Ward Feels His Power is Being Underestimated in Kovalev Bout

by Carlos Boogs

Andre Ward (30-0, 15KOs) is regarded as an excellent boxer and one of the pound-for-pound best, but he's not really viewed as a fighter who possesses much power.

Ward has only had three stoppage wins since 2009, with thirteen fights taking place during that time period.

The former super middleweight king is entering the ring this coming fall against a boxer who many regard as one of the biggest punchers in the sport, IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (30-0, 26KOs). That fight takes place on November 19th on HBO Pay-Per-View.

Ward was in action this past Saturday night when he dominated Alexander Brand over twelve rounds at the Oracle in Oakland, sweeping the judges cards 120-108 in the win.

During the fight, Ward landed many flush punches to the head and body of Brand, but never had the boxer in serious trouble. After the fight was over, Ward admitted that he tried to go for the knockout, but just couldn't get it done. 

Ward says his power is there and he does have the pop to get any opponent's respect, including Kovalev - similar to the manner in which Floyd Mayweather Jr. prevented big punchers from walking right through him. 

In his reign at super middleweight, Ward dominated plenty of good punchers like Arthur Abraham, Mikkel Kessler, Sakio Bika, Carl Froch, Edison Miranda, Allan Green and Edwin Rodriguez. 

"It’s funny because people try to tag me - ‘oh he’s a technical fighter. Oh he’s a slick fighter.’ Not really. There’s a lot more going on in there than just being slick, because if there wasn’t  - a lot of the guys that I fought would try to walk through me," Ward explained.

"I’ve fought some of the biggest punchers in my division. If I wasn’t hitting hard and if I didn’t have nothing to offer, trust me [they would walk through me]. It’s the same thing they say about Floyd [Mayweather] - ‘oh he can’t hit.’ Something is stopping them from running in."