By Steve Kim
Andre Ward raised a few eyebrows during his recent appearance on 'the Fight Game with Jim Lampley' on HBO when he intimated to Michelle Beadle that he would not be rushed into a fight with light-heavyweight Sergey Kovalev. The belief is that Ward's new multi-fight deal with HBO would call for him to face 'the Krusher' at some point next year.
In response to this, Kathy Duva, the head of Main Events, which represents Kovalev told krikya360.com (via email):
"We signed an agreement with Roc Nation and Andre Ward for Ward to fight Kovalev in 2016. The only "if" here is if Ward actually gets in the ring. We can't stop him from getting injured or retiring. But if he gets in the ring after June 2016, it will be against Sergey Kovalev. We would love to do the fight sooner, but Ward wants his tune-ups. In the meantime, Sergey will go on with his career against the best opposition that isn't afraid to fight him."
Kovalev is scheduled to face Jean Pascal again on January 30th. Ward, was scheduled to face Alexander Brand on the Miguel Cotto-Saul Alvarez pay-per-view undercard next week but was scratched from that show with lingering problems in his right knee and it's not clear when he will return to the ring.
It was announced on Tuesday that Ward would be relinquishing his WBA 168-pound title.
Steve Kim is the news editor for krikya360.com.