SONAHR: March 27, 2016 – If names could win fights, light-heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera would go into each of his bouts with an insuperable advantage. His first name evokes John L. Sullivan, the first heavyweight champion of the Queensberry Rules era, and his last name is the same as that of Marcos Antonio Barrera, the legendary lighter-weight warrior of the 1990s and 2000s.
Alas, Sullivan Barrera?s portentous name did not help him when he fought Andre Ward on Saturday. Nor did Barrera?s 17-0 record. Nor did his inexplicable No. 1 ranking by the WBO. In his light-heavyweight debut, Ward ? a former super-middleweight champion sporting an undefeated record of his own ? floored Barrera once en route to a lop-sided 12-round decision victory. Now 29-0, Ward?s win set up a mouth-watering, and potentially lucrative, showdown against the formidable WBO/IBF/WBA ?super? 175-pound king Sergei (Krusher) Kovalev.
Both Ward and Kovalev say they are eager to face each other in the ring. Unable to lure WBC light-heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson into a title-unification match, Kovalev sees Ward as the biggest challenge to his supremacy since Bernard Hopkins, who was dominated by Krusher in 2014. And Ward is gunning for his second world title, which would embellish his excellent ? if somewhat stalled ? career.
Because of a combination of injuries and a seemingly intractable contract dispute, the Barrera bout was only Ward?s second in the past three years. The prolonged period of inactivity cost him his titles and his lofty standing in the pound-for-pound ranks. His performance against Barrera proved that the prolonged idleness has left him rested rather than rusted. The knockdown en route to the win was an indication that Ward has carried his admittedly modest punching power up to the higher weight class.
That shouldn?t be surprising. When Ward won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, he did so in the light-heavyweight division. He dropped down to super-middleweight as a professional. So the extra poundage he will carry as he moves back up should not be a handicap.
If these two do fight each other, it will be a classic boxer (Ward) vs. puncher (Kovalev) confrontation. Considering that styles make fights, in this type of matchup, the boxer usually wins. But Kovalev is much more than just a one-dimensional slugger. He showcased his considerable technical skills when he thoroughly outboxed the crafty Hopkins. On the other hand, the equally crafty Ward hasn?t yet encountered a ring problem he couldn?t solve.
Ward-Kovalev is to the light-heavies what Floyd-Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao was to the welterweights. The big difference is that Pacquiao and Mayweather frittered away five years before making their superfight, and they were both past their primes when they finally stepped into the ring against each other last May. In contrast, Kovalev and Ward are at the top of their games, and will conceivably remain there for the next few years.
But fight fans don?t want to wait a few years to see this potent pair face off. We want to see it happen this year. The fighters are willing. The stars are in alignment. It?s up to the promoters to take advantage of this opportunity, which couldn?t be more golden.
