By Radio Rahim
John David Jackson, trainer of IBF/WBO/WBA light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (30-0, 26KOs), is confident that come November 19th - the fans will see the crowning of a new pound for pound king - when Kovalev defends his titles against Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward (30-0, 15KOs).
Ward will attempt to unseat Kovalev on November 19th, as the headline bout of an HBO Pay-Per-View event. The event is likely taking place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Ward closed the deal on the fall showdown last night, when he dominated Alexander Brand over twelve rounds at The Oracle in Oakland, California. Kovalev was in action last month, when he won a twelve round decision over Isaac Chilemba in Russia.
Jackson was unable to watch the fight on Saturday, but he's heard reports from his camp members that Ward was less than impressive with his performance.
"I couldn't watch the fight. There was a bad thunder storm and knocked the cable out. But I'll watch it. Brand is a different fighter than Sergey, way different, and he represents a different challenge for Ward. Ward couldn't even look good in that fight and he didn't. Come November 19, it will be a different mind-set for Sergey and for Ward," Jackson said.
Ward found himself in a no-win situation in that contest. Brand was tagged as a 100-1 underdog on some betting sites and many felt Ward should have closed the show by taking some risks to put Brand away. Ward took very few risks, as did Brand, which led to a contest lacking fireworks for most of the twelve rounds.
