Former unified two division champion, Andre Ward, believes unbeaten Anthony Yarde has a very tough task ahead of him when he faces WBO world champion Sergey Kovalev on Saturday night in Russia.

Ward, who handed Kovalev two of the three defeats on his record, was very impressed with Russian boxer's last ring outing.

Last year, Kovalev's career was in tatters after he was knocked out by Eleider Alvarez. But earlier this year he bounced back, when he dominated Alvarez over twelve rounds to win a dominant unanimous decision in their rematch.

Yarde is a big puncher, stopping 17 of his 18 opponents - but he's never face anyone even close to the level of Kovalev.

And that's going to be the downfall of Yarde, according to Ward.

"I liked what I saw in Kovalev's last fight, and I saw the confidence from Yarde and his coach, but they can feel the way they feel, I've been hearing that stuff my whole career," he told BT Sport.

"The Kovalev fight is going to be harder than they realise; at the highest level it doesn't matter how well you do mitt work, or how big your muscles are, you have to show that you can fight, that you can take it and dish it to, that you've got the conditioning and the IQ.

"Your coaches have got show they can perform under pressure too; there will be a lot of pressure in Russia. I'm the guy who shows a crack in the door for a person to show up and be great, but I'm not a fan of a guy facing C-level guys and making a name of himself then jumping to an A-minus guy

"I'm a fan of working your way up slowly and at the right time making the step up. I'm not sure he’s fought the necessary guys to prepare him for Sergey Kovalev and I think Kovalev is going to stop him late."