My take is that ward will never fight Kovalev. He will take another well deserved tune up and he will hang them up... or return to 168 in order to fight the guy he first ducked -- Bute... when Bute will be 38 or 39...
According to Kathy Duva, the contract signed by Ward with HBO before the Barrerea fight forces him to fight Kovalev within 3 fights. After his 2nd fight is done, only retirement or injury can stop the Kovalev fight from happening. He can't fight anyone else.
An interesting move was when Ward basically faked an injury (swollen knee) to cancel the Murdock/Brand fight and sign up for Barrera. It seems like he knew he needed serious tuneups to prepare for Kovalev so I'm hopeful Ward will fight Kovalev soon.
Why do all the articles regarding this fight start the same way? I mean it's a copy-paste, identical paragraphs. I guess BoxingScene people think nobody actually reads the articles. This is sad. Anyone knows any other good, trustworthy website for boxing news?
Golovkin is my favorite active fighter but this disappoints me. If it's not Alvarez or Saunders, then who is he going to fight next? Jacobs? Seems unlikely because Jacobs priced himself out and is not mandated by the WBA yet. Degale would be a better fight at 168 but he'll be looking for the Badou Jack / Lucian Bute winner first.
On the other hand, Tom Loeffer mentioned Ramirez as the 3rd best (and viable) option after Alvarez and Saunders. Let's hope it's just a lack of coordination within Golovkin's team (in which case he needs an advisor).
You gotta love how Hunter was so reluctant to push Ward to 175, with 2 tune ups before Kovalev and all, and how he's willing to push Khan up 2 divisions to face a fighter who will outweigh him by 15 to 20 pounds on fight night.
I totally understand why Kovalev doesn't mind fighting Ward in his backyard. Kovalev knocks Ward out anywhere, so why not in Oakland? The judges won't help Ward because it won't go to a decision. The referee might let him headbutt and hold, but ultimately Kovalev will catch him with a good one (or two, or three). He just hits damn too hard and can't be beat on the inside like others.
Ward fans have more excuses than a pregnant nun.
Andre got marked up by Golovkin's pupil. The master would KO him for sure.
More excuses than a pregnant nun... That is beautiful. Thanks for the laugh :D
I doubt either fights Beterbiev unless they are mandated by the sanctioning body
Well Kovalev actually made Beterbiev an offer last year , acknowledged by Beterbiev's promoter as a fair offer.
Wilder is like the guy sitting there at work, sound asleep, buddy next to him tries to wake him up cuz the boss is standing right in front of him. Boss tells his friend don't wake him. Long as he's asleep, he still has a job.
In this context, long as Wilder doesn't fight Povetkin, he still has a belt. Soon as he steps in the ring, he's done for. Because Povetkin will attack early and often, and Wilder is clueless till at least round 4. And is easily out-boxed anyway. Soon as he's dropped, he'll go even deeper into panic mode. It won't be pretty.
I love the analogy and I like the fight prediction. It befuddles me how anyone who watched Wilder and Povetkin's last few fights can still think Wilder can win.
GGG's fans love the idea of GGG making Ward come down to 164. But they aren't fond of Canelo making GGG come down to 155.
GGG and Ward are in two different divisions. Meeting in the middle makes sense. Canelo and GGG, on the other hand, fight in the same division. It doesn't make sense to make a fighter in the same division come down in weight, except to drain him and get an unfair advantage.
Totally agree. Cotto was outweighed as badly as Khan yet he outboxed Canelo. I actually scored it 6-5 for Cotto with 1 swing round but either way it was a close fight against an opponent 15-20 pounds heavier and that in itself was an accomplishment.
I'm a big fan of Povetkin. Thought the Sauerland bros did great with him and I really enjoy his fights and his style. I used heavily favor him, but now I'm leaning towards Wilder. He's improved and he's embraced his role as champ. I also have been noticing a change in his demeanor. Watching his training clips, he works hard. Still a very even fight. I'm not sure if I'm beginning to root for Wilder, but I think he'll rise to the occasion. If he wins, he's the man
I don't see anything in Wilder's performance in the ring that made you change your mind. Training and demeanor are nice, but those things won't matter in the ring. Wilder was really poor against Spilzka until that right hand landed. He was way too wild with his shots, his defense was leaky as ever. If he fights Povetkin like that, he will get splashed. However, it will be interesting to see Wilder's reaction if Povetkin knocks him down, especially after all his criticism of Martin.
when kovalev says he will close pascals mouth "alltime and forever" does it mean he plans on killing him
You're reaching. Kovalev simply means he'll beat Pascal up so thoroughly he will never dare trash talk him again.
I was thinking Kovalev might take Pascal too lightly after the first bout, but after this I'm sure he will be fully focused and looking for the knockout. This fight just got more interesting thanks to Pascal running his mouth.
Reminds me of a National Geographic episode where a huge stud hyena just mauled a smaller hyena and took over the clan. The testosterone was running so high, the stud hyena ventured into the lions' territory and chased off some young lions, daring the king. He got the king's attention alright. One swat and you could just hear him squeal...oh sh*t!
Male hyenas are actually smaller than females and hyenas "clans" are led by females.
Eubank has good power, Golovkin has better power. Eubank has a good chin, Golovkin has an even better chin. It just doesn't add up for Eubank. But at least he has the balls to face Golovkin. Or at least I hope he does. That contract isn't signed yet.
team lil'g are the pathetic ones can't stick to their guns and strip the winner like they've been saying for the longest.
You want Canelo to be stripped rather than fight Golovkin, and you call yourself a Canelo fan? You're pathetic.
Chavez has to resort to chemistry to get that weight down. Memo to the rescue!
For people asking if he's taking VADA testing, nobody who has Memo Heredia as their *chemist* I mean coach, uses VADA. Memo and VADA do not operate in the same universe. Or maybe they do, but VADA as the cop and Memo as the criminal. Oh wait, he was actually convicted for a crime..
But it's OK. Canelo doesn't mind. Actually, Canelo would mind if Chavez wanted VADA. He was going to take VADA testing against Smith, allegedly, but then cancelled it, not allegedly. 154 was too tough to make this time around, huh?
F**k these juiced up mother fu**ers.
Good news. I hope he gets the Cotto fight. Something new at least. It would be a good addition to either Cotto or Bradley's resume. And hopefully it pushes Pacquiao towards the Crawford fight as well. :boxing:
Ward isn't criticized for winning a close fight against Kovalev. He's criticized for refusing/delaying the rematch after signing a contract that stipulates there will be a rematch if he wins. There is something to be said about the "Son of God" not being a man of his word.
I respect Usyk for saying no to America and deciding to stay in Ukraine / Europe but he can quickly turn into a huge star in the US or in the UK if he chooses to. Look at what happened to Chocolatito. He fights as Golovkin's co-feature for 2 or 3 fights and now he heads his own cards for HBO which is never heard of for the smallish divisions.
Also Usyk is an entertaining fighter. He's like the cruiser weight version of Lomachenko, spectacular to watch. And he has this bigger than life personality that will definitely appeal to fans. I hope this happens because this guy is the goods.
Kovalev is not being underpaid, it's Ward who's being overpaid you dumb fuks. Duva and Main Events are paying Kovalev fairly in terms of his popularity, how many asses he puts in seats etc. On the other hand, Ward is being paid like a mega star while he can't even fill the Oracle, his home town arena. RocNation is going under because of sh*t like this. They paid him millions to fight Alexander Brand for fuk sake.
A year or two from now, Duva will laugh her way to the bank as Kovalev keeps beating on light heavyweights while RocNation will be just another bankrupt promotor after Ward dumps them like he dumped every promoter he's been with. GTFOH with this bullsh*t.
Not excited about the fight, but it's a fight that makes sense for Kovalev as a preparation for Ward. Chilemba is a spoiler who takes his opponents' game away and frustrates them a la Ward. Kovalev must expect Ward to pull all the dirty tricks on him, and he's probably right because Ward can't win any other way.
In another news, Kathy Duva said the Ward fight will probably take place either in New York or Las Vegas. So no home refereeing for Ward to get away with all the shenanigans. Ward is screwed.