I recall reading something years ago that Andre Ward was quoted as saying he could see himself beating " a Klitschko " which at the time I found ridiculous and frankly still do. However given Wards quality and WBC champion Wilders lack of composure, balance and general lack of refinement etc etc , Could S.O.G. pull this off? disclaimer: I am what you people would refer to a "casual". I love boxing but have only fairly recently began to appreciate the nuances of the sport a bit more so if this is a dumb question , apologies.
Welcome to the forum! It's a reasonable question, all the more so because Andre Ward actually beat Clemente Russo, who beat [a very green and undeveloped] Deontay Wilder in the amateurs. However, when we look at it a bit more closely, the answer is still a "no, Ward would have almost no chance". Actually Andre Ward explicitly said so himself after the Kovalev fight: “Maybe one day [I will move to heavyweight], but it has to be the right opponent,” [Ward said] When asked if current titlists Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua might be the right opponent, Ward smiled. “They’re too big,” he said. Wilder is just too big (6'7") and hits too hard. A massive size and power difference like that is just too much to overcome, the thing with such a size and power difference is that even glancing or blocked shots from the bigger man will do a lot of damage. Wilder is flawed but he is still one of the top HWs in the world, and Ward doesn't have the power to deter any of the top HWs (like James Toney did when he went to HW), nor the raw athleticism along the lines of Roy Jones Jr when he moved up to heavyweight.
lol at this forum, ward fought at light heavy as an amateur and wilder never fought below heavyweight, wilder also only started boxing after ward went pro, which means that is a lie, just another hater reaching to try and discredit it would seem
My bad, I mistyped that. It should have been that Andre Ward beat Clemente Russo, who went on to beat Deontay Wilder in the amateurs. I have edited the OP, thanks for the correction
I think Wilder could be beaten by a LHW, but Ward isn't the man. To many physical and stylistic factors going against him there.
Didn't mean to sound like I think Wilder is some fraud or anything, Also I like the guy in interviews and stuff - he seems cool. I know he possesses that one punch KO power I don't believe for example Joshua does. Plus I've seen evidence of a decent-ish jab at times as well as the ability to follow an effective strategy( Stiverne ) The main reasons I asked the question were that A. Spilka(?) was much shorter but still boxed his way in (admittedly to get violently KOd) B. Deontay seems to be quite reliant on his right hand (aka 1 trick pony, kind of like his WBC LH counterpart Adonis Stevenson) That said I accept the explanation given by Kiwi-Man. But did this amateur bout happen or no? Maybe gym fight or something? - never mind seen edit
No, I mistyped - my post is corrected now. Andre Ward beat Clemente Russo, who went on to beat Deontay Wilder. The thing with Szpilka is that although he looked small, he's actually 6 foot 3 1/2 with a reach of 76 inches. Andre Ward is 6 ft 0 with a reach of 70 inches. So Szpilka is still a lot bigger than Ward. For comparison, Wilder is 6 ft 7 with an 83 inch reach.
