Kovalev V Andre Ward is NO WHERE NEAR a 50 50 fight.

[Sun_Tzu]

... no way, man... Kovalev had him "out" in the 7th, but (instead) "preferred" to stop stalking him...

I can see that possibly, i saw it as him getting work in for the fight of his life.

[Sun_Tzu]

If you go back and watch, there was several times Kovalev landed a really good jab that would set up some good **** and he just walked away from it. I think JDJ had a game plan and they followed it, if the KO happened it happened but they werent really concerned 100% with taking this guy out. if they got the shot cool, if they didnt get the work.

[Sun_Tzu]

Chilemba has a pretty good beard also.He didnt take a lot of flush shots but the ones he did he absorbed fairly well aside from the shots in the seventh that were basically a result of a nasty body shot. I think we are overlooking the opponent a little here. He would have given Ward trouble as well. Like I said, this guy didnt come here to get a check, he wanted to win.

[damned1974]

Lets take away who you think is better for a second. Some may think Ward more skilful, some may think kovelev power is to much, lets forget all of that and admit that both are elite fighters.

So once you remove they are elite fighters, i cannot see for the life of me how Andre ward beats Kovalev. He's simply not faced tough enough opposition at supper middle/catch weights since Carl Froch. Over weight Super middles, Over weight c level catch weights, this is not preparation for Adonis Stevenson let alone Sergey Kovavlev.

I played Tennis at a high level when younger and i can tell you, even if you are way more talented than your opponent, if they are fairly gifted, but are training with much better guys than you, who push him much harder than you are being pushed then chances are you will lose on simply not being prepared.

Sergey has faced ismael Silakh, Cleverly, Hopkins, Pascal twice, Chilemba, with a few okayish B level opponents thrown in the mix.

Ward has faced NOT only less opponents in the last three years here's who he has faced, Edwin rodriguez(who missed the weight), paul Smith(missed the weight and is a C level fighter being generous),Sullivan barrea(getting better tbf) and now Alexander Brand.

Taking talent aside how on earth is Ward even slightly prepared for Kovalev?

Discuss.

We can say "What fights have prepared him for this person", BUT...what fights prepared him for Kessler before he fought him??? The truth is that nobody Kovalev fought will be like Ward (even though Hopkins is similar, but less athletic and much older)....Playing "devil's advocate"...if Kovalev's power is neutralized-how well will he do when forced to try and box Ward? Likewise, If Ward cannot disrupt Kovalev's range-how well will he do?

[Beercules]

Tennis

I do favor Kovalev.


Lmao tennis

[NaijaD]

He has some nice short shots when people get close not to mention the feints he uses when his opponent is getting close that keeps their hands inside and tight instead of throwing. The knock down in the 7th round tonight was set up by a body shot and it was an inside shot. Now if you mean inside in terms of laying on a guys chest, no he doesnt do that but he isnt going to allow anyone to do that. Its a misnomer that he can only fight at range. he controlled this guy from long and mid range. these euro guys arent going to lay on your chest and bang but that doesnt mean they dont have inside game.

It was a straight right/right cross and he got full extension on that right hand which is why it did so much damage. Chilemba was never in danger on the inside but whenever he got caught flush at mid or long range then he was in danger.

Kovalev is not proficient on the inside. He hasn't faced anyone that works on the inside so we don't know if he can stop them from doing that. Ward definitely has the advantage when things close and he will need to avoid midrange exchanges cause that is when Kovalev will be able to hurt him.

[damned1974]

i agree its great, biggest fight of the year imo. But so it makes it fun who we speculate whos going to win?

Both are elite, very skilled guys, so im looking at every detail when betting on a fight, and preperation is a massive factor for me. But Ward could prove me wrong, hes not lost since he was 12?

An observation-We have seen Kovalev look at his worst against an awkward cagey type fighter in Chillemba, but we have never seen Ward look as bad against upright European type styles....in fact,it is hard to point out a fight where Ward has looked noticeably terrible and amateur-ish as Sergey did yesterday, but Kovalev has looked very bad against Boone (the first fight when he was less experienced) and he looked like crap last night against Chilemba.

[NaijaD]

Chilemba has a pretty good beard also.He didnt take a lot of flush shots but the ones he did he absorbed fairly well aside from the shots in the seventh that were basically a result of a nasty body shot. I think we are overlooking the opponent a little here. He would have given Ward trouble as well. Like I said, this guy didnt come here to get a check, he wanted to win.

I honestly don't think he would have, the things that worked for him in this fight due to Kovalev's weaknesses would not work for him against Ward. He's also a light hitter which is a problem as Ward would not be paying for any mistakes. Ward has a better jab, better general defense and head movement and the speed advantage. That doesn't mean Ward is better than Kovalev but styles make fights, I don't rate Kovalevs boxing ability as high as some because I think his power masks his flaws. It's a lot easier to control or outbox a guy you can hurt at anytime.

The one question is whether Ward takes as good a punch as Chilemba and I can't say for sure but I don't think he will be hurt by everything Kovalev lands, Ward gets the glass chin tag because he was dropped by Boone but since then he has not been hurt. He definitely can't let Kovalev land anything like that 7th round right hand.

[Sun_Tzu]

It was a straight right/right cross and he got full extension on that right hand which is why it did so much damage. Chilemba was never in danger on the inside but whenever he got caught flush at mid or long range then he was in danger.

Kovalev is not proficient on the inside. He hasn't faced anyone that works on the inside so we don't know if he can stop them from doing that. Ward definitely has the advantage when things close and he will need to avoid midrange exchanges cause that is when Kovalev will be able to hurt him.

Go back and watch the fight or atleast the seventh round. The knock down was set up by a left to the body, thats what hurt Chilembe. The right hand that got full extension was available because of the inside shot to the fuking body. It was obvious when he landed it that Chilemba was hurt.

[Adonis Creed]

After watching Wards last fight i had him losing to Kov. If he shows improvement in his next fight it would give me more confidence to pick him because after watching last night i saw a lot that Ward could expose.