Andre Ward revealed that he was willing to face undefeated middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, but the proposed showdown did not materialize.
Ward, a former World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association super middleweight champion, told reporters in a recent roundtable that he was aching to face Golovkin.
According to Ward, Roc Nation Sports reached out to K2 Promotions about a possible showdown, but the opposing camp turned down their proposal. Based on how the negotiation ran, the 31-year-old is convinced that Golovkin is simply not willing to face him.
"I was willing to fight him anywhere, anytime," Ward said, referring to Golovkin. "I can show you the texts between my people and his people. He just doesn't want to fight me, period. He can come up with any excuse he wants to, but the fact is that the fans will never get to see this fight and it would have been a great one."
Golovkin holds a perfect 34-0 record and has knocked out his last 20 opponents. The 33-year-old Kazakh is also the reigning International Boxing Federation, International Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association middleweight champion.
Golovkin, who has knocked out 31 of his 34 opponents, is currently being linked to a possible showdown with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who just won the World Boxing Council middleweight title during his bout with Miguel Cotto on Saturday.
With Golovkin out of his radar at this point, Ward also revealed that he is now setting his sights on Sergey Kovalev, who is the reigning World Boxing Organization, World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation light heavyweight champion.
While Golovkin is lined up among the big-name fighters today, Ward is still convinced that Kovalev is better than the undefeated Kazakh, pound-for-pound.
"He's bigger, stronger and, in my opinion, a better fighter," Ward said of Kovalev. "I think if you look at their résumés, there is no comparison between Kovalev's résumé and Golovkin's. There's just not."
Kovalev, who has a 28-0-1 record with 25 knockout victories, recently confirmed that he is also in line to defend his light heavyweight titles against Kovalev next fall.
"He'll fight. It's already set for next fall," Kovalev said via San Jose Mercury News. "He's an Olympic champion, the last American champion, a really smart, technical fighter. It won't be an easy fight. But I've waited for it."
