What happens next for Rigo, Ward, and Kovalev?

[-Antonio-]

I think we will see Ward fight at cruiserweight. Doesn't Roc refuse to do work with Haymon? If anything we might get Kovalev fighting Beterbiev or Stevenson.

[NEETzsche]

Ward is probably gonna tease retirement or a heavyweight fight more over the next 3 to 6 months before he'll be forced into some mandatory fight that may or may not be of any interest.

I think Beterbiev will be the first mandatory to be called (assuming he beats Koelling) and I doubt Ward bothers with that. Not saying he's afraid of Beterbiev or anything, just don't see him being interested in a fight like that right now

[Holystroke3]

How about Ward-Lebedev (if Lebedev wins in July) for a cruiserweight title? That's the only top cruiserweight that Ward's not at a serious physical disadvantage against

My top choice would be Ward-Stevenson for the undisputed title (if he doesn't have to dump the IBF)

[Eff Pandas]

I think Beterbiev will be the first mandatory to be called (assuming he beats Koelling) and I doubt Ward bothers with that. Not saying he's afraid of Beterbiev or anything, just don't see him being interested in a fight like that right now

Is that a ibf mandatory? If so yea you might be right.

Idk what fights are makeable and interesting at all for Ward if Beterbiev isn't one of them right now. There's a lot of good guys on the way up that could be a threat to Ward, Kovalev and Stevenson, but none of them have much of a name yet and most of them seem to be from Russia or ex-Soviet countries so they aren't likely to attain much of a non-hardcore boxing fan base anytime soon to make a BIG fight.

And as mentioned numerous times I have lil faith in Stevenson wanting to seriously make a fight with any threatening opponent so while my hope would be for Stevenson to be next for Ward in a fight between the top two guys in the division idk that I have much confidence in that fight being makeable.

And while the CW and HW talk is interesting I doubt it'd happen next and it seems like a big ask. But I don't hate Ward's chances vs several of those guys, most notably current title holders Joey Parker and Wilder as crazy as that might sound to many.

[NEETzsche]

Is that a ibf mandatory? If so yea you might be right.

Idk what fights are makeable and interesting at all for Ward if Beterbiev isn't one of them right now. There's a lot of good guys on the way up that could be a threat to Ward, Kovalev and Stevenson, but none of them have much of a name yet and most of them seem to be from Russia or ex-Soviet countries so they aren't likely to attain much of a non-hardcore boxing fan base anytime soon to make a BIG fight.

And as mentioned numerous times I have lil faith in Stevenson wanting to seriously make a fight with any threatening opponent so while my hope would be for Stevenson to be next for Ward in a fight between the top two guys in the division idk that I have much confidence in that fight being makeable.

And while the CW and HW talk is interesting I doubt it'd happen next and it seems like a big ask. But I don't hate Ward's chances vs several of those guys, most notably current title holders Joey Parker and Wilder as crazy as that might sound to many.

Maybe I'm an optimist but I think Stevenson would like to fight Ward. It's just a matter of politics, but more Haymon fighters are crossing to HBO these days than back when Kovalev vs Stevenson was on the table. I give it a small chance of happening

If Joe Smith beats Barrera that would be a solid defence, if Ward is still interested in non-PPV fights

Regarding the heavyweight talk, he might wait to see if Bellew vs Parker happens and then if Bellew wins he would be stupid not to jump at that chance. Like I said earlier, I think he would get a good reception in the UK

[kiaba360]

I'll be amazed if any of them fight again this year first off lol.

I think the odds are long that Rigo has any meaningful fight within 12 months and probably only slightly shorter that he fights at all in that same time frame.

Kovalev probably fights a softer touch early next year, but they should be just throwing him in the best fight he can get cuz he'll be 35 by April and his days in boxing are almost done in particular after seeing him last night with how he kept having a quiting/ref help me kinda take on the fight. I think Ward and others had Kovalev pegged correctly as a bully and once you beat a bully you damn near destroy his confidence in himself.

Ward is probably gonna tease retirement or a heavyweight fight more over the next 3 to 6 months before he'll be forced into some mandatory fight that may or may not be of any interest.

Potential mandatories: Cleverly, Bivol, Beterbiev, Gvozdyk. Cleverly is probably the easiest opponent, but I think Ward will prefer to sit out.

Ward Kov and Rigo are all in their 30s, with Rigo looking even older than that lol. Inactivity and losses at this stage can fxck up careers, especially for guys who lack a massive fanbase. That's why I'm anxious to see Kov back asap. As a fan of big-punching "bully" fighters, it sucks to see them take these kinds of losses or perform below expectations. However, the bully is always one punch or one win away from reminding people why they deserve to be feared.

[Eff Pandas]

Maybe I'm an optimist but I think Stevenson would like to fight Ward. It's just a matter of politics, but more Haymon fighters are crossing to HBO these days than back when Kovalev vs Stevenson was on the table. I give it a small chance of happening

If Joe Smith beats Barrera that would be a solid defence, if Ward is still interested in non-PPV fights

You got more faith in Stevenson then I do. Although I guess we got the same take ultimately with it has a "small chance" of happening.

And I think there are better fights than Ward vs Smith to be made, but Smith is one of those non-tip top type guys I can't really root against or even root against them getting bigger fights so fair play there.

Regarding the heavyweight talk, he might wait to see if Bellew vs Parker happens and then if Bellew wins he would be stupid not to jump at that chance. Like I said earlier, I think he would get a good reception in the UK

Yea that wouldn't be a bad move. Seems like that'd be a ways off doe with Hughie being next. I'd guess the earliest that could go down would probably be a year give or take.

But yea the UK seems to respect boxing & the fighters more than in the US so you're definitely right on that.

I do feel like there is a solid chance Ward would wanna force that to take place in the US doe as silly as that would be cuz while I trust Ward in the ring to be able to win or put forth the best strategy to win vs anyone I don't have as much trust in his business of boxing decisions & I think he's dropped the ball or Prince has several times in his career or they just don't give a damn about the ball in the first place I'm not really sure.

[kiaba360]

If Joe Smith Jr. wins against Barrera then Ward should fight him this fall.
Stevenson needs to fight his mandatory, Alverez this fall.
If both Ward/Stevenson win they unify spring 2018.

Kovalev should fight the undefeated Marcus Browne. Winnable fight for him yet still not a "stay busy" easy fight.

Loma and Gonzalez already have fights so they're outta the picture for Rigo.
In my opinion him and Leo Santa Cruz need to fight. Leo's high punch output will make Rigo throw more making it a more exciting fight.

Rigo/LSC is a match-up that we've been asking for since LSC got to 122. I don't think that one has no chance of happening unless Rigo wins a title at 126. If Rigo goes up to 126 though, I can see people moving up to get away from him lol

Kov/Browne? hmm....Browne needs to beat Monaghan first. I would think the winner would be in line for a title shot, hence bypassing Kov altogether. That's what makes this loss most painful for Kov: he'll now become more avoided than ever.

I think we will see Ward fight at cruiserweight. Doesn't Roc refuse to do work with Haymon? If anything we might get Kovalev fighting Beterbiev or Stevenson.

Maybe now that Kov has lost, they'll allow him to fight off HBO?

How about Ward-Lebedev (if Lebedev wins in July) for a cruiserweight title? That's the only top cruiserweight that Ward's not at a serious physical disadvantage against

My top choice would be Ward-Stevenson for the undisputed title (if he doesn't have to dump the IBF)

Lebedev is also 37 with a lot of wear-and-tear, definitely a winnable fight for Ward.

[javaboxing]

I won't be suprised if Adonis and Kovalev end up fighting next. Adonis now sees weaknesses in Kovalev and will try to capitalize on it. Since Kovalev lost in such a baffling way his marketability in fighting Adonis would not be affected in my opinion. If I'm Kathy Duva that's the direction I would shoot for. Its a winnable fight where Kovalev can make $$ and become champion again. For Adonis, he has the chance to CLEARLY beat Kovalev (preferably by KO) and somewhat erase his doubters.

Andre Ward-Not much left for him expect to unify with Adonis but I cannot see Haymon and Roc Nation working together. Also cannot see Stevenson winning against Ward due to their styles.

Rigo-Just be active!

[Eff Pandas]

Potential mandatories: Cleverly, Bivol, Beterbiev, Gvozdyk. Cleverly is probably the easiest opponent, but I think Ward will prefer to sit out.

Cleverly is probably the least interesting of those opponents, but yea I tend to agree with your take of Ward's opinion on fighting the other 3 guys.

I predict some titles being dropped/stripped lol. This is the main reason we don't have as many undisputed champions & its why I quit caring about undisputed champions. Its not so much a accomplishment as being a diplomatic boxer thats willing to be backlogged in less meaningful, less paying fights when ones true goal should be the biggest & best fight to be made each time out once you've gotten to this level of the sport.

I'd probably even argue that if we are gonna have all these f#cking titles when there is a title holder with more than 1 title that all the specific belt mandatory's need to fight each other til there is one multi belt mandatory cuz its a lil insane that a guy with all 4 belts would have to be consistently put into fights with so many guys each & every year.

If I was a multi belt title holder I'd only defend the mandatory belt vs the mandatory guy & not put my other belts on the line at all unless they would push back other mandatory fights for me doing so. There's too much abc bs that goes on in boxing.

Ward Kov and Rigo are all in their 30s, with Rigo looking even older than that lol. Inactivity and losses at this stage can fxck up careers, especially for guys who lack a massive fanbase. That's why I'm anxious to see Kov back asap. As a fan of big-punching "bully" fighters, it sucks to see them take these kinds of losses or perform below expectations. However, the bully is always one punch or one win away from reminding people why they deserve to be feared.

Kovalev vs Beterbiev is maybe the best fight to make next time out for him I feel like. Its a fight that should make massive sense at this point.

But Rigo should have a cashout mindset with every fight these days. I'm still not convinced anyone can beat him so he should just get the best crazy fight he can get.

Its a waste of his talent & his time to be fighting so seldom vs these guys who aren't a tenth of what he is. So he needs to think like Kell Brook previous to the GGG fight, despite that not having good results for Brook, or his career will continue to get turned into dust fight by fight til he does get upset by some random guy when he's 39 or whatever.