Who will win Ward vs Kovalev rematch?

I'm gonna go with Kovalev again in a rematch, for several reasons. -One, while both guys will be better prepared for each other, Kovalev's power will remain. There's very little Ward can do to acclimate himself to it. He'll still get marked up by jabs and will get hurt by power shots. -Two, I think Ward fought much closer to his perfect. Despite being dropped, the fight went the way he wanted - and I think Kovalev understood that. To me, it looked like he wanted to show the world that he can beat Ward at his own game (inside fighting, strength contests). He willingly got into inside fights with Ward, even though that's not's his bread and butter. When they got into wrestling contests, he made it a point to wrestle Ward back to show him that he's stronger - a completely unnecessary macho exercise. This strategy backfired. I doubt he'll be as willing a partner the 2nd time around. -Three, he feels robbed by the judges and will not trust them. That is a great thing. Kovalev is at his worst when he's forced back. By boxing Ward during the middle rounds, he was not as aggressive as he should have been. Aggressiveness is his strength. That killer instinct turns him into a different fighter. After Ward recovered in the 3rd, pretty much everyone started to expect the fight to goto a decision. There wasn't too much action, and you could see neither man was going for a knockout. Kovalev stopped trying to break him down, and that was a very bad move. If my gut feeling is right, I see Kovalev taking Ward apart by the 6th round.

I called it in the main ppv sticky thread - said he looked tight and nervous, didn't really notice the red-eyed hazy thing but I will watch it again later. Sergey looked way more comfortable before the bell and it showed up in those early rounds. Ward showed the difference between a normal mental makeup and a truly elite mental makeup today. I think most men would have crumbled or coasted to a safety first decision loss, Ward kept digging and booked his place in Canastota. Did you like my pre-fight prediction though? PM me a link so I can check it out (I don't always see replies in these threads).

It was weird. Did you notice Andre was red-eyed and hazy looking before the fight even started? I thought he looked totally off. Then, as you said, he loosened up. Hunter did a brilliant job navigating him through though, keeping his head in the fight. I called it in the main ppv sticky thread - said he looked tight and nervous, didn't really notice the red-eyed hazy thing but I will watch it again later. Sergey looked way more comfortable before the bell and it showed up in those early rounds. Ward showed the difference between a normal mental makeup and a truly elite mental makeup today. I think most men would have crumbled or coasted to a safety first decision loss, Ward kept digging and booked his place in Canastota. Did you like my pre-fight prediction though?

Kovalev realizes he can hurt him and will probably look to finish the job early in the rematch. I expect a KO.

I'd lean Ward. He adapted, and Kov didn't have much in the second half.

You could literally see the rust falling off Ward as the fight wore on, you could see him loosening up. I think its always a close fight because of the threat of Kovalev's power, but Ward will be better in the rematch in my opinion. I don't think Ward did himself any favours by not fighting better competition in the build up to this, he was not ready when that bell rang, but he is so good that he survived and started to figure it out on the fly, and like I said he started looking like the old Ward as the fight wore on. It was more Kovalev fading because of all the wrestling that Ward is used to. I mean it's not like he hit Kov with a lot of shots. Kovalev slowed down on his oww because as I've said he kind of got sucked into a wrestling match.

You could literally see the rust falling off Ward as the fight wore on, you could see him loosening up. I think its always a close fight because of the threat of Kovalev's power, but Ward will be better in the rematch in my opinion. I don't think Ward did himself any favours by not fighting better competition in the build up to this, he was not ready when that bell rang, but he is so good that he survived and started to figure it out on the fly, and like I said he started looking like the old Ward as the fight wore on. It was weird. Did you notice Andre was red-eyed and hazy looking before the fight even started? I thought he looked totally off. Then, as you said, he loosened up. Hunter did a brilliant job navigating him through though, keeping his head in the fight.

Kovalev needs to limit wrestling with Ward. He was pushing ward back a lot early but it cost him his energy. Ward is more comfortable with that stuff and he has the experience of going 12 more. I think Kov faded because he was trying to hard trying to out wrestle Ward. I think with a better gameplan of minimizing those battles he wins even clearly in a rematch. Ward had nothing for him when Kov was fresh.

You could literally see the rust falling off Ward as the fight wore on, you could see him loosening up. I think its always a close fight because of the threat of Kovalev's power, but Ward will be better in the rematch in my opinion. I don't think Ward did himself any favours by not fighting better competition in the build up to this, he was not ready when that bell rang, but he is so good that he survived and started to figure it out on the fly, and like I said he started looking like the old Ward as the fight wore on.

Reality check; HBO was pumping up Kovalev the entire time, AND after the fight. The judges and the Brits got it correct. Reality check, HBO was riding Ward hard the entire fight, except for Harold.

Ward showed more ability to adapt and adjust. Unless Kovalev comes with a much different game plan or really catches ward cold, I think ward will win a rematch. I thought Kovalev won tonight though.

I think Kov will have a harder time with Ward. Ward was vulnerable in the beginning because he was standing in perfect range for all of Kovalev's firepower. As soon as Ward gets Kov into a continual loop of clinching, he's pretty much screwed.

Ward might be better in the rematch but he will still lose.

If Ward can avoid the early attack and not get dropped and stunned so much in the first 3 rounds, then he has an excellent chance of winning a clean decision from kov.. But it's boxing, and you gotta follow the money, which would be a kovolev win and a trilogy

A rematch is pointless. It will only serve for HBO to "legitimize" their new P4P king. Disgusting! Reality check; HBO was pumping up Kovalev the entire time, AND after the fight. The judges and the Brits got it correct.

Kov will always have the upper hand in the beginning because he is still fresh and Ward just doesn't have the firepower. I think if Kov gets better conditioned for 12 rounds he can make it 2-0. Ward had nothing for Kov in the 1st half of the fight and even when Ko was getting tired it wasn't no domination. A few jabs and a couple of power punches that didn't do anything to an exhausted KOvalev.

A rematch is pointless. It will only serve for HBO to "legitimize" their new P4P king. Disgusting!

Not buying the the second ppv,after this **** they pulled to set up a rematch for more money.

Rematches favor the more cerebral and technical fighter. Kov is smart, but Ward will be able to do do more with what he learned. He proved that by winning the 2nd half of the fight.