Former boxing champion Andre Ward believes it’s time to repay the favor.
‘Son of God’ has been retired since his 2017 rematch against Sergey Kovalev. In that outing, the light-heavyweight champion scored his second-straight victory over the Russian. Following the win, Ward retired from boxing, which has held for years, despite talk of a potential comeback.
The former champion currently has no plans to return to the ring. However, as he revealed on The MMA Hour, Ward will be returning to the training room. There, the former light-heavyweight titleholder discussed his plans to help train Nate Diaz.
For years, Andre Ward got sparring from the Stockton native, as well as his brother, Nick Diaz. Now, the former boxer will get the chance to help the UFC veteran prepare for his boxing debut. Diaz is famously slated to face Jake Paul on pay-per-view in August, in a clash that has been long in the making.
“I mean, not to go too much into it. But he’s reached out and we’re going to connect at a certain point,” Andre Ward stated on a recent edition of The MMA Hour. “The fight is getting close. But that’s my brother man, I have respect for what he’s done for Stockton in this area. Him and his brother.”
He continued, “It’s going to be a good fight. People look at that mitt session that Nate had and they just misread the play man. Those type of shots, they don’t look pretty. But they keep coming, they keep coming from different angles. He’s got some miles on him, he’s been around a long time.”
“He needs to show that he can take a shot from Jake Paul. Jake has a natural right hand that’s got power on it. If he can take that right hand from Jake Paul, it’s going to be a tougher fight than people realize because Nate keeps coming.”
What do you make of these comments from Andre Ward? Are you excited about Nate Diaz vs. Jake Paul?
