By Rick Reeno
MGM Grand, Las Vegas - According to Virgil Hunter, the head trainer for Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward (30-0, 15KOs), there is turmoil in the training camp of IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.
From what Hunter has seen, he doesn't believe Kovalev and his trainer John David Jackson are on the same page with everything in camp.
His theory will be put to the test on Saturday might, when Ward meets Kovalev in the ring at the T-Mobile Arena.
Hunter also questioned the circumstances which took place during Kovalev's harder than expected decision win over Isaac Chilemba in Russia back in August.
"I'm very attuned to body language, I'm very attuned to tone of voice, and from what I hear, from what I see, it's safe to say that there is a lot of disarray in that camp. What I mean by that is I don't even know if Coach Jackson is getting the respect he is due in that camp but time will tell. For instance, why do we have to make an excuse for Kovalev in Russia for selling tickets and things. Don't you have a team who could have taken care of that? You're supposed to have a team to take care of that to take the pressure off the fighter," Hunter said.
Hunter is also not paying any attention to the critics who viewed Ward's past two performances as being unimpressive - in particular Ward's decision win over unbeaten Cuban contender Sullivan Barrera back in March.
"Each fighter is different but you have the masses, the critics who need to be impressed by a certain way that a victory comes up. We came out of the garage from a one-and-a-half-year layoff and fought Sullivan Barrera. He was the number one contender at the time, so it was a dangerous fight until the fight was over, then Barrera was garbage. Nobody is ever going to be satisfied. That's just the nature of the game so you have to be satisfied with yourself," Hunter said.
