The demand for WBA Super World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KO’s) to move up and fight Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KO’s) has died down somewhat since his unification match against IBF champion David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KO’s) was announced earlier this month.
The thought of two hellacious punchers like them coming together is enough to put the thought of any other fight to the back of one’s mind, but Ward’s presence will continue to pervade Golovkin’s career after he and Lemieux are through.
Ward, with his mugging, technical style is really the only foreseeable threat to Golovkin’s dominance. Lemieux has the power, but his technique and durability are inferior to the man he will face in October. No such misgivings exist with Ward, who has tamed every beast put in front of him with Mayweather-like objectivity.
Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez was recently asked in an interview with Fight Hype if the Ward fight was inevitable at a catch-weight or even when his man moves up a division, and he seemed slightly vexed the question.
“First of all as a reporter let me ask you this question. He moves up to 168, and he beats Andre Ward, what does he do next? Klitschko? If he beats Andre Ward, the best fighter in the world and Mayweather’s not willing to fight him, what do we do next? We have no fights. We have no fights.”
“Second thing on a more real note, Andre hasn’t done anything to warrant what his demands will be. I think this shows you today [at a promotional event for the Lemieux fight] that Gennady is becoming the A-fighter and for that fight to happen I think that Andre and Andre’s people [Roc Nation Sports] need to sit at the table with [K2 Promotions CEO] Tom [Loeffler] and Gennady’s managers and iron something out that’s beneficial, but understanding who is the A-fighter and who is the B-fighter. And I don’t think that’s gonna happen because I think Andre thinks more of himself than he really is at this moment. He’s a great fighter, but he’s not a draw.”
“We don’t need Andre Ward; Andre Ward needs Golovkin.”
Ward has only recently returned from the wilderness. He spent the better part of three years out of action due to managerial disputes and injuries, and in that same period Golovkin made his US debut and kicked on in monstrous form to score 10 consecutive knockouts.
K2 have made sure to parade the Kazakh on both US coasts as well as in Europe and the fervour to see his KO power has become international, ensuring his capacity to generate huge amounts of money. On the other side, Ward is a boxing connoisseur’s delight, but a nobody to a casual fan.
Sanchez foresees Ward coming to the negotiation table with all the demands in the world, a position reserved for the biggest bread-winner which in that particular pairing would be Golovkin. A key point there would surely be what weight to hold the bout at, and Ward would be a silly man indeed to follow the ill-trodden paths of so many others to concede and drop down, draining himself against such a big puncher.
His demeanour and overall response seem to indicate that Sanchez is sick of hearing about Andre Ward and a fight that for now only exists as a fantasy match-up. So am I, as their meeting would hardly be exciting as the next one on Golovkin’s calendar.
