Opinion: Is Andre Ward Ready for Sergey Kovalev?

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

Andre Ward made his debut as a light heavyweight over the weekend and cruised to a one-sided decision win against Sullivan Barrera. The fight was important considering that a potential showdown with Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev looms with a November 19 date in place. It’s a bout that could put a jolt into a relatively dull year of boxing.

As impressive as Ward looked against Barrera, one has to wonder whether he’s ready for a fight with a tremendous puncher like Kovalev. This is not simply in the department of fighting. One also has to look at whether these two would have enough drawing power to top a pay-per-view.

Looking at Ward’s performance -- which averaged 1.064 million viewers -- it certainly looks like “S.O.G.” may be as ready as he’ll ever be physically. There was some noticeable rust that Ward had to knock off early, but he was a tactician throughout the 12-round affair. Barrera couldn’t find his target with clean punches and often ate counters as Ward masterfully picked apart his previously unbeaten opponent.

The fact of the matter is that Barrera is certainly no Kovalev. There were moments when Barrera connected cleanly, and it made me wonder how Ward would react to getting slammed in the face by a Kovalev punch. But that’s something that is a given considering that Kovalev’s boxing skill and ability to set up punches is extraordinarily underrated.

Should Ward take another fight before facing Kovalev? Absolutely. Ward himself said during the post fight interview that being active is a necessity, and with the division being a little on the weak side, Ward simply needs to put in the rounds. His greatest enemy is his body at this point; his injuries and extended absences haven’t helped him remain in the best physical and mental shape. But, even at 75 percent, Ward is better than 95 percent of the fighters on this planet. Whom he would fight really doesn’t matter much, as nobody but Kovalev is deemed as a real threat to Ward’s dominance. Instead, the crafty fighter just needs to clock in another 36 minutes before November.

The other side of the coin is whether or not this fight will draw. For boxing fans, this is a huge fight that would almost salvage the looming prospect of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez versus Gennady Golovkin falling by the wayside. However, satisfying fight fans isn’t necessarily the goal of a pay-per-view. Somehow, between now and November, both parties will have to promote heavily and find a way to capture the attention of the mainstream.

Kovalev’s highlight reel alone can generate interest, while running down Ward’s accolades -- which include being the last American boxer to capture Olympic gold and the fact that he hasn’t lost since the age of 12 -- could create an interesting narrative. There are a number of storylines to play off of between the two. You could safely build this to be the equivalent of Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao in terms of a styles clash, but resting assured that you won’t have anything remotely as boring considering that both fighters are still at the top of their respective games. More importantly, they actually want to fight each other and are not blowing smoke up the backsides of fans.

The question of whether or not the current version of Ward can beat Kovalev is a difficult one. With only one fight against a light heavyweight under his belt and the prospect of facing one of the biggest punchers in boxing next, it’s going to be interesting to see how Ward handles the size and power of the “Krusher.” This would be far different than anything that Ward has faced to this point. As for Kovalev, he’s run over athletic fighters (Jean Pascal) as well as crafty ring generals (Bernard Hopkins), but he has never seen anything like Ward, who may be the most complete boxer since Mayweather retired.

This is the fight that boxing needs, especially considering the possibility of the “Canelo”-“GGG” fight being hung up by negotiations. The sport could use an adrenaline shot right now, and hopefully these two can deliver it.

Andreas Hale is the editorial content director of 2DopeBoyz.com, co-host of the boxing, MMA and pro wrestling podcast “The Corner” and a regular columnist for Sherdog.com. You can follow on Twitter for his random yet educated thoughts on combat sports, music, film and popular culture.