British professional boxer Paul Smith believes that his latest conqueror, current WBA (Super) and lineal super middleweight champion Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs), would beat reigning unified WBA, IBF, and WBO light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) by "a wide margin" if the two faces each other.

Like Us on Facebook

Ward, who was returning from a long inactivity due to issues with his former promoter, defeated Smith via ninth round TKO during his comeback fight last June at the Oracle Arena in Oakland.

The Briton thinks Ward's technical skills and trickery would give him the advantage over the hulking Russian and pull off a 12-round unanimous decision victory if ever they clash inside the ring.

"Someone with Ward's trickiness is what you need to beat Kovalev. If you're going to stand there with a basic, orthodox style Kovalev will tag you," Smith said, as reported by Boxing Scene. "It needs someone slick and slippery who can negate what Kovalev does. Ward is the best at shutting his opponent down and stopping whatever they want to do."

It was also reported that promoters Roc Nation Sports, who handles Ward, and Kovalev's Main Events Boxing have already had "preliminary discussions" about a potential match between the two fighters sometime next year.

For the fight to happen, the 31-year-old American is reportedly willing to move up to a full 175 pounds and face the 32-year-old Russian at his light heavyweight dominion.

A few days after Ward beat Smith, speculations of a fight between the San Francisco, California native and Kovalev this fall went out in the media.

Kovalev even said that he is ready to fight anyone anytime, and if Ward wants to do it then he "very much" welcomes the opportunity, as per Boxing News 24.

Meanwhile, Fansided indicated that a match between Kovalev and Ward "appears likely" to happen "by the end of next year" or "a little sooner" depending on the schedules of both boxers. The article even said that it is no longer a matter of "if" for the match to happen, but a matter of "when".

With this development, fight fans around the world is certainly going to be treated with a promising 2016 with so many great fights coming including this highly-anticipated one from the American Son of God Ward and Russian Krusher Kovalev.

TagsBoxing, Boxing 2015, Boxing News, Boxing News 2015, Boxing Rumors, Boxing Rumors 2015, Paul Smith, andre ward, Sergey Kovalev