I know I will get hate for this but imo Golovkin's team was smart to turn down the Ward fight and ask for cw, because Ward would have completely embarrassed Golovkin at 168 and ended all his hype. Not a Golovkin hater or Ward fanboy here, just speaking as a boxing fan. Barrera gave Golovkin extremely competitive sparring according to insiders and Ward toyed with this guy in his first fight at 175 after a long lay off. Ward would have given Golovkin a million different looks/angles, confused him, manhandled him and countered him. Physically too big and strong as well. SOG is in a complete different galaxy physically and skill wise to anyone Triple G has faced.
Kovalev would be a much harder fight because Kovalev is bigger and more explosive than both Golovkin or Froch. Tonight Ward looked good but he was coming off a long lay-off and is fighting at a new weight, he wasn't as sharp or confident as he could have been. This is probably why Kovalev's team wants the Ward fight ASAP this year because they know that Ward needs time to adjust to the lay-off and new weight.
But IMO Ward at his absolute best does have the skills to squeeze out a narrow decision victory over Kovalev. Unlike Hopkins, physically Ward is a man in his prime and is nearly impossible to catch cleanly. Kovalev is more skilled than Prime Froch though and even more heavy-handed so Ward would have to fight the fight of his life and be absolutely perfect from start to finish. It would be fascinating to watch the styles clash. But looking at films I just feel that Ward at 100% just has too many tricks up his sleeve and would edge it out in a life-and-death type of fight.
If I was Ward though, I would definitely take one more fight before the Kovalev fight, ideally against Stevenson or Gonzalez. These are much easier fights for Ward that he should dominate and will finally prepare him for his mega showdown vs the Russian.
Ward vs Kovalev is the real Fight of the Century, USA vs Russia, SOG vs Krusher, and the winner will be the new P4P King.
The size between GGG and Ward is less than the size between Kov and Ward .
Ward is going up to fight Kov but GGG couldnt go up to fight Ward , if you read between the lines GGG is not pushing the same way the other 2 guys are , he seems happy to stay where he is and cherry pick every body nth and sth except the guys that want to fight him .
I think Ward schools GGG , Kov is different and is huge but I think Ward can box out a UD .
GGG weighs 164 30 days out for a 160 fight
Ward just fought at 175 and rehydrated to over 180 pounds
Kovalev fights at 175
No way in hell anyone is going to convince me that the difference in size between Kovalev and Ward is more than between Ward and "Lil G", no way in hell.
I agree.
Golovkin has the right style but not the size to beat Ward, Kovalev has the size but not right style.
Golovkin would apply some serious pressure but ultimately the difference in size would be too much imo, if they were the same size, I'd say it was a pretty even 50/50 fight.
Kovalev fights at a moderate, measured pace, he won't apply pressure on Ward and that means Ward will have time to think and pick his shots. Kova has got good skill, but not good enough to outbox somebody at Ward's level.
The size between GGG and Ward is less than the size between Kov and Ward .
Ward is going up to fight Kov but GGG couldnt go up to fight Ward , if you read between the lines GGG is not pushing the same way the other 2 guys are , he seems happy to stay where he is and cherry pick every body nth and sth except the guys that want to fight him .
I think Ward schools GGG , Kov is different and is huge but I think Ward can box out a UD .
The good thing is that we will have a chance to find out between Ward and Kovalev at least if both keep taking care of business.
I don't like how some fans feel because they're a fan of one they have to be disrespectful to the other. Regardless of who wins, I don't see it being easy for either fighter. Both are Top Level Fighters! But of course fans who throw their Mud, run their mouths and if their guy don't get the job done they will abandon their trash talking about account, sign up with another account and come with more negativity
Ward is a full light heavyweight now. He was struggling to make 168 before so he had a catchweight fight at 172. Ward said he will never return to 168 so Mayweather and Ward fans like you should quit talking about Ward vs. GGG at 168. I think GGG can beat Ward at any weight but he is a smaller middleweight as weighing 164 30 days before his fight clearly shows. Asking a smaller middleweight to go to 175 to fight one of the world's best fighters is unfair. Barrera is just not very good and had no jab at all. Kovalev would take Barrera out quickly in my opinion. Kovalev has a long very hard accurate jab and scary power in both hands. I think he KOs Ward no matter how many practice fights Ward has before fighting him.
He'd beat the brakes off GGG. . . Not sure he beats Kovalev though. I think he'll give Kovalev his toughest fight though. Maybe be able to keep him off balance and having to reset, but it would be a tough fight for both men. 50/50 for that one
Kovalev vs Ward will definitely be the most skill we've seen in 1 ring in a long time.
And yes I'm including Floyd-Manny. They both looked like crap by the time it finally happened.
The GGG-Ward thing??? Don't know don't care. They're miles apart in weight now. Time to move on.
I agree.
Golovkin has the right style but not the size to beat Ward, Kovalev has the size but not right style.
Golovkin would apply some serious pressure but ultimately the difference in size would be too much imo, if they were the same size, I'd say it was a pretty even 50/50 fight.
Kovalev fights at a moderate, measured pace, he won't apply pressure on Ward and that means Ward will have time to think and pick his shots. Kova has got good skill, but not good enough to outbox somebody at Ward's level.