Though the recently announced rematch between Tony Bellew and David Haye – set for London’s O2 on Sunday, December 17 – carries a fair amount of intrigue, it’s fair to say most fans would have been far more interested to see what would have happened had cruiserweight champ Bellew clashed with Andre Ward.
Andre Ward
Andre Ward boxing news
Ward’s surprise retirement leaves the pound-for-pound NO.1 spot open – but who deserves to take it?
Whether you were a fan of his or not and whether you will miss him or not, it is undeniable how Andre Ward left a big hole in the sport when he announced his pretty much out of the blue retirement earlier this week.
Video: Andre Ward retires on top
In somewhat of an unexpected surprise, unified light heavyweight champion of the world, Andre Ward (32-0, 16 KOs) retired from professional boxing. Ward was 33 years old, and was widely viewed as the best pound for pound boxer in the world. He is coming off of an impressive stoppage victory against Sergey Kovalev last June.
Former Ward foe Froch on Andre’s retirement: I won’t be sad to see the back of him
It was the most frustrating, horrible night of Carl Froch’s entire boxing career, one the retired “Cobra” still has nightmares about some six years on. And it is due to the bad night Froch had against Andre Ward, along with Ward’s particular fighting style, that Froch says he will not miss the two-time champ one bit.
As fans know, 33 year old Ward shocked many people by announcing his retirement yesterday. Though he’s still very much on top of his game – scoring a very impressive stoppage over arguably the most dangerous 175 pounder on the planet, Sergey Kovalev in his most recent fight – Ward has had enough. And Froch, who says he was as shocked as everyone else was by the decision of his former foe, says he wouldn’t be too surprised if the unbeaten former champ decided to make a comeback down the road.
Andre Ward Retires – HBO Sports Statement
“Andre Ward ends his boxing career as he only knew how to live it — as a champion at the top,” says Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports. “To watch Ward was to marvel at constant mastery of craft in the ring, to say nothing of his being the consummate role model outside it. The Hall of Fame will be lucky to have him.
What’s next for Andre Ward?
Or maybe the better question is who is next for Andre Ward? Andre “S.O.G.” is in a very rare position where he is considered the “man” at his weight class. While not the biggest draw at 175 Ward is definitely considered the best fighter. With his two disputed yet valid victories over Sergey Kovalev many have wondered what is next for Ward. Many of the the top light heavyweights are ready matches up. Kovalev will be back in the ring in November. While Adonis Stevenson and Eleider Alvarez are in talks to fight one another at the end of the year. However there are some options out there to be explored.
Badou Jack says he wanted to fight Adonis Stevenson tomorrow night, aims to target him, Andre Ward after Cleverly fight
Arguably the best, most evenly matched fight taking place on tomorrow’s big bill in Las Vegas – topped by you know what – the light-heavyweight clash between Nathan Cleverly and Badou Jack is not actually the fight Jack, who is moving up from 168, thought he’d be fighting.
Andre Ward to work for ESPN on Crawford-Indongo & Mayweather-McGregor fights
Undefeated two-division world champion and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward will join ESPN’s coverage of two of the year’s biggest boxing events: the August 19th Top Rank Boxing on ESPN Terence “Bud” Crawford vs Julius Indongo and the August 26th pay-per-view Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor.
Tony Bellew back in training aiming for December return: “Andre Ward would be a mega-fight; I will walk through him like a train
Tony Bellew says he is “much closer” to a fight with Andre Ward in comparison to a return bout with David Haye. Bellew shocked Haye back in March, beating him via 11th round stoppage (assisted by Haye’s Achilles injury) and he says he is now ready to cause another, even bigger shock by beating pound-for-pound king Ward.
No Andre Ward-Adonis Stevenson unification next; Stevenson “headed for an Eleider Alvarez fight early in the fall”
Though fight fans would very much like to see a light-heavyweight unification showdown between Andre Ward, recent KO winner over Sergey Kovalev, and Adonis Stevenson, the WBC king, it doesn’t look like happening. Not this year anyway.
Yvon Michel, Stevenson’s promoter, told Radio Canada that Ward “never rushes his decisions,” and that after his win over Kovalev, he “spoke of the possibility of going to cruiserweight or heavyweight.”