By Radio Rahim
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach believes former super middleweight king Andre Ward (29-0, 15KOs) needs a lot of work before he's capable of beating IBF/WBO/WBA light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (30-0-1, 26KOs).
Kovalev returned to action last week in Russia, where he won a twelve round unanimous decision over huge underdog Isaac Chilemba. While there was no dispute on the outcome, it wasn't one of Kovalev's better performances. He had some issues with Chilemba's tough style and seemed to gas in the championship rounds.
Ward (29-0, 15KOs), regarded by some as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, is sheduled to face Alexander Brand on August 6th at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. And if he's successful he will challenge Kovalev on November 19th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Roach has not been very impressed with Ward's return to the sport. Last June, the Olympic gold medal winner returned for the fist time since the fall of 2013 and stopped an overmatched Paul Smith. He then stepped back in the ring this past March, and dominated Sullivan Barrera.
Based on his recent performances, Roach feels Ward is still very rusty and needs additional fights before he's ready to get in there with Kovalev.
"He still has a lot of dust on him from that two-year layoff. He still has a long way to go to beat Kovalev. Where he's at right now, I don't think he's ready for that. I like Andre Ward and I think he's a good boxer. But I do feel that two year layoff hurt him much more than he thinks. Two years is a long time, a long time," Roach told BoxingScene.com.
At the same time, Roach was even less impressed with Kovalev in his last fight. If Kovalev and Ward collide in the fall, as expected, Roach is not ruling out a victory by Ward.
"No [I can't say that Kovalev definitely wins], because he looked so bad in his last fight. I can't really pick him either," Roach said.
