What top prime undefeated SMWs has Ward beaten to show this greatness to you? What top prime SMWs has Ward fought even for that?
Might sound a bit harsh how I phrased it, but at the time Hopkins was a fighter who had lost his debut, beaten nobody of real note who wouldnt be able to win a world title at his next attempt. It was a fair win for Jones, but looks better over the years because Hopkins went on to do so much. But if Hopkins had of retired after that fight, it wouldnt be raved about now
Why do fighters have to be undefeated for them to count as a top win? Both Kessler and Froch are elite wins over prime future HOF'ers, and then he also has solid wins over Bika, Green, AA and Miranda. I don't really count the Dawson fight tbh, that was a farce. Froch has a great resume also, with wins over unbeaten versions of Pascal, Dirrell and Bute aswell as AA who's only previous defeat was a DQ defeat to a man already beaten by Froch. Victories over Taylor (who had only lost to Pavlik), Johnson, Mack and Magee confirm just how brilliant Froch is. Kessler i'm sure you won't criticise because he's your boys best win.
A rematch with the winner of Kessler and Froch will be another good win for Ward. Both are late bloomers and are at their peak now. That fight will make Joe's rematch of Viet even more of an embarrassment than it already is. Stig, Groves and Degale will be other good fights. If he clears out all these guys he'll have the best record ever at SMW.
Hopkins has already said he wont fight him. So you're basically left with a guy he already beat convincingly and a guy that lost to a 48 year old in his last fight and whose biggest win is against Glen Johnson.
No doubt, he will duck this Stieglitz from yesterday. GGG is also too dangerous. I think he will give the winner of Froch-Kessler a rematch and before that he will fight a journeyman.
If I was Ward, I'd look to take on the following and in this order: Robert Steiglitz (in Germany) Winner of Froch vs Kessler (in UK or Denmark) Winner of Pascal vs Bute (at home) Move up... Fight Cleverly at home Dawson rematch Move up Lebedev Huck
Hopkins wants shiny, easy pickings like Cleverly, true. He wouldn't say NO to Bute either, now. But if Ward makes him a great offer... never say never. You seem to forget that Ward is a professional fighter. He fights for $s. Yeah, he will fight the best when the money is right. Otherwise, he will fight whomever he thinks he can beat for a decent payday.
Ward vs Pascal is the fight I wanna see. Pascal would be the most explosive fighter Ward has ever faced and if he can improve his stamina with Heredia that would make for a good, competitive fight.
Ward v the winner of Stieglitz v Groves Ward v the winner of Kessler v Froch 2 Ward v Hopkins Ward v Dawson at 175 Ward v Cleverly Ward v the winner of Bute v Pascal Ward has plenty of options, he just doesn't want to take any of them. Which is why they tried to make Ward v Pavlik, and they aren't making any fights at the moment because of 'injury' :-(