Well know if Ward is still as good as he was. Barrera isn't world class but he is enough to make Ward work. He throws punches unlike Paul Smith and doesn't have a blubber tire around his waist. Well see how good Ward is still.
Barrera can't fight at all and Ward still had to have that fight in his home town with his referee, judges, boxing commission, etc., when Ward fights Kovalov (if he does) he will have his personal referee to get between he and Kovalev, the ref will take points away from Kovalev if he hits Ward, those are Ward's rules, and then there are Ward's judges, etc.
At first glance, Kovalev looks like another one-dimensional slugger who punches in straight lines. But upon closer inspection, you realize he actually has a brain, and can time boxers like Hopkins and Sillakh, dominating them. Ward is already backing down from Kovalev. Just listen to his latest interviews, in which he says that he'll need another (third!) fight at LHW before he's ready for Kovalev. Of course, Ward is just hoping Kovalev loses to someone else in the meantime, and if that doesn't happen then Ward will have to find another excuse to duck him.
You can leave two fights out of that list. Catch weights doesn't count, DLH wasn't even bigger on fight night and Canelo was a walking zombie.
So you think the size difference between Kovalev and Ward is a minimal? I'm picking Kovalev because he's just as good and he's bigger.
Yes, it's on youtube. Ward is not as big in the body or arms but Ward actually looks taller by a half an inch or so.
Canelo was a walking zombie? This is a bit revisionist. I remember him just getting outboxed and missing all over the place. Didn't look sluggish at all. Out of his depth, yes.
Kovalev is enormous. He looked twice the size of Hopkins. Ward is obviously the smaller guy. When Ward fought at 178 at the Olympics he walked around at 170 .
Drainelo was certainly not at his peak. He looked lethargic and unexplosive. At the weigh in he was so drained he had to sit down and was too weak to even hold a belt, some say he was clinically dead for 15 minutes and went to catch weight heaven.
He looked exactly like he always does except he couldn't land a punch. Didn't look lethargic at all. Not even a little. He just couldn't find the target.
Floyd Canelo is irrelevant to this thread. It's about what happens when two ATG caliber fights get in the ring and there is a size disparity. Canelo isn't on that level. His stamina is very poor. His power is mediocre.
It's your thread. But really if you reject Hagler Leonard as meeting the standard then the criteria don't seem all that clear.