WBO, WBA and IBF light heavyweight world champion Andre "S.O.G." Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) is disputing the recent claims that were made by Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs), who says the undefeated champion has no pop on his punches and hits like a girl.
Their rematch takes place Saturday, June 17 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The championship event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
They collided last November at the T-Mobile Arena, also in Las Vegas, with Ward walking away with a twelve round unanimous decision win. All three judges scored the fight for Ward by a single point, 114-113.
During his recent open media workout, Kovalev explained that Ward never came close to hurting him in their fight. He said Ward's punches were more like slaps with little power.
"One day in my hometown Chelyabinsk one day a girl, 25-years old, slapped me on my shoulder then Andre Ward punched me in the fight it was same. I didn't feel any hard punches from him. I didn't feel his uppercut and so I didn't block his uppercut. I didn't feel this punch but judges counted this punch. It is touches it is not punches. Punches is punches his was like a tap. Judges counted any tapping as punches," Kovalev said.
Ward obviously disagrees, and says he physically broke Kovalev down in the second half of the fight. He believes Kovalev is trying to play mind games.
"I beg to differ. The difference is, he can lie to the public but he can't lie to me. I heard the man grunting and making noises on the inside - ever time he was hit. You're not going to convince me that you weren't hurt. It's called gamesmanship. The reality is I hurt you, I felt you get drained and I saw you get drained, so you don't have to tell me - I know," Ward said.