Andre Ward Eyes a Return to the Ring, However Just for Anthony Joshua and With a Particular Weight Stipulation in Place

Andre Ward says there could be a weight stipulation in place if he got here out of retirement to battle Anthony Joshua. The 41-year-old Ward (32-0, 16 KOs) states {that a} battle in opposition to the previous two-time heavyweight champion Joshua is “harmful sufficient” to make him wish to put together.

Ward doesn’t say why he’s concentrating on Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs), on condition that he’s coming off a fifth-round knockout loss. It will make extra sense for Ward to attempt to hustle his manner right into a battle in opposition to one of many prime 15 contenders fairly than focus solely on Joshua.

Hearn’s Swift Rejection

The unhealthy information for Ward is that AJ’s promoter, Hearn, has already dismissed the thought of this battle occurring. Hearn talked about that the battle would lack industrial enchantment. Ward has been retired for too lengthy, having hung up his gloves in 2017. Even when Ward was nonetheless preventing, he wasn’t fashionable. You’ll be able to solely think about how poor the PPV numbers could be for a battle between Joshua and Ward.

Hearn says the 2 fighters he desires for Joshua are Tyson Fury and Jake Paul. These are fights that may herald large cash. These are massive names nonetheless able to bringing in a number of PPV buys.

“I used to be simply trustworthy about who I might come again in opposition to if I got here again,” stated Andre Ward to the Ariel Helwani YouTube channel about his callout of Anthony Joshua. “Individuals assume I can nonetheless make 175. That’s out. It wasn’t straightforward making 175 in 2017. I’m 41 now.”

It doesn’t matter if Ward can’t make 175. He’s not what Hearn is in search of. If Ward is trying to discover somebody harmful that may encourage him sufficient to get within the fitness center, he ought to battle Moses Itauma or Filip Hrgovic.

“That’s the kind of state of affairs that’s harmful sufficient to make you put together,” stated Ward about Joshua. “However it’s the appropriate state of affairs if I had been to return again. While you become old, your reflexes wane a bit bit, and naturally, I believe I nonetheless have rather a lot left within the tank. However I don’t know.”

If Ward lacks the ambition to get within the fitness center until Joshua’s his opponent, what does that say about him? The place’s the willingness to work and the ambition? That appears like Ward has a mix of apathy and burnout. There are many different fighters Ward might battle in addition to Joshua. For him to simply need a battle in opposition to AJ hints that he’s simply in search of an enormous payday.

The Unlikely Weight Stipulation

“When you’re going to cope with one thing at an older age, you wish to cope with extra energy and the dimensions of an opponent and never ability, quickness, and velocity,” stated Ward. “That’s rather a lot totally different to cope with than coping with energy. That’s how I take a look at it. So, we’ll see. In fact,” stated Ward when requested if there could be weight stipulations for a battle with Joshua.

There’s no probability that Ward would be capable of negotiate a weight stipulation with the rather more fashionable Joshua. This isn’t 2017 with Ward preventing Sergey Kovalev. Joshua is out of his league by way of recognition. In my view, Ward has no probability of getting a weight stipulation in place for a battle in opposition to AJ.

“For me, I don’t assume that battle [Ward] is as massive as some folks assume, primarily from Andre’s workforce. I do know Joshua would take the battle, however I believe when it spits the numbers out, it gained’t be fairly what they appear. And, clearly, once we’re speaking a couple of Jake Paul battle [it’s a much bigger one],” stated Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn to Australian Boxing Central, reacting to Ward’s callout of Joshua.