“I don’t think he has the skill of a Chad Dawson and I don’t think he’s necessarily the caliber of fighter that a Carl Froch is, but at the same time, you can’t underestimate that this is his opportunity,” stated undefeated super middleweight king Andre Ward, who shared his thoughts on undefeated super middleweight contender Edwin Rodriguez ahead of their showdown this Saturday at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California. Although Ward doesn’t think that Rodriguez is on the same level as his last two opponents, he’s not underestimating an opponent who is eager to take advantage of the biggest opportunity of his career.
“Just specifically speaking about me, in my mind, I’ll give a guy more credit than he deserves to make sure that I’m preparing the way I’m supposed to prepare, because it’s easy to be running the hills, it’s easy to not go that extra round and not put in that extra time because maybe you’re listening to people’s opinions about your opponent. But I’ve never been that guy,” Ward explained during a recent interview with FightHype.com. “I love to compete, man, but I love to win and I worked really hard and went through a lot to win the titles that I have, man, and he’s not going to catch me slipping. You know, if you put these guys up right next to each other, no, he doesn’t have the skills, but he’s tough, he’s coming, and you can’t underestimate that. I think his eagerness is his greatest strength, but similar to Carl Froch, is also his greatest weakness because sometimes, he’s too eager, and I think that’s what’s going to get him in trouble in this fight.”
