Gennady "GGG" Golovkin is arguably the most avoided fighter in boxing right now largely because of his 20-fight knockout streak, but super middleweight Andre Ward doesn't seem scared. In fact, he directly singled out Golovkin during an appearance on ESPN and told him he's ready.
"Andre Ward is available and we can make it happen....they want Golovkin to smile and wave and be the pretty boy and the promoters do the tough talk. If I respond, then I'm the villain...if GGG wants to fight, come from behind the promoter, come from behind the trainer, tell them to call HBO. I've already done this before the show because I knew you guys were going to ask me this, and let's make it happen!" Ward said.
Ward was once considered the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world behind Floyd Mayweather Jr., but he lost some luster following a 19-month layoff that ended last month with a one-sided beating of Paul Smith. Prior to that layoff, Ward was out of action for 14 months before ending that absence with a similarly one-sided win over Edwin Rodriguez. Essentially, Ward has fought twice since 2013, and hasn't fought a name opponent since knocking out Chad Dawson in 2012.
There has been much debate through the media between the two camps over which side is the "A-side." Ward is the more accomplished fighter, but Golovkin has become one of boxing's biggest draws while Ward has faded from relevance. The Smith fight wasn't even picked up by HBO, and instead aired on BET. Meanwhile, Golovkin has been able to sell out venues like the Stubhub Center and pack out Madison Square Garden's main arena. There's also the matter of Ward fighting at super middleweight, or even higher.
Tom Loeffler, Golovkin's promoter, has laid out some terms that would be acceptable for a Ward fight.
"GGG is now clearly the 'A' side yet Ward still would want to dictate terms, which makes no sense," Loeffler said. "GGG would fight Ward on a 50-50 basis, the best 160-pounder versus the best 168-pounder [at] 164 [and] a 50-50 split on all proceeds. But it seems like Ward needs more tuneup fights."
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