Text by Edward Chaykovsky, Interview by Chris Robinson

WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (27-0, 14KOs) had kind things to say about Gennady Golovkin (29-0, 26KOs), the WBA/IBO middleweight champion - but he feels GGG's team is trying to force the boxing public to believe their man is already a star. Both fighters are being showcased by HBO, and the anticipation for a Ward-Golovkin fight is growing.

Ward says Golovkin's team have always stated that their man is ready to face any boxer from 154 to 175. In response to that, Ward is willing to fight him. On the other end, Ward strongly feels that Golovkin's team have backed away from that campaign.

"Golovkin is a humble guy. He's a good fighter. A silver medalist. He's making a name for himself, but it's the guys around him that a lot of times talk tough. They have a lot to say. My thing is, if you have to go on the record and plead the case for your fighter and say that he's a star - don't try to force feed us that Golovkin is a star. If you've got to go on the record to say that he's a star - he's probably not there yet. I think he deserves some of the hype that he's getting, but they are trying to force feed us that Golovkin is a star right now and he's not there yet," Ward said.

"My only thing is this....I'm not the type of guy to bully other fighters or look for guys in lower weight classes. But they went on the record and they've campaigned for years that [Golovkin] will fight anybody from 154 to 175...anybody...and anybody means anybody. So I said that I have no problem fighting Golovkin and now all of a sudden it's a campaign to stay at 160. Maybe you guys can explain this to me. To me it looks like a lot of backpedaling and grandstanding. They want to make this excuse and that excuse and give this reason and that reason."

>>>>Ward Talks Further on Golovkin and His Team<<<<