06/08/2013: Adonis Stevenson became the new WBC Champion. Promoter Yvon Michel proposed Ward's team a garantee of two-fight series. The first one would be at 168 pounds in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, with a built-in rematch at 175 pounds in Montreal.
Andre Ward
06/11/2013: Stevenson doesn’t deserve to fight me, he doesn’t have the track record to warrant a title fight. Stevenson won’t get a shot until he has “won some big fights.”
Adonis Stevenson
06/11/2013: “Ward definitely wants to delay this to avoid facing me.” Ward is crazy to say I’m not ready.
Adonis Stevenson
06/19/2016: "Of course I need the winner of that fight," Stevenson. "Anyways, I'm the lineal champion. I need all the titles. I'm the lineal champion, so they're fighting together but nobody (can say they're the best) because I'm the lineal champion and everybody knows. I need all the titles."
Andre Ward
10/31/2016: "Man, "I'm not even interested in Adonis Stevenson right now. Obviously he's not my next opponent, and he's gotta ask Al if he can come out and play. I don't even know if he's available to fight, I'm just being real with you. They got their own thing going on, but that's not even somebody that I'm interested in talking about."
Adonis Stevenson
11/11/2016: “Well, you know Andre Ward is fighting Sergey Kovalev, and I would like to fight the winner and unify the title,” Stevenson said. “I’m the lineal champion, so everything has to go through me. I need all of the titles, so it’s time to make that fight happen. I think Ward Vs. Kovalev is a 50-50 fight, so I’m not sure who wins. But the fans want to know who the best light-heavyweight champion is, and whether it’s Ward or Kovalev, I know I will win that fight.”
Adonis Stevenson
11/18/2016: The winner has to fight the lineal and WBC champion. I'm the king and I am the lineal champion. It's like that. I am the king and if you can beat the king then you are the king.
Andre Ward
11/20/2016: "I can't call it [if that fight will happen]. It's not even about Adonis right now. Adonis has had so many opportunities to step up and fight. And it's funny that all of a sudden he's calling out the winner of this fight. Honestly,I'm Not Even Interested In Talking About Adonis."
"He's had opportunities to fight [the top guys at 175] Why now [does he want them]?
Emanuel Steward
04/22/2012: “I’m very satisfied with him, and I rarely say that about a fighter,” Steward said. “He’s just about complete. He’s the type that could fight any of the top fighters. What you see from him he could do to any of the champs - and I’m not just talking. He’s a good puncher who has natural instincts that you can’t teach. If I was a champ, he’d be the one I would avoid.
“He’s one of those rare fighters that comes along once in a lifetime.”
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