Home Boxing News Andre Ward rules out light heavyweight clash with Canelo Alvarez

Andre Ward rules out light heavyweight clash with Canelo Alvarez

Retired former super middleweight and light heavyweight champion Andre Ward has 32-0 (16) revealed he no interest in returning to the ring to face WBO light heavyweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 53-1-2 (36).

The 29-year-old Mexican superstar wrested the WBO belt from Russian veteran Sergey Kovalev 34-4-1 (29) with a stunning 11th round knockout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada last weekend.

Following the victory there was rampant speculation about who Alvarez should face next. A popular choice amongst fans and pundits was Ward, who retired two years ago.

But the 35-year-old American but those rumours to bed in an interview with ESPN SportsCenter on Friday.

“I’m not coming out of retirement to fight Canelo Alvarez,” Ward said.

“There’s been a lot of talk when [Canelo-Kovalev] was signed and obviously since Canelo got the victory over Kovalev. My phone’s been blowing up nonstop.

“There’s been a lot of pressure from individuals in the business, entertainers, you name it, trying to pull me out and it’s just not something that I’m interested in doing.”

Ward won the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament in the super middleweight division with victories over Mikkel Kessler, Allan Green, Sakio Bika, Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch.

His final pair of pro bouts came against Kovalev, who he defeated by close decision in 2016 before knocking him out in eight the following year.