Tim Bradley still insists that retired 41-year-old Andre Ward Anthony Joshua will defeat if the fight is now. Bradley says Joshua’s match against Jake Paul is not a ‘real fight’ but would be a clash between AJ and Ward.
Ward (32-0, 16 CO’s) has been retired eight years since 2017 after his victory over Sergey Kovalev in their re-broadcast. Bradley says Ward still has the Ring IQ to defeat former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (28-4, 25 COs).
Interestingly, Tim does not say that Ward should move to heavyweight and be worthy by beating a top -10 contender to show that he has a struggle with him. He thinks it’s good for Ward to get directly out of the pension in a collision against Joshua.
Fans think Ward’s purpose to fight Joshua is only for financial reasons. If it is about legacy, he would target the fighters above him, such as Oleksandr Ulsyk, Agit Kabayel and Joseph Parker.
“I think Andre Ward beats Anthony Joshua. He would rather fight against Jake Paul than fight Andre Ward? Come on, man, ‘Tim Bradley says on his channeland argue in favor of his former co-worker at ESPN, Andre Ward, for his hope-for-Comeback battle against Anthony Joshua.
Would Tim still believe that Ward would beat Joshua if he did not work with ESPN with him in the past when they called Top Rank’s fight? Ward’s age, inactivity and his last two actions against Sergey Kovalev in 2016 and 2017 indicate that he would be completely too much against Joshua or any top 15-level heavyweight.
“I get the Jake Paul battle. He brings a lot of eyes to the table, but it’s not a real battle for Joshua, ‘says Tim. “If he can’t knock Jake Paul, how do you think he’s going to do against Andre Ward?”
Bradley really reaches here to argue that Ward gets a big payday fight against Joshua. He creates a religious scenario that Joshua Jake Paul will not knock out to support his argument for his friend, Ward, to get the fight against AJ. It looks so obvious.
If Ward wants to fight Joshua, he has to come out of pension and fight some of the top ten contenders to prove that he is not just fighting for the payday. It will be good options for Ward to test himself:
- Agit Kabayel
- Richard Torrez Jr.
- Lenier but
- Joseph Parker
- Zhilei Zhang
- Martin Bakole
- Bakhodir Jalalov
If ‘sow’ Ward wants the payday against Joshua bad enough, he must come back and fight one or two of these heavyweights to show that he belongs with him in the ring. If not, AJ should ignore him and regard him as one of the many fighters who cry out for a “payday, payday” purposes.
“This here (brains) is the most important thing in boxing. If a man like Andre Ward records their minds to do something, he has already cut the fight and knows that they can win,” Bradley said.
We already know how Ward is fighting. He moves around, throws single shots and then dives in to climb. On the inside, he does a lot of wrestling and land shots as he struggles with his opponents. It was his formula to defeat Sergey Kovalev. It would not work against Anthony Joshua, and it would be so boring to look at. Fans don’t want to see a man moving, throwing single shots and then grabbing his opponents to start killing. It’s just a big stall.
“Everyone says Andre Ward was dropped off by a sting of Kovalev. Have you seen what happened when he got up? Get up and do what Andre Ward did, it’s historic things there,” says Bradley.
The battle Tim is talking about took place in 2016, and Ward won which many fans apparently decide a controversial 12-round decision on Sergey Kovalev. The judges ignored the questionable decision Anre gave, and the fight still took place nine years ago.
Ward was 32 years old, still active with his career, and fought at 175. He has been 41 now, has not fought in eight years since 2017, and would move two divisions to fight a 240+ pound Joshua. It is a complete mismatch and will be a kick off for the fans who pay it to see it.
At Ward’s age, he would be destroyed by Jai Opetaia, champion of the cross weight. At heavyweight, Ward would be food for fighters like Agit Kabayel, Moses Itauma, Richard Torrez Jr. and even Dillian Whyte.
Last updated on 08/15/2025
