By Radio Rahim
Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward (30-0, 15KOs) is going to use a variety of tactics to unseat IBF/WBO/WBA light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (30-0, 26KOs) on November 19th, as the headline bout of an HBO Pay-Per-View event.
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.
Ward described the different stylistic factors that he incorporated from watching other fighters work their craft.
Ward says his style incorporates moves and strategies from four division champion Roy Jones Jr., five division champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and former two division unified champion Bernard Hopkins.
“I think I’m a combination of Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins and Floyd Mayweather. That may sound arrogant... I'm just saying, but those are the guys I really studied and that’s who I have in my style and obviously Andre Ward. Virgil’s style mixed in with all of those guys," Ward explained.
"I can fight inside. I can get rough. I can be flashy. I can do certain things when I need to. I can be really systematic like Floyd and break a guy down. So I think I’ve taken something from all three of those guys."
"At the same time, I try to stay true to who I am and be myself if that makes sense. I try to be formless like Bruce Lee said. I don’t have a style. What I need to be is what I need to be."
