Jackson: Ward Used To Being Bigger Guy, Not So With Kovalev

By Keith Idec

LAS VEGAS – John David Jackson is as interested as anyone to learn whether Andre Ward can take Sergey Kovalev’s power.

The former two-division champion has spent the past two months, and in some ways the past four years, preparing Russia’s Kovalev to deal with Ward’s diverse skill set Saturday night.

Ultimately, though, Kovalev’s cerebral trainer expects the outcome of their light heavyweight championship showdown to hinge largely on whether Ward withstands Kovalev’s power early in their scheduled 12-round fight at T-Mobile Arena (HBO Pay-Per-View; $64.95-$69.95 in HD).

“From our side, I think it’s more can he deal with the power and Sergey’s ability to cut the ring off and stalk him?,” Jackson said.

“Is he willing to somehow, during the fight, sit down and see if he can make Sergey respect him? Having a game plan is very, very important. But the real question you should ask yourself is – think about it: Andre Ward, when he won the gold medal, he went from 178 to 168. So he was always the bigger fighter in the ring. This fight here, he’s fighting a man who’s probably a little bit bigger than he is.

“So now he has to face someone who has all the physical advantages that he had over most of the guys he fought at 168. He’s no longer the bigger guy. Can he keep Sergey off of him? Can he keep Sergey at bay with his jab? Can he frustrate Sergey on the inside, where he has to grab and hold? And that’s part of what we have to do to solve the riddle that is Andre Ward. So we have to get a game plan that stops him from doing those things, because those are his advantages. During the fight, he [makes it] a boring, one-sided affair. He wins his way. It’s not pretty, but it works for him. Can he do the same thing against Sergey? Or can Sergey nullify that, and fight the way Sergey wants to fight? So we have to have a game plan and strategize to have the fight go the way we want it to.”

Ward (30-0, 15 KOs), a former super middleweight champion from Hayward, California, hasn’t lost in 20 years, not since he was a 12-year-old amateur. Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs), who’ll make the ninth defense of his WBO light heavyweight title, also will defend his IBF and WBA 175-pound crowns.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.