James DeGale hails Andre Ward as a 'genius in the ring' following his retirement
Thursday 7 November 2019 14:32, UK
James DeGale believes former fellow super-middleweight star was a "genius" in the ring.
The current IBF title holder was shocked to hear the news that the undefeated two-weight unified world champion has walked away from the sport on the back of his win over Sergey Kovalev.
DeGale would love to follow in Ward's footsteps and add to his solitary title in the future, but also hailed 'S.O.G' as the No 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
To fight someone so skilled, so technically good and so dedicated, would've been an honour.
"He was at the peak of his career, coming off stopping Kovalev and on a roll," he exclusively told Sky Sports.
"For me, personally, he was the best pound-for-pound in the world. He was a genius in the ring.
"He has had a fantastic career. He cleaned up the super-middleweight division, he moved up to light-heavyweight and cleaned that up, he has earned his money and achieved what he set out to do - and more.
"To be unified champion of two weights and having been in some big, big fights, good luck to him."
Ward (32-0-KO16) was the last American to win Olympic boxing gold at Athens in 2004, adding his first professional world title five years later.
DeGale took a little bit longer to win his IBF title after striking gold at Beijing in 2008 and while fellow Brit, Carl Froch, "wasn't sorry to see him go", he would have loved to have taken Ward on.
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"Fighting him would've been a dream for me. It would've been two gold medalists, two world champions but to fight someone so skilled, so technically good and so dedicated, would've been an honour," he said.
"I think our skills would've matched and of course I think I beat anyone, but it would've been very competitive. He was a special fighter. I would go on and say he was actually a boxing genius."
