Probably. Jackson said he will try to break his arms/hands, which would indicate him making it a rough fight. As we know, Ward is no stranger to dirty tactics himself.
... Jackson said he will try to break his arms/hands, but this only in case Ward will try to fight dirty!
I don't think he has to hurt him to win.
He's got enough pop to earn his respect IMO.
What intrigues me is if Ward can use his strength, he's much more skilled and polished on the inside but you'd expect Kovalev to be the stronger man and when Ward smothers him will Kovalev rough him up? You'd think he'd have to.
Probably. Jackson said he will try to break his arms/hands, which would indicate him making it a rough fight. As we know, Ward is no stranger to dirty tactics himself.
Chilemba took his body jab away and used it against him.
Ward is capable of doing the same but we can't ignore the fact that Chilemba still took some punishment for his efforts. Ward has the talent and knowledge to neutralize Kov's offense, I just don't if he can do it for the entire fight!
I have the fight 50/50 at this point. Can't wait to see how each performs for the first few rounds, that usually tells me all I need to know.
Chilemba did well enough vs Kovalev's jab...
But, anyway, one doesn't have to take that fight very seriously as Kovalev and Chilemba are stablemates.
Kovalevs boxes better than some give him credit for. He's not exactly Mohammed Ali but he's certainly no first face brawler. If Ward can't get Kov's respect early in the fight it could mean a short night. And honestly, Ward has shown in the past that is chin is not the best. As great of a boxer Ward is, I just can't see him evading Kov's punches all night.. That dude has murder in his fists (literally)..
Yes very true Kov is a very strong puncher and he keeps lots of pressure on you he is quite well rounded , BH and Chilemba both caused problems and restraint on his part because they could really box and were slippery , right now Ward is a better more dangerous boxer than both those guys , like everybody that faces power if they dont want to fully engage its hard to stop them , Ward has the ability to hit and run stealing the fight , I dont see Kov out boxing Andre where as Andre has the ability to do a Floyd vs Baldomir type fight ., for Kov he needs Andre to really engage to get the KO or catch him out of the blue with a bomb , I dont see Ward getting caught with a wild shot and he reads the others real good , most times when you have a great boxer against a great puncher the boxer gets it , not always but more than not .
Im really up for the fight I think both guys are very genuine .
Kovalevs boxes better than some give him credit for. He's not exactly Mohammed Ali but he's certainly no first face brawler. If Ward can't get Kov's respect early in the fight it could mean a short night. And honestly, Ward has shown in the past that is chin is not the best. As great of a boxer Ward is, I just can't see him evading Kov's punches all night.. That dude has murder in his fists (literally)..
Kovalev is not the master boxer you're pretending he is...not by a long shot.
Take away his power....does he still win?
Nope..
Power won't be a factor in the Ward fight...defense and stamina will.:boxing:
Kovalev is getting his ass kicked badly.
Who even said kovalev is a master boxer? You're the only one saying it I suppose. Kovalev is a combination of puncher-boxer he is not a master boxer that you are saying.
A lot of questions:
Is ward even skilled enough to make the difference in the fight? Kovalev is seen more as a typical brawler because of his menacing punching power, but it is totally misleading, kovalev is a skilled boxer himself. This is not your typical brawler pitted against pure boxer.
Is kovalev strong enough to prevent andre ward from his usual clinching tactics? Would he even allow it if he does have the strength?
We know that ward is a faster than kova, but, is he really much faster than kovalev to make a difference in the fight?
Ward is marketed as the smarter one, will that show against kovalev who is deceptively smart too?
If ward is hit by one of those bombs, is his chin sturdy and body sturdy enough to handle the blows?
There are a lot of questions in my mind which makes this fight quite interesting. So I pray to the boxing gods that no training injuries or other mishaps will happen en-route to the actual fight.
Both have a good jab to the body, but ward makes a good movement with it...so its hard to counter..not impossible, but you should really train for that, the problwm with that is the feints...you are going to eat feints all night.
But remember the power in kovalev's jab could make a difference...but skill wise Ward has a really good edge.
The thing is, that ward will try to jab to the body very carefully, because of Kov right hand. Thats the plan all night...stay aways from the right hand and try to feint and rush kova.
I actually see more people underrating Ward than Kov. Very few people are talking down Kovalev even among the Andre Ward fans. It's a great fight and yes Kov is a very capable boxer. Difference is, there might not be any boxer in the world more skilled than Andre Ward right now.
^This has a lot of truth to it. No one rooting for Kovalev seems to want to admit it, but his resume has left him less prepared for Ward than vice versa. I don't know how people equate a 50 year old Hopkins to Andre but it's just not a relevant comparison. Nothing Ward has done in his last 6 fights resembles the Hopkins we've seen in the last 10 years.
Not to say that Ward has faced anyone with that same unique combo of power+hand speed we see in Kovalev. But, he's been better prepared through the fighters he's faced.
You're right in that Kovalev is getting talked up a lot more than Ward. Even in the media, the consensus seems to be "Kovalev smashes everyone, Andre will have to bring something really special". Whereas I see it being, "Andre is extremely hard to hit cleanly without getting countered, Kovalev had better cook up a clever game plan".
Ward has to fight in angles than be in front of the jab or right hand.. Basically staying to his right more often and coming in with his typical body shot only this time it's coming from the sideways more like how Loma does..
http://commdiginews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Loma-Martinez-TR3-800.jpg
Although Kovalev might adjust it in the middle rounds and probably mix it up with faint rights and left uppercuts which Kovalev rarely does..
don't you just love how kovalev has been reduced to that as the fight gets closer? think about it and read some of the responses or some of the threads. ward is the only one of the two that boxes, that has fundamentals, the other is just there to stand and take the punches. he has never shown any real boxing ability nor skills.
oh and if you mention the hopkins fight.... buh buh but bernard was 78 years old
I actually see more people underrating Ward than Kov. Very few people are talking down Kovalev even among the Andre Ward fans. It's a great fight and yes Kov is a very capable boxer. Difference is, there might not be any boxer in the world more skilled than Andre Ward right now.
I would not be surprised at all if Ward gave a Floyd Canelo type win .
I would not be surprised in the least if Kov landed the bomb and it was all over .
Its a great fight and I expect a nip and tuck battle but the above could happen .
Why do some of you guys bag either guy , its a great fight between 2 elite fighters on their game that also happen to be two of the most genuine no bs fighters in the game .
We dont get fights like this all to often I dont know why fans of both dont just enjoy the ride ,,, way to much fanboy hate in this forum .
don't you just love how kovalev has been reduced to that as the fight gets closer? think about it and read some of the responses or some of the threads. ward is the only one of the two that boxes, that has fundamentals, the other is just there to stand and take the punches. he has never shown any real boxing ability nor skills.
oh and if you mention the hopkins fight.... buh buh but bernard was 78 years old
I don't see anyone saying that.
Whilst Kovalev definitely has underrated skills and boxing ability surely we can all agree that Andre Ward is superior in those catergories?
Umm, Ward throws that punch pretty damn well himself. What will kovalev do to stop Ward from throwing his?
Exactly what i was going to say.
I'd actually associate that punch more with Ward than Kovalev. Ward definitely picked that up from Floyd i think. He does it in a very similar way.
Chilemba took his body jab away and used it against him.
Ward is capable of doing the same but we can't ignore the fact that Chilemba still took some punishment for his efforts. Ward has the talent and knowledge to neutralize Kov's offense, I just don't if he can do it for the entire fight!
I have the fight 50/50 at this point. Can't wait to see how each performs for the first few rounds, that usually tells me all I need to know.
What if Ward can't hurt Kov?
I don't think he has to hurt him to win.
He's got enough pop to earn his respect IMO.
What intrigues me is if Ward can use his strength, he's much more skilled and polished on the inside but you'd expect Kovalev to be the stronger man and when Ward smothers him will Kovalev rough him up? You'd think he'd have to.
what if Ward wont block it with hands and he will try to avoid it with foot work ,jumping back ,i saw many fighters who dont even try to block jab to body becouse they know they will get open for right hand ,also faithing a lot will make kova think and pick his actions more carefully,IMO Ward wont throw a lot too ,he will be sceard of counters,inside is a way to go for Andre.
Possibly. But keep in mind that Ward will rarely just get out of the way on a move that leaves the opponent open like that if he can help it. He's about seizing opportunities, punishing you for your mistakes. He rarely forces something like boxers traditionally do. Especially now at 175, just based on what I'm seeing. His mind is almost more like a JiuJitsu player in that he's constantly evaluating spaces, angles, openings, even on the smallest scale. I think he'd most often respond with a straight right and lean into it so that he's clear of Kovalev's follow-up to the jab (just speculating though).
Ever been jabbed to the body? Trust me they hurt. A good body jab takes you're breath. Take enough of them and you will start to wear down.
I was thinking the same thing! Body jabs are especially effective in the late rounds when fatigue has set in. It's a great punch that hurts even when blocked. The end is usually near once a fighter starts trying to defend against a body jab.....
don't you just love how kovalev has been reduced to that as the fight gets closer? think about it and read some of the responses or some of the threads. ward is the only one of the two that boxes, that has fundamentals, the other is just there to stand and take the punches. he has never shown any real boxing ability nor skills.
oh and if you mention the hopkins fight.... buh buh but bernard was 78 years old
We are just giving ideas how Ward can win,we are not saying that he will win 100%.