Smoger didn't ref Kessler/Ward. he did the Froch/Ward fight though. and yes, in parts he did favour Ward. Jack Reis did the Kessler/Ward fiasco.
Here's my theory: Ward has beaten all the beltholders at 168. Ward's immediate plans are to wait for the result of Froch/Groves and GGG/Chavez and then choose whichever winner brings in more money. It could be the fan/network money for a UK fight, or it could be the GGG fight with HBO's hype machine and money (GGG is obviously going to win). If Froch wins, Ward fights him immediately. Froch's career is ending and he would be on a high point after winning a grudge match in front of 90,000 people. There would be good talk leading up to that fight and it would bring in a lot of TV money (and a huge gate in the UK). Ward would then take on GGG or Chavez after they had an interim fight for a belt. If Groves wins, Ward fights GGG and Groves unifies against Bika or Abraham (or DeGale) before fighting him. This gives Ward a $$ fight against a 'PPV Star' while Groves builds anticipation for a big unification fight. In either scenario, Ward would fight 2 fights and solidify his position as the top guy at 168 while making serious money and getting out in front of a lot of viewers against hyped opponents. While this goes on, Showtime's 175lb fighters will sort themselves out and HBO will build up Kovalev (much like they've done for GGG while he wasn't getting big fights). Ward will not fight Hopkins. It will not sell, and beating Hopkins would get Ward no credit at all. So Ward is going to chill at 168 and make some $$ while Stevenson, Shumenov, and Hopkins fight it out. If Hopkins somehow comes out on top of them, then Hopkins will find a way to fight Kovalev for all the marbles. If Hopkins wins, he will retire. If Kovalev wins, Ward will fight Kovalev. tl;dr: Ward will fight Groves or Froch and GGG in the next year or so and wait for the 175 situation to sort itself out, then he will fight that person.
There is really no point in Ward fighting Kovalev at this point in Kovalev's career. The pay-off is just not there. If he wanted a LHW title and money, he'd get both by fighting Hopkins, and with less risk. Like it or not, Hopkins has the better name, the better skills, the most money with the least risk over Kovalev.
Ward will be jumping networks since he is salivating at the idea of becoming undisputed LHW champion without having to face the best LHW in the world. Just like he kept Bute out of the S6, he will keep Kovalev out of the Showtime LHW tourney.:-(
I don't think Ward can beat Stevenson, personally. People don't understand how hard it is to beat a guy like Stevenson.
Ward would beat Stevesnon, but he wouldnt need to anyway.... He would let BHop do the duty, then take out Bhop by UD.:yep