I know Darnell Boone dropped him once in their fight, forget who else dropped him. Boone dropping him was a fluke though, if I remember correctly, and on top of that, despite his record, Boone is the type of fighter who can give many others world-class or not some trouble.
Boone dropped him with an uppercut. Boone also knocked out Stevenson, Superman said he didn't prepare/spar at all though.
I don't envision Bute or Dirrell troubling Ward much, if at all. Dirrell might be the fastest boxer in the world at the moment - yea, he's that fast - but every other aspect besides speed and length Ward is superior to him, usually by a large margin as well. I think Dirrell will be one of those enigmatic fighters who seemingly has all the talent and potential in the world but when it comes down to it, just can't fight against the best. Bute, IMHO, is one of the most overrated fighters in the world today. I think at best he wins 4 rounds against Ward.
I think Bute and Dirrell would give him trouble. I also think a hard hitting pressure fighter with speed and stamina would.
Joe's shots were quick and accurate he didn't have RJJ kind of speed but he was certainly faster than Ward I dont think it's crazy to say Calzaghe stood a good chance of beating him, anyhow that don't matter we all want to see Ward vs Bute of course Ward would be favored but Bute has a lethal left uppercut to the body, that would be a match id like too see I'd favor Ward but Bute could win too a good match-up something promoters would rather die than see happen it seems.
I think Dirrell can beat him by reacting to him and waiting on him, he has the length, power, reflexes, and athleticism to do it.
In short, good upper body movement, a good jab, high work rate with fluent combinations, versatility from the inside to out. I think chad dawson has the best shot of the current crop from middle to light heavy.
Ring generalship. Being faster on the outside - rjj, dirrell Being stronger on the inside - toney Ward is currently the best at controlling distance and uses this to take away his opponents midrange game. He took away allan greens frochs aa kesslers midrange game by either using his superior speed on the outside, or by using his superior strength on the inside, so his opponent didnt have the desired room to throw and land. So it comes down to distances, if a fighter can have his desired room against a fighter like ward, then they have a chance. Rjj dirrell have the speed to land and keep out of harms way so they would give ward problems here, I think ward would beat dirrell because dirrell cant run away in the ring forever. But rjj would imo beat ward at midrange aswell as from the outside so ward wont have much luck making it an inside brawl with rjj. Toney imo would hold his own in an inside brawl, and be better at midrange but ward can beat toney on the outside. Other fighters like Bhop, Eubank, have the skills to be the ring general against ward. Benn would be schooled imo, calzaghe would be owned aswell simply because all they have on ward is superior midrange, and ward has already showed he can take that away from a fighter.
Come up with a plan for the best(active) equipped fighter to do it. As long as it's not Bute.:nono Bernard perhaps?:think Light heavies are permitted.