1) Badou Jack
The “Ripper” proved his worth in defeating Anthony Dirrell, but the winner of him and Groves would tee up nicely for a unification clash to end 2015 against Andre Ward – as it’s when the WBA king is looking to compete.
2) James DeGale
On cloud nine being the first GB boxing Olympic gold medallist to claim a professional world title, victorious against ambidextrous Dirrell – just. Degale would be wise to assemble some defences of his IBF strap before taking on fellow Olympic champ Ward. But is brash enough to take the fight. Chunky will be the most fitting last hurrah for Ward to try to clean out 168lbs.
3) Sergey Kovalev
He has not simply raised the standard; he has Krushed it. Touted as one of the few to dethrone inactive Andre, hopefully this super-fight will be soon as its likely Andre Ward will crusade at light-heavy to face the Russian; it will be silly not to have such an anticipated clash of two pound-for-pound titans.
4) Gennady Golovkin
GGG clearly is the dominating force that boxing pundits want to see the “Son of God” touch gloves with next, but the super-fight depends on whether Ward decides to continue campaigning at super-middleweight, which Golovkin will probably move up for. But it doesn’t look likely to happen any time soon.
5) Artur Berterbiev
A powerhouse sending shockwaves through the light-heavyweight division. May not be Andre Ward’s first choice due to his 100% knockout ratio – with Tavoris Cloud and Gabriel Campillo notable cannon fodder. Despite an extensive amateur grounding, he lacks professional experience, which Ward might take advantage of.
CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO OF ANDRE WARD DISCUSSING GENNADY GOLOVKIN
