by Carlos Boogs
Former super middleweight king Andre Ward (30-0, 15KOs) is expecting a classic encounter when he faces IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight king Sergey Kovalev (30-0, 26KOs).
Ward was in action this past Saturday night when he dominated Alexander Brand over twelve rounds at the Oracle in Oakland, sweeping the judges cards 120-108 in the win.
Kovalev was sitting at ringside, very pleased that Ward sealed the deal on their November 19th encounter. The likely venue if the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Kovalev tuned up as well last month, when he won a twelve round decision over light heavyweight contender Isaac Chilemba in Russia. Kovalev had Chilemba down, but had trouble at times and was less impressive than he's been in previous fights.
Ward views the fight as being close, high-skilled showdown like the classic welterweight encounter from 1981, where Sugar Ray Leonard came from behind to stop Thomas Hearns in the fourteenth round.
Ward, an Olympic gold medal winner like Leonard, is also planning to make a big statement when he faces the most dangerous opponent of his professional career. Many experts will view the winner as the best pound for pound fighter in the world.
"This is Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Tommy Hearns all over again - where it's 50-50 on who's going to rise to the occasion. And I plan on doing that. It's going to take a lot of work, but I'm willing to go through whatever I've got to go through to get where I'm trying to get," Ward said.