Question is does he cave when hit and hurt and or in a tough fight. Until he proves himself he should not be rated with any ATG LT hwt let alone an ATG hwt champion.
My point is that we will have a better estimation of his true abilities, peaked or not, if he meets a few top notch fighters. The Ward match up will be particularly illuminating. He already has the look of greatness but that can be a chimera when it is achieved against second raters.
I agree , if he beats Ward and Stevenson he will deserve some of the accolades being heaped upon him , till then he remains a good fighter beating moderate opposition.
Then his credit will be even better is he beats Ward, as you are indicating he's not getting any better and older.
Ward fights above 175 on fight night. He is in his prime rates as one of boxing top pound for pound fighters with wins over Froch, Kessler, Abraham, and Dawson. Ward is undefeated. Ward's last fight was at 175. If Kovalev beats Ward, he has wall space reserved in Canastota. But I'm sure you'll make an issue of Ward not being a natural light heavyweight, even though if I point out that **** Tiger was old ( 38 ) short ( 5'8" tall ) and far lighter than Ward will be v ( 168 pounds ) when he fought Bob Foster...and **** Tiger is likely Fosters best win at light heavyweight! Heck Jack Johnson made a living on fighting short and light guys in title matches, one of whom floored him, the other made him look bad. And they were super middles
What Ward's weight is fight night is not my question . My question is who has he fought at 175lbs ? As in which 175 contenders etc has he beaten? The answer is Chad Dawson . How many 175pounders has Ward even fought?
Or that he is a great light heavyweight. If he beats both Ward and Stevenson I would give him kudos for having beaten the best in his division. Until then he is not even established as the best light heavyweight .