Doesn't matter when Ward is fighting next, this is a fantasy match up at this point. Golovkin hasn't tasted a SMW's power. Ward has faced big punchers already, and there are plenty of cases where fighter A can't take fighter B's punches but still pulls out a victory. By not getting hit. Fight smart and you can take away their power. And for some power punchers, not Golovkin, if you take their power that's all they have.
I would favor Ward to win by decision but we have seen Ward hurt by lesser punchers and lesser fighters than GGG so its not out of the realm to see Golovkin make Ward a good boy and stop him on his tracks with his power and win by KO. A loss against Ward wouldnt do much arm to GGG with his style he will always get other opportunities and would still stay relevant plus he could move back down and continue to dominate at 160 but if Ward were to lose to GGG it could ruin him, losing to a guy moving up in weight and then forever be known as Son Of Golovkin could send Ward on a downward spiral from which he would never recover with that said he could also come back stronger than ever, who knows really. Hope its a fight that happens in the near future.
Not to mention Sam Langford Gene Tunney Ezzard Charles Archie Moore Bob Foster Michael Spinks all of whom entered the ring ( in the era of same-day weigh-in) at some point in their careers at the usual fighting weight of today's super-middleweight.
:good The weakest name on that list, Park, in a prime for prime match-up I actually make 50-50 with SOG. In fact, I could see either winning by decision or KO, with roughly 25% likelihood to each outcome broken into quadrants. That isn't an insult to Ward, either. SMW is still in relative infancy compared with many of the more tradition-steeped divisions but there has been no dearth of talent. In fact, while it has existed, SMW has consistently produced better p4p quality than Cruiser, which (in original form) predates it by a head start of several years.