By Edward Chaykovsky

WBO/WBA/IBF light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1, 26KOs) returned to action last weekend at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. He dominated and stopped former WBC champion Jean Pascal in seven rounds.

Kovalev is now looking ahead to a ring return in the summer. That fight is potentially going to take place in Russia. The opponent is unknown and the pickings are pretty slim.

Most boxing fans, and insiders, are more excited about Kovalev's third fight of year, which is scheduled to come against Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward (28-0, 15KOs).

Ward has a return date of his own, on March 26th in Oakland, where he is tentatively scheduled to face unbeaten Cuban contender Sullivan Barrera.

John David Jackson, the head trainer of Kovalev, believes Ward's lack of power is going to be his downfall.

Ward was never a puncher when he dominated the super middleweight division and captured multiple titles, but he was always able to get the respect of his opponents.

Now he's fighting at light heavyweight and he's yet to make his official debut at 175. If he's unable to get Kovalev's respect in the ring, Jackson says the Olympic champion will be in trouble.

"The thing is, when you look at Ward, he’s a very good fighter at 168-pounds, and what he did at 168 was tremendous. He cleaned his division out and he did what he was supposed to do, but he’s not a knockout puncher, and if you can’t hurt Sergey Kovalev and get his respect, then you’re in trouble," Jackson told On The Ropes Radio.

"Ward has nothing to keep Sergey off of him with. Yes he can grab and hold and he can do all these things that he does in most fights but if you don’t have power, you can’t keep a puncher off of you. That’s gonna be the difference in the fight. Sergey punches great with both hands, he punches in combinations, he knows how to feint, he knows how to set you up with the jab, he knows how to get inside and break you down.

"If Ward can’t keep him off — and I’m not talking about running and holding and doing what he does best — then he’s in trouble, and he’s not been able to do that. You can’t name one fighter at 168 that he knocked out, he beat them all decisively but he never really hurt one fighter, and if you can’t hurt Sergey, you’re gonna have problems."