to favor Ward, though no outcome would surprise me, but Dirrell beats everyone else at 168/175 in my opinion. I had him winning comfortably aswell but he could have really dominated it had he fought more like he did in the last few rounds. He looked incredibly fragile at times. I agree though, I liked his performance against Abraham. He clearly learnt from the Froch fight and fought a much better fight. I liked that about him. But, he seemed to switch off in the later rounds which made me question him again. I agree he's definitely talented and definitely a good fighter. And I'm not even saying he is a mentally weak fighter like Dawson. But I think there's evidence there to question it. I like Dirrell, Im looking forward to seeing him fight again at the top level but like I thought when they were supposed to fight, I don't think he'll beat Ward.

Dirrel's passiveness cost him the Froch fight. He could have dominated that fight, maybe even stopped him had just stepped up a gear like he did the last few rounds instead of trembling and falling to the ground. In the Abraham fight he started to fade down the line and looked like a deer in the headlights in the last few rounds and was letting Abraham back into the fight. That's why people consider him mentally weak, I would imagine. I do think he's a good fighter though, but like I others I question his mental toughness. Meh he won that fight imo. Deep down Froch knew it. It was on his face. I wouldnt say hes mentally weak justs because Abe was closing the distance. Dirrell was cracking his ass with power shots all throughout the fight. I was there live. They sounded like shotguns going off. People just say that because of what happened after Abe hit him late and its ridiculous imo. This dude went toe to toe with the hardest puncher at the time. Mentally weak I dont see it. Mentally weak: Judah, Dawson, Mosley,etc. I never thought that with Dirrell. He makes mistakes in the ring but I wouldnt call him mentally weak.

It was a different kind of passiveness, he was too conservative and did just enough to win without taking any risk. He was still defensively responsible and very mobile though, unlike Dawson. Exactly, that's what I'm saying, Dirrell may fall apart mentally at times, but he's able to operate and is well alert in there, that's the complete opposite of Dawson.

Dirrel's passiveness cost him the Froch fight. He could have dominated that fight, maybe even stopped him had just stepped up a gear like he did the last few rounds instead of trembling and falling to the ground. In the Abraham fight he started to fade down the line and looked like a deer in the headlights in the last few rounds and was letting Abraham back into the fight. That's why people consider him mentally weak, I would imagine. I do think he's a good fighter though, but like I others I question his mental toughness. Yes to some extent it did, though I had him clearly winning that fight. Dirrell, based on what I saw against AA has fully matured since then. He applies his game far better now. At this point I still have to favor Ward, though no outcome would surprise me, but Dirrell beats everyone else at 168/175 in my opinion.

regarding a pascal fight.... jean would do good for the first 4 rounds until ward figures him out....then he would get shut out imo

Dirrel's passiveness cost him the Froch fight. He could have dominated that fight, maybe even stopped him had just stepped up a gear like he did the last few rounds instead of trembling and falling to the ground. It was a different kind of passiveness, he was too conservative and did just enough to win without taking any risk. He was still defensively responsible and very mobile though, unlike Dawson.

Dirrel's passiveness cost him the Froch fight. He could have dominated that fight, maybe even stopped him had just stepped up a gear like he did the last few rounds instead of trembling and falling to the ground. In the Abraham fight he started to fade down the line and looked like a deer in the headlights in the last few rounds and was letting Abraham back into the fight. That's why people consider him mentally weak, I would imagine. I do think he's a good fighter though, but like I others I question his mental toughness. You also have to consider that he was thrown into the deep end with no big fight experience at all, lots of people either ignore or forget that. I just want to see him get in there and active, before I start rating him at this point, he's definitely a good fighter.

No, Dawson goes into modes where he literally becomes passive and stops throwing, that does not happen to Dirrell. Dirrel's passiveness cost him the Froch fight. He could have dominated that fight, maybe even stopped him had just stepped up a gear like he did the last few rounds instead of trembling and falling to the ground. In the Abraham fight he started to fade down the line and looked like a deer in the headlights in the last few rounds and was letting Abraham back into the fight. That's why people consider him mentally weak, I would imagine. I do think he's a good fighter though, but like I others I question his mental toughness.

Dirrell doesn't have the mental game. He'd be punked worse than Dawson. The best fight for Ward from 68-75? My Guess? Gabe Campillo. No, Dawson goes into modes where he literally becomes passive and stops throwing, that does not happen to Dirrell.

I know he'd be favored over everyone but who has at least the best chance to beat him. Id go with dirrell . I agree, Dirrell has the best chance and I wouldn't be shocked if he pulled it off. A lot of people are blinded by the hate but if you look at both guys fighting ability, it'd be a close matchup. Dirrell is a diamond in the rough. Call me crazy, but how about Pascal. Just because he's so heavy handed and awkward. Maybe one big shot could really hurt Ward? You're not crazy, Pascal would give Ward some problems because of his explosiveness and unconventional style.

It's always been Dirrell and even now that would be an extremely dangerous fight for Ward. You know I'm a big fan of Ward and all, but I always felt Dawson was overrated, what separates Dawson from Dirrell is Dirrell's ring awareness, he's always alert and he can switch gears. I'd expect the odds to be heavily in favor of Ward, I'll say this straight up, it'd be smart to put a good chunk on Dirrell to win.

Probably Andre Dirrell or Sergio Martinez at a CW. I'd still favor Ward over both though. I'd like to see Ward stay at 168 for another 12-18 months, maybe 3-4 more fights. Than go up to 175. I wouldn't mind seeing Ward-Dirrell in the Spring, than maybe Ward-Rodriguez/Stevenson/Oosthuizen in the fall 2013, depending on which of those guys takes that next step to top contender before then. By then, the Kessler/Froch/Bute stuff will be sorted out and he could fight that guy or Chavez Jr will probably be up at 168 by then of course and that could be there. Dirrell has so much work to do before he gets a chance at Ward. He needs to beat Froch/Abraham bullshit-free before an argument can be made in Dirrell's defense.