Would Tim still believe Ward would beat Joshua if he hadn\u2019t worked with him on ESPN in the past when they were calling Top Rank\u2019s fight? Ward\u2019s age, inactivity, and his last two performances against Sergey Kovalev in 2016 and 2017 suggest that he\u2019d be completely overmatched against Joshua or any top 15-level heavyweight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get the Jake Paul fight. He brings a lot of eyes to the table, but that\u2019s not a real fight for Joshua,\u201d said Tim. \u201cIf he can\u2019t knock out Jake Paul, how do you think he\u2019s going to do against Andre Ward?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bradley is really reaching here to argue for Ward getting a big payday fight against Joshua. He\u2019s creating a make-believe scenario that Joshua won\u2019t knock out Jake Paul to support his argument for his friend, Ward, to be given the fight against AJ. It seems so obvious.<\/p>\n
Heavyweights Ward Must Fight First<\/p>\n
If Ward wants to fight Joshua, he needs to come out of retirement and fight some of the top 10 contenders to prove that he\u2019s not just fighting him for the payday. These would be good options for Ward to test himself out:<\/p>\n
Agit Kabayel
\nRichard Torrez Jr.
\nLenier Pero
\nJoseph Parker
\nZhilei Zhang
\nMartin Bakole
\nBakhodir Jalalov<\/p>\n
If \u2018SOG\u2019 Ward wants that payday against Joshua badly enough, he needs to come back and fight one or two of these heavyweights to show that he belongs inside the ring with him. If not, AJ should ignore him and view him as one of the many fighters calling him out for a \u201cPayday, payday\u201d purposes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis right here [brains] is the most important thing in boxing. If a guy like Andre Ward sets their mind to doing something, he\u2019s already diced the fight up a trillion times and knows they can win,\u201d said Bradley.<\/p>\n
Ward\u2019s Boring, Clinching Boxing Style<\/p>\n
We already know how Ward fights. He moves around, throws single shots, and then dives in to clinch. On the inside, he does a lot of wrestling, landing shots while grappling with his opponents. That was his formula to defeat Sergey Kovalev. It wouldn\u2019t work against Anthony Joshua, and it would be so boring to watch. Fans don\u2019t want to see a guy who moves, throws single shots, and then grabs his opponents to begin mauling. It\u2019s just a big stall.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone says Andre Ward got dropped by a jab from Kovalev. Did you see what happened when he got up? Getting back up and doing what Andre Ward did, that\u2019s historical stuff right there,\u201d said Bradley.<\/p>\n
The fight that Tim is talking about occurred in 2016, and Ward won what many fans believe was a controversial 12-round decision over Sergey Kovalev. Ignoring the questionable decision Andre was given by the judges, the fight still took place nine years ago.<\/p>\n
Ward was 32 years old, still active with his career, and fighting at 175. He\u2019s now 41, hasn\u2019t fought in eight years since 2017, and would be moving two divisions to fight a 240+ lb Joshua. It\u2019s a complete mismatch and would be a rip-off for the fans that pay to see this.<\/p>\n
At Ward\u2019s age, he\u2019d be destroyed by cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia. At heavyweight, Ward would be food for fighters like Agit Kabayel, Moses Itauma, Richard Torrez Jr, and even Dillian Whyte.<\/p>\n
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