What's next for the winner of Ward-Kovalev II?

[BigZ44]

Alright, don't quote me on this, but if Ward were to win the rematch, what is there for him at 175? I don't think he's in it for the long haul to fight up and coming guys like Gvozdyk, Beterbiev, Bivol and so on. Maybe he goes after Stevenson to try to unify. But I'm not sure Stevenson takes that fight or they can work it out for numerous reasons.

I know Ward has mentioned in the past the desire to try to get a belt at HW like RJJ did. Well, if he's the WBA 175 super champ, could he possibly work himself into a title fight against the winner of Briggs/Oquendo?? There's never going to be an easier chance for him to win a belt at HW than that fight. I know the WBA has that tournament planned, but Ortiz is looking other directions, Ustinov is doing god knows what and the winner of Joshua/Klitschko could elect to fight Pulev, who is the IBF mandatory. I know it's highly unlikely, but I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Ward could be fighting Briggs or Oquendo for the WBA HW title at some point.

[Motorcity Cobra]

If its Ward the plan is to rush to twitter & talk about retirement & how Beterbiev or Adonis aren't on his level & don't deserve to fight him. Then he'll sign to fight some random top 10 guy no one's heard of or barely heard of & then get mad at the media when no one cares about his next fight.

Very accurate

Not interested in a trilogy, whether the rematch is either a draw or Kov wins. Sick of this fight. They should move on and stop wasting their time and fight other more meaningful fights.

Me too! Hopefully this fight ends on a KO and leaves no doubts. I feel the same way about Santa Cruz V Frampton. Twenty four rounds and no knockdowns and neither guy visibly hurt. I'm ok with them never fighting again

[-PBP-]

I don't care who he talks about or doesn't talk about if he fights non-bs opponents.

Thats just not the future I foresee with Ward doe. He'll downplay the challenging fights (names mentioned or not), call out smaller guys (GGG & Ramirez probably) & then end up fighting a completely bs opponent (looking at the rankings I'll guess a guy like Trent Broadhurst will be on the table). And if he was more popular that might work great like it does for other guys, but since he doesn't really have much of a fanbase outside of a 5 mile radius around his residence its an unrealistic expectation for him at present time

He has no history of doing that. He's fought the best guy in every division he's ever fought in

[NEETzsche]

I think Kovalev would face Beterbiev, especially if he loses again

Ward might be the one who gets to pick the ripe cherry that is Smith Jr (not that I would be against that fight). Maybe Chavez Jr if he beats Canelo

[daggum]

He has no history of doing that. He's fought the best guy in every division he's ever fought in

yeah but once he was at the top what did he do? thats what ward fans seem to ignore. tried to cherry pick nonstop. was cherry picking so much that he got kicked off hbo and clowned in court. thats pretty bad. he fought the best 5 years ago isnt a ringing endorsement of courage.

[-DSG-]

If kov wins trilogy if Ward wins cleverly.

[-PBP-]

yeah but once he was at the top what did he do? thats what ward fans seem to ignore. tried to cherry pick nonstop. was cherry picking so much that he got kicked off hbo and clowned in court. thats pretty bad. he fought the best 5 years ago isnt a ringing endorsement of courage.

He fought Chad Dawson who was the man at 175 and Edwin Rodriguez who was ranked 6th in his division. After his layoff from the legal battles he took 2 tune ups to shake off the rust, beat Kovalev and gave him a rematch.

Even with the inactivity, he has fought stronger opposition than the lineal champ Chickenson

[GMAN SUPREME]

if its close and krusher wins there will be a trilogy to settle the score once and for all.

[Eff Pandas]

He has no history of doing that. He's fought the best guy in every division he's ever fought in

He's got no history of being a drama queen? Idk about that. And I'm not saying he hasn't fought top competition, but I felt he dragged his feet on Kovalev with all the warm up fights.

I'll be shocked if he fights Beterbiev or Adonis next, but if he fights them or another top 3, top 5 guy I'll have no problem giving him props for that, but I'd bet against that happening. And I'll be super shocked if he isn't throwing out the word retire in his post fight interview or within the 1st 10 tweets about his future after the rematch.

[Eff Pandas]

he has fought stronger opposition than the lineal champ Chickenson

Thats fantastic lol. When you gotta compare a guy to Stevenson you know you got problems. Thats like being 5'5 & talking about how you are taller than a midget. You still short mfer.