WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (27-0, 14KOs) is a week away from his scheduled return. Ward, who's been out of the ring since November 2013, is back in the ring on June 20th against Paul Smith at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The fight will headline Roc Nation Sports' first televised event on BET.
During Ward's period of inactivity, his name was consistently linked to several potential fights. One of those potential fights would come against WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin (33-0, 30KOs).
In an interview conducted last year, Golovkin's trainer Abel Sanchez said his boxer was willing to fight any notable name from junior middleweight to super middleweight. In a direct response to that interview, Ward raised his hand and said he was ready to fight Golovkin. At that time, Golovkin's handlers had legitimate concerns because Ward had an ongoing legal battle with his former promoter. That legal issue has long been resolved.
During several recent interviews with Golovkin and members of his team, Ward's name has once again been raised for a potential fight. Golovkin's promoter, Tom Loeffler of K2, is receptive to the idea of fighting Ward but believes they need additional time to build it up into a pay-per-view attraction.
Ward does not agree with Loeffler's response and views it as another excuse to avoid the fight - noting that Golovkin has attempted to face two different super middleweights, Carl Froch and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., in the last twelve months. Both Chavez and Froch are physically bigger than Ward.
"If the fans and the writers buy that, then they are going to continue to say that," Ward told BoxingScene.com.
"The reality is this, and I’m not trying to coming off as a tough guy because I’m not a tough guy. I just come to fight and do my best and fight the best. The reality is, when Carl Froch fought Mikkel Kessler the second time, I commentated that fight. I was in his country. I told him, I told his promoter to pick up the phone and let’s make it happen. When you’re in somebody's backyard and they say those kind of things and they don’t respond and come up with excuses – you got your answer."
"Guys like Froch, or even Golovkin, these guys have had at least eight or nine different excuses – from ‘we’ll fight everybody but him, we’ve got to build it up, he’s scared, he's just talking.’ It's just ridiculous and I don’t even follow it anymore and you won’t hear me call their names anymore, because I've got too much respect for what I've accomplished in this sport and I've got too much respect for my legacy as a whole to chase anybody at this point in time.""If the fans are comfortable and okay with [Golovkin] fighting the level of competition that he's fighting - and I’m not taking anything away from those guys because they deserve credit for getting in there and doing their best – but the level that he’s fought and what they're claiming him to be – if the fans and the writers are comfortable with that then that’s just what it is and he's going to continue to fight that level of competition."
Golovkin is trying to secure potential fights with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Miguel Cotto. According to Canelo and his manager Eddy Reynoso, they have no intention of fighting at the middleweight limit in the near future. Miguel Cotto is the WBC middleweight champion but the Puerto Rican star admits that he's not a true middleweight and made it clear that he won't fight anyone in that division without a catch-weight involved. For his recent fight with Daniel Geale, Cotto weighed in below the junior middleweight limit.
Cotto and Canelo are expected to fight each other in the fall - with or without the WBC middleweight belt, and a catch-weight of 155-pounds is the likely weight limit. In a perfect world, Golovkin would fight the winner of that contest but nobody is holding their breath on that scenario.
"He’s going to cross his fingers that Canelo or Cotto take a fight with him. He’s literally begging these guys, who are smaller guys, to step in the ring and fight with him - but you can't have this reputation that you want to claim without fighting the best," Ward said.
"You can't come to my weight class and side-step me. Just because a trainer or a promoter says something, it doesn’t make it true. These guys literally get paid to say what they say. And their whole plan is for the trainer to talk tough, and the promoter to talk tough, while Golovkin sits on the sidelines and just smiles and waves. They tell him to smile and keep waving while they talk tough. I'm not going to get involved with that, because I'm real simple when it comes to the sport of boxing – 'let's get it on.' If you mention my name and you mention my weight class, then lets do it."
"All of the different narratives that they come up with, all of the different excuses and even lies they come up with – I am not going to get caught up in that and you are not going to hear me calling this guy’s name no more. I presented myself and that’s the best that I can do. I’m not chasing anybody in this sport. I'm the champion of my division and my job is to be ready when my name is called."
http://www.boxingscene.com/andre-ward-golovkin-8-9-different-excuses--92249
During Ward's period of inactivity, his name was consistently linked to several potential fights. One of those potential fights would come against WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin (33-0, 30KOs).
In an interview conducted last year, Golovkin's trainer Abel Sanchez said his boxer was willing to fight any notable name from junior middleweight to super middleweight. In a direct response to that interview, Ward raised his hand and said he was ready to fight Golovkin. At that time, Golovkin's handlers had legitimate concerns because Ward had an ongoing legal battle with his former promoter. That legal issue has long been resolved.
During several recent interviews with Golovkin and members of his team, Ward's name has once again been raised for a potential fight. Golovkin's promoter, Tom Loeffler of K2, is receptive to the idea of fighting Ward but believes they need additional time to build it up into a pay-per-view attraction.
Ward does not agree with Loeffler's response and views it as another excuse to avoid the fight - noting that Golovkin has attempted to face two different super middleweights, Carl Froch and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., in the last twelve months. Both Chavez and Froch are physically bigger than Ward.
"If the fans and the writers buy that, then they are going to continue to say that," Ward told BoxingScene.com.
"The reality is this, and I’m not trying to coming off as a tough guy because I’m not a tough guy. I just come to fight and do my best and fight the best. The reality is, when Carl Froch fought Mikkel Kessler the second time, I commentated that fight. I was in his country. I told him, I told his promoter to pick up the phone and let’s make it happen. When you’re in somebody's backyard and they say those kind of things and they don’t respond and come up with excuses – you got your answer."
"Guys like Froch, or even Golovkin, these guys have had at least eight or nine different excuses – from ‘we’ll fight everybody but him, we’ve got to build it up, he’s scared, he's just talking.’ It's just ridiculous and I don’t even follow it anymore and you won’t hear me call their names anymore, because I've got too much respect for what I've accomplished in this sport and I've got too much respect for my legacy as a whole to chase anybody at this point in time.""If the fans are comfortable and okay with [Golovkin] fighting the level of competition that he's fighting - and I’m not taking anything away from those guys because they deserve credit for getting in there and doing their best – but the level that he’s fought and what they're claiming him to be – if the fans and the writers are comfortable with that then that’s just what it is and he's going to continue to fight that level of competition."
Golovkin is trying to secure potential fights with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Miguel Cotto. According to Canelo and his manager Eddy Reynoso, they have no intention of fighting at the middleweight limit in the near future. Miguel Cotto is the WBC middleweight champion but the Puerto Rican star admits that he's not a true middleweight and made it clear that he won't fight anyone in that division without a catch-weight involved. For his recent fight with Daniel Geale, Cotto weighed in below the junior middleweight limit.
Cotto and Canelo are expected to fight each other in the fall - with or without the WBC middleweight belt, and a catch-weight of 155-pounds is the likely weight limit. In a perfect world, Golovkin would fight the winner of that contest but nobody is holding their breath on that scenario.
"He’s going to cross his fingers that Canelo or Cotto take a fight with him. He’s literally begging these guys, who are smaller guys, to step in the ring and fight with him - but you can't have this reputation that you want to claim without fighting the best," Ward said.
"You can't come to my weight class and side-step me. Just because a trainer or a promoter says something, it doesn’t make it true. These guys literally get paid to say what they say. And their whole plan is for the trainer to talk tough, and the promoter to talk tough, while Golovkin sits on the sidelines and just smiles and waves. They tell him to smile and keep waving while they talk tough. I'm not going to get involved with that, because I'm real simple when it comes to the sport of boxing – 'let's get it on.' If you mention my name and you mention my weight class, then lets do it."
"All of the different narratives that they come up with, all of the different excuses and even lies they come up with – I am not going to get caught up in that and you are not going to hear me calling this guy’s name no more. I presented myself and that’s the best that I can do. I’m not chasing anybody in this sport. I'm the champion of my division and my job is to be ready when my name is called."
http://www.boxingscene.com/andre-ward-golovkin-8-9-different-excuses--92249
no not today " #Shookboys
not even a fan but respect his skills & even lobbed jabs. Once next wk hit real #shookboys fans gonna be like 
